Big Education Ape

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 13 hours ago

California’s flawed ‘parent trigger’ is a fairly decent editorial from The Los Angeles Times. Even though the best parent trigger is no parent trigger at all, if it’s going to be kept The Times’ suggestions could only help.

Engaging English Language Learner Families

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

I just participated in an excellent #ELLchat on Twitter about engaging ELL families. Lot of great ideas and resources were shared. I’ve embedded highlights from the conversation below using Storify. I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers. [View the story "Parent Engagement With/For English Language Learners" on Storify]

“Obama Administration Announces Together for Tomorrow”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Obama Administration Announces Together for Tomorrow is the headline of a press release just issued by the U.S. Department of Education. I’m including some excerpts from the press release at the end of this post. After reading it, I still don’t really have a clue what they’re talking about — except that it has to [...]

Words Of Wisdom That Teachers & Administrators Might Want To Keep In Mind

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 days ago

Here are two tweets that I saw today that I’m adding to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers: @Larryferlazzo @smconstantino Agree- and do not try to resolve a conflict using technology. Respect the need for tone, eye contact & empathy — Joe Mazza (@Joe_Mazza) February 26, 2012

Photo Galleries Of The Week

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (see The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more … Continue reading →

“Old Maps Online” Is Probably The Best Place To Find Historical Maps

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 8 hours ago

Old Maps Online lets you type in a location and then it will search through collections of historical maps throughout the world to show you a variety of them for that area. Its interface and accessibility are superb. I’m adding … Continue reading →

Lots Of New Pinterest Resources

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

Here are the newest additions to The Best Guides To Figuring Out Pinterest: Your Pinterest cheat sheet is from Salon. How to Stay Safe on Pinterest is from Read Write Web. Everything Pinterest and Tumblr Users Need To Know About … Continue reading →

“In Focus” Lets You Highlight Sections Of Webpages

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 10 hours ago

In Focus lets you, without any registration required, literally “highlight” a section of any webpage and provides a unique url address linking to it. It’s very familiar to CiteBite. The primary difference between the two is that with CiteBite, you … Continue reading →

Today’s Best Posts On What’s Happening In NYC

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 11 hours ago

Here are the newest additions to The Best Posts & Articles About The New York Court Decision Releasing Teacher Ratings: Big Apple’s Rotten Ratings is by David B. Cohen. Applying a Precise Label to a Rough Number is by Michael … Continue reading →

My Series-Ending Ed Week “Finale” On Reading

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 11 hours ago

Advice From The “Book Whisperer,” Ed Week Readers & Me About Teaching Reading is the title of the last post in my five part Education Week Teacher series on reading. I think it’s a good one….

StreetFlow Looks Like A Neat iPhone App

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 19 hours ago

When you’re traveling (by any way other than air), all you have to do is open the StreetFlow app, and it will automatically show you pictures of where you are, provide audio narration from Wikipedia, and show images from Instagrama … Continue reading →

Color Video Of World War II Soldiers

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

Here’s a cool color video of World War II soldiers. I’m adding it to The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II (Part Two):

Even More On New York Teacher Ratings Fiasco

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

Here are several new additions to The Best Posts & Articles About The New York Court Decision Releasing Teacher Ratings: Reign Of Error: The Publication Of Teacher Data Reports In New York City is from The Shanker Blog. A principal … Continue reading →

How To Evaluate Educational Research

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

Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Research: How to Judge if Research is Trustworthy is by Audrey Watters. The “Journal of Errology” has a very funny post titled What it means … Continue reading →

What A Great Way To Use Photos With Students

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

Ana Maria Menezes, an English teacher in Brazil, has worked with teachers in other countries to create a neat An Image A Week project. Each week, students share a photo and write about it. You can learn all about it … Continue reading →

Amazing Conversations About Gamification In Education

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

There are fascinating comment threads on my two recent posts on gamification in education — The Dangers Of “Gamification” In Education and Kathy Sierra On Gamification In Education. Kathy Sierra has been participating in both comment threads, along with many … Continue reading →

“Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” Wins Oscar

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

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” won the Oscar for Best Animated Short last night. It’s described as taking: …place in a world where books are living creatures. It offers sentimental tale about the power of books and … Continue reading →

School Tech Connect: Look Who's Fighting For Teachers!

School Tech Connect: Look Who's Fighting For Teachers!:

Look Who's Fighting For Teachers!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 9 hours ago

George Miller (D-California), who is utterly married to the Orwellian/Duncany language of edreform, and who is completely full of shit, if you asked me, was on the Twitter today complaining that the GOP pushed some really attractive bits of ESEA-related legislation. Now, I don't have time to read HB 3989 and HB 3890 in full, and I'm sure that the underlying language is basically designed to privatize the system, but I would like to point out that the Republicans have figured out that one centerpiece of the Duncan/Obama agenda--- the publication of bullshit teacher evaluation data-... more »

Be Thankful For Your Pension

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 11 hours ago

A colleague tossed an email over the transom tonight. My colleague was doing the virtual lobby thing, and he made a point in his correspondence with this representative that teachers don't get Social Security when they retire. This is part of the response. I'm keeping out the names because it's not a public statement per se. This is one of what I would call "the true believers," who thinks that Social Security is in a doomsday death spiral. These people are immune to information. By the way, I am absolutely positive that this same representative, if pressed, would indicate that ... more »

Report From The Virtual Front

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 15 hours ago

I had some communication with my state representative, Kelly Cassidy, about SB 512 and other pension questions."I still am firmly against the ideas put forth in the original bill," is one of the things that she said. Of course, she left herself plenty of wiggle room with the usual language about all parties needing to come to the table. I'm going to press her next on the ideas in Glen Brown's great post--- about slowing down the ramp-up to 2045, about increasing revenues, and about the exaggeration of the problem. Very reasonable, responsible people agree on these matters--- it's j... more »

Report From The Virtual Front

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 15 hours ago

The Man Knows What He's Doing

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 1 day ago

Too busy to chime in. But, now that I'm here... Arne Duncan is perfectly capable sending a message by sitting on a panel with Michelle Rhee. He knows exactly what he's doing-- he's suppressing a federal investigation. He is many things, but he is not an idiot. It takes a fierce kind of zealotry to stay so permanently on-message, to deflect *every* question with a talking point, and to distort others' opinions with straw men--- *accepting the status quo, poverty is destiny, etc. *His constant repetition of a few stock phrases* *is right out of Karl Rove's playbook. It isn't easy to ... more »

In Case You Missed Robert Reich

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) at School Tech Connect - 2 days ago

NYC Educator: Honey, Please Put Your Phone Away

NYC Educator: Honey, Please Put Your Phone Away:

Honey, Please Put Your Phone Away

by NYC Educator

A young teacher I mentored for a short while landed in another school. She's kind of important to me, as