Saturday, November 19, 2011

Shared Governance Is Awesome, But It Wouldn’t Have Saved Penn State « Student Activism:Shared Governance Is Awesome, But It Wouldn’t Have Saved Penn Stateby Angus JohnstonMichael Bérubé, an incisive observer of the American campus scene, observes the Penn State scandal from an extraordinary perspective. Berube is not just a Penn State scholar, he holds a professorship endowed by Joe Paterno. He has discussed Moby Dick with JoePa, and disability issues with Paterno’s wife — a longtime supporter of the Special ... more »

Robert Reich (Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest...) #ows

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

Robert Reich (Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest...):Stop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest question right...PopoutStop the Austerity Train Wreck! The biggest question right now on Planet Washington is whether the congressional supercommittee will reach an agreement. That’s the wrong question. Agreement or not, Washington is on the road to making budget cuts that will slow

Momsrising: Momsrising

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Momsrising: Momsrising:Expanding Access to Care for Young Adults Through the Right Outreach and Enrollment StrategiesBrian Burrell at MomsRising Blog - 3 minutes agoThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) marked a historic expansion of access to health care for many people, and the federal and state exchanges will be a large part of that reform. Ideally, low- and middle-income consumers will buy insurance with subsidies through online health benefit exchanges, where they can compare the price, quality, and benefits [...]SC Medicaid Director ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the Church

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

Missouri Education Watchdog: MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the Church:MO Chamber of Commerce Comes to the Wedding Late and Sits on the Wrong Side of the ChurchEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookTalk about being late to the party. The MO Chamber of Commerce announced it's 2012 legisltive agenda. With an overall focus on the worker they have also announced the need to focus on education,“We can pass business friendly ... more »

“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gap | EdSource Extra!

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“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gap | EdSource Extra!:“Income achievement gap” almost double black-white achievement gapNovember 17th, 2011 | 5 CommentsBy Louis Freedberg ~ EdSource ExtraPhoto by Jennifer KiernanIn a dramatic illustration of the impact of income inequality on how children do in school, the achievement gap between children from high and low income families is far higher than the achievement gap between black and white students, a pathbreaking research report from Stanford University has shown.The report by ... more »

All Things Education: In Defense of Flipping the Classroom & the Lecture

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All Things Education: In Defense of Flipping the Classroom the Lecture:In Defense of Flipping the Classroom the Lectureby Rachel LevyThere's been a lot lately about "flipping the classroom," a teaching method where students are to view a lecture at home --ostensibly on-line--of their teacher presenting key concepts while saving doing harder and trickier homework-type assignments for in class. This idea appeals to me and I've been somewhat surprised that so many other education peeps out there whom I follow don't ... more »

Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choice

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Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choice:Marian Wright Edelman: Cuts in Education: A Failing Choiceby Marian Wright EdelmanAristotle got it right when he said, “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” Once upon a time America professed to believe in a strong public education system—at least for some children. And we still talk about public education as the great equalizer and ... more »

Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries

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Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries:Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other CountriesFirst Posted: 11/18/11 12:33 PM ET Updated: 11/18/11 01:24 PM ETIntuitively, a child's academic performance is likely higher if he or she has highly educated parents, and lower if the child has less educated parents. A new report confirms that's true, but reveals that American children of poorly educated parents do a lot worse than their ...more »

Don’t believe the education “reformers” - Salon.com

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Don’t believe the education “reformers” - Salon.com:Don’t believe the education “reformers”Public schools are better than we think and efforts to quantify teacher performance are typically destructiveBY GENE LYONS (Credit: iStockphoto/RonTech2000)TOPICS:EDUCATIONThree mildly heretical thoughts about American education: First, given the impossible assignment we’ve given them—an egalitarian mission in a nation rapidly growing more stratified by income and class—American public schools are probably doing a better job than they ought to be. One big reason is greater professionalism amon... more »

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

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The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:We Aren't the Only Ones Concerned About MovementNovember 18th, 2011 by Sean SladeInterestingly, yesterday ASCD SmartBrief came out with the results of an Ed Pulse survey on which school health issue is of primary concern for schools and districts. The results showed physical activity and movement during the school day as a key concern among ASCD SmartBrief readers, second to bullying and other safety concerns. Just over 20 percent of respondents listed physical ... more »

Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use. « Fred Klonsky #OWS

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Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use. « Fred Klonsky:Did the Obama administration assist in coordinating an attack on Occupy Wall Street? Putting FOIA to good use.by Fred KlonskyInstead of some right-wing anti-union cult like Kyle Olson’s Education Actin Group using the Freedom of Information Act to go through an elementary teacher’s emails and personnel file (that would be me), David Lane, a well-known civil rights attorney in Denver ... more »

This Week In Education: Update: What Reformers & Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Street #OWS

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This Week In Education: Update: What Reformers Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Street:Update: What Reformers Critics Don't Quite Get About Occupy Wall Streetby Alexander RussoIt seems like no one can resist making comparisons between what's going on at Occupy Wall Street and what's going on in education reform. And you can't blame them. Some of school reform's most well known names -- Mike Bloomberg, Whitney Tilson, Boykin Curry, Bill Gates, Eli Broad -- are quite literally members of ... more »

License to Experiment on Low Income & Minority Children? « School Finance 101

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License to Experiment on Low Income Minority Children? « School Finance 101:License to Experiment on Low Income Minority Children?by schoolfinance101John Mooney at NJ Spotlight provided a reasonable overview of the NJDOE waiver proposal to “reward” successful schools and sanction and/or takeover “failing” ones.The NJDOE waiver proposal includes explanation of a new classification system for identifying which schools should be subject to state intervention, ultimately to be managed by regional offices throughout the state. This new targeted intervention system classifies districts ... more »

Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter school | GothamSchools

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Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter school | GothamSchools:Shifting course, East Harlem nonprofit evicts charter schoolby Geoff Decker, at 10:43 amOne of the city’s oldest and highest-performing charter schools is being evicted by an unlikely landlord: the community organization that founded it.Harbor Science and Arts Charter School, which opened in 2000, will have to find a new space in coming years after Boys Girls Harbor, a 74-year old nonprofit that serves East Harlem youth, told the school’s board that ... more »

Opinion | Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the test | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Opinion | Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the test | Seattle Times Newspaper:Diane Ravitch: putting education reform to the testEducation historian Diane Ravitch has amassed a devoted following, and impressive book sales, with searing polemics about the horrors of education reform. Wade beneath the rhetoric and Ravitch is still a reformer at heart.By Lynne K. VarnerSeattle Times editorial columnistEducation historian Diane Ravitch has amassed a devoted following, and impressive book sales, with searing polemics about billionaires privatizing public schools ... more »

State Education Reforms (SER) - Welcome to the Website on State Education Reforms

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State Education Reforms (SER) - Welcome to the Website on State Education Reforms:Welcome to the Website on State Education ReformsThis site, which draws primarily on data collected by organizations other than NCES, compiles and disseminates data on state-level elementary and secondary education reform efforts in the five areas indicated below.School finance is also an important area of educational reform. A few tables on this topic are included in the Accountability section. Additional state-level information on school finance is available in ... more »

Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation » The Commercial Appeal

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Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation » The Commercial Appeal:Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulationBy Jane RobertsPosted November 18, 2011 at midnightCyberschools, the fastest-growing alternative to K-12 public education, are almost totally unregulated and in immediate need of oversight, according to research from the University of Colorado.More than 30 percent of the nation's 16 million high school students have taken at least one online class -- Memphis City ... more »

We are the 99%. | Seattle Education #OWS

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We are the 99%. | Seattle Education:We are the 99%.by seattleducation2011If you are unemployed, underemployed or concerned about being next in line to lose your job, if you have given up on finding a job, if you are the sole provider in your family because your partner/spouse lost their job, if your children don’t have enough teachers, resources, materials in their schools and the PTA or parents have to pitch in financially just so that your children can have what ... more »

Last Day To Get Your Stuff Back | OccupyWallSt.org #OWS

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Last Day To Get Your Stuff Back | OccupyWallSt.org:Last Day To Get Your Stuff Backby OccupyWallStIf you were present when the NYPD attacked Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) in the middle of the night to raze our encampment and destroy our homes, today is the last day the city is willing to return the personal possessions they stole.Date/TimeDate(s) - 18 Nov 20118:00 AM - 4:00 PMLocationManhattan District 7 Garage (Map)650 West 56th St.Manhattan, NYTips From The Screen Printing GuildNYC Sanitation facility ... more »

Tweed serves as “#Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protest | GothamSchools #ows

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Tweed serves as “Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protest | GothamSchools:Tweed serves as “Occupy” stop on way to Foley Square protestby Geoff DeckerPopoutIt’s been two months since anti-inequality protesters first settled in at Zuccotti Park in a movement that became known as “Occupy Wall Street.” To commemorate education’s unique role in the activism, protesters chose the Department of Education’s headquarters, Tweed Courthouse, as a meeting point for a much larger rally taking place tonight in Lower Manhattan.Just as ... more »

Public to have say on grading teachers, principals - chicagotribune.com

Student achievement could become part of CPS' teacher evaluations - chicagotribune.com:

Public to have say on grading teachers, principals

CPS proposals include making student achievement part of teacher evaluations

By Joel Hood, TRIBUNE REPORTER

November 19, 2011

How well students perform academically would count for as little as one-quarter of a teacher's evaluation next school year, if Chicago Public Schools becomes the first district in Illinois to implement new teacher assessments.

That's one proposal advanced by the state Board of Education on Friday, part of a complex series of proposed guidelines for evaluating teachers and principals that will be open for public comment through the end of the year. After two years, the student growth component of the evaluations would jump to a minimum of 30 percent, still a far cry

Closures / Consolidations / Design Teams

Closures / Consolidations / Design Teams:

Closures / Consolidations / Design Teams

This web page is a resource for all information regarding SCUSD schools recommended for closure or consolidation and those engaged in a Design Team process. Please click on each individual school below for information about upcoming community meetings, responses and comments from previous community meetings, minutes from Design Team meetings and other useful information. Also below, you will find links to full reports issued by the 7-11 Committee and the Superintendent regarding these important issues.

A.M. Winn Elementary School

C.P. Huntington Elementary School

Caleb Greenwood K-8

Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Edward Kemble Elementary School

Freeport Elementary School

Hollywood Park Elementary School

John Still Elementary School

John Still Middle School

Kit Carson Middle School

Leonardo da Vinci K-8

School of Engineering and Sciences

West Campus High School

Community Meeting Schedule

Monday, November 28 (6:30 pm) – CP Huntington
Tuesday, November 29 (6:30 pm) – Freeport
Thursday, December 1 (6:30 pm) – Edward Kemble/Cesar Chavez

Click here for 7-11 Committee Report (10/6/11)

Click here for Superintendent's Recommendation Report (11/3/11)

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions

We Aren’t the Only Ones Concerned About Movement « Whole Child Education

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:

We Aren’t the Only Ones Concerned About Movement

November 18th, 2011 by Sean Slade

Interestingly, yesterday’s ASCD SmartBrief came out with the results of an Ed Pulse survey on which school health issue is of primary concern for schools and districts. The results showed physical activity and movement during the school day as a key concern among ASCD SmartBrief readers, second to bullying and other safety concerns. Just over 20 percent of respondents listed physical activity as their primary school health issue.

ASCD SmartBrief brings you the K–12 education news that really matters. Our editors handpick key articles

Interview Of The Month — Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Interview Of The Month — Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

Photo Galleries Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo

Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (seeThe Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more organized way, though, I recently began this weekly feature called “Photo Galleries Of The Week.” This post is a “round-up” of online slideshows I’m adding to various “The Best…” lists:

Early expeditions to Everest is an audio slideshow from the BBC. I’m adding it to The Best Sites

Interview Of The Month — Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

by Larry Ferlazzo

(As regular readers know, each month I interview people in the education world about whom I want to learn more. You can see read those past interviews here.)

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach is the author (with Lani Ritter Hall) of the just-published Solution Tree book The Connected Educator, which offers a new model for 21st century professional development: “connected learning communities.” Sheryl and came to know of each other through the Teacher Leaders Network and our mutual colleague John Norton, an education writer and editor who co-founded TLN and has given both of us helpful editorial feedback over the years. In this interview, she shares some of her own education backstory and her vision of teaching and learning in the Internet Age.

1. Tell us something about your background as a teacher and educator.

I wasn’t one of those kids who always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. In fact, probably the opposite was

Moonwalking Birds Video

by Larry Ferlazzo

Here’s an amazing video of birds that moonwalk. It’s from PBS. I’ve “tube-chopped” the best minute-and-half here, but you can see the entire longer video here. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Animals.

THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION JUST ANOTHER CASULTY OF PURPOSEFULLY FAILED PUBLIC EDUCATION?

THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION JUST ANOTHER CASULTY OF PURPOSEFULLY FAILED PUBLIC EDUCATION? (LA ELECCIÓN PRESIDENCIAL DE 2012 SOLO OTRA DE CASULTY propósito FALLÓ LA EDUCACIÓN PÚBLICA?) - Perdaily.com:

THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION JUST ANOTHER CASULTY OF PURPOSEFULLY FAILED PUBLIC EDUCATION? (LA ELECCIÓN PRESIDENCIAL DE 2012 SOLO OTRA DE CASULTY propósito FALLÓ LA EDUCACIÓN PÚBLICA?)

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

Last night I went to the Hammer Museum for one in a series of excellent programs moderated by KPFK 90.7 FM's Ian Masters entitled Political Persuasion: The 2012 Elections. As we start the countdown to next year's presidential election, I was surprised by the unanimity between the veteran but opposing campaign strategists. Both Bill Zimmerman, who has worked on many political campaigns for candidates or ballot initiatives and Dan Schnur, the now director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, who worked on virtually all Republican presidential campaigns since Ron Reagan, agreed that it would be least educated that would hold the balance of power in deciding whether Barack Obama would get a second term or whether a Republican would replace him.

What the campaign comes down to is what Dan Schnur laid out in the following manner. He called those voters who agreed with you "Saints", those that disagreed with you "Sinners." He pointed out that there was no really

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charter schools: public in form but private in essence

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charter schools: public in form but private in essence:

Charter schools: public in form but private in essence

by Mike Klonsky

“With these charter schools, people are trying to say, ‘I want a custom-tailored education for my children, and I want you, as my neighbor, to pay for it.’ ” -- Matthew Stewart, resident of upscale Millburn, N.J.

There was no question about the early charter schools being public. An outgrowth of the small schools movement, these schools, usually a small number within urban school districts, were started and run by teachers who were all members of the local teachers union. The idea was to empower collaborative groups of teachers with innovative ideas about classroom practices that might produce better results for students than those found in bureaucratically governed traditional schools. It was hoped that these ideas and practices, if successful, could be shared with other schools in the district.

In other words, early charter schools were envisioned as a critical force for change within schools systems which

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fail - Feature Story - Local Stories - November 17, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review

Fail - Feature Story - Local Stories - November 17, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review:

Fail

Test scores are mixed, costs are high and teachers are pissed. Why critics say Sacramento city school reform could …

By Cosmo Garvin
cosmog@newsreview.com

Read 5 reader submitted comments

This article was published on 11.17.11.

Full disclosure:
Reporter Cosmo Garvin’s wife is a teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

School districts all over the country are struggling to turn around “failing schools.” It’s a harsh label, but the pressure to raise student test scores and graduation rates is enormous. The system created by No Child Left Behind and its offspring, Race to the Top, can impose tough penalties for schools and school districts that don’t make steady gains.
In Sacramento City Unified School District, the same schools often lag behind on the alphabet soup of standards that schools are measured by these days: the Academic Performance Index, the California Standards Tests, the Early Assessment Program, the list goes on. And these struggling schools tend to cluster in low-income neighborhoods.
But last year, SCUSD’s Superintendent Jonathan Raymond launched a plan to turn around the failing schools.
Out of the 80-plus elementary, middle and high schools in the district, Raymond declared the seven with the worst test scores to be “priority schools” and candidates for an array of reforms.
He said these would be “incubators of innovation”—they’d get more money, more attention. He got rid of the principals at these schools and many of the teachers. He brought in new, reform-

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF « Teachers Fight Back

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF « Teachers Fight Back:

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF

by alkleen

I saw a news item which showed a video of a special education teacher screaming at one of his students. Another horrible example of a teacher caught in an unprofessional act.

I have a suggestion for teachers everywhere. It’s an excellent idea to record yourself as you teach. Record yourself at various times of the week and the day. Listen to the recording at home and see if there are areas of your delivery that you can improve on.

Ask yourself questions as you listen to the recording. Am I being enthusiastic in my delivery? Am I being professional at all times? Am I being positive with my students? Do I sound interesting? Am I talking too much and not involving the students enough? Have I made it very clear what my students are expected to know by the

Schools Matter: Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12

Schools Matter: Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12:

Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12

by Jim Horn

Great reporting. An introductory clip:

Lee Fang | November 16, 2011
This article was reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

If the national movement to “reform” public education through vouchers, charters and privatization has a laboratory, it is Florida. It was one of the first states to undertake a program of “virtual schools”—charters operated online, with teachers instructing students over the Internet—as well as one of the first to use vouchers to channel taxpayer money to charter schools run by for-profits.

Jersey Jazzman: Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric

Jersey Jazzman: Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric:

Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric

by Duke

Derrell Bradford's most infamous performance, where he admitted that he is all about "advancing the people that advance the reforms, not the reforms themselves," is no longer freely available on YouTube. It is now a "private" video.

Gosh, whatever could he have said that would be embarrassing to a man who says those who oppose his views (like me) are guilty of caring less about student achievement than he does?

Well, we still have the highlight reel. Enjoy:

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS) - Davis, CA Patch #ows

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS) - Davis, CA Patch:

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS)

from Davis Patch: Latest Articles

Like Davis Patch on Facebook to stay updated.

The Occupy protest in the UC Davis quad swelled rapidly after the group was quietly removed from Mrak Hall this week. On Friday, Chancellor Katehi warned that police would remove the camp if it was not cleared out by 3pm.

Safe to say, it was not.

So dozens of police in riot gear descended on the scene, giving several verbal warnings as they closed in on the camp.

Many of the occupiers grabbed the tents and left so they could not be confiscated. Other occupiers remained with their arms locked. They streamed live video as the police approached.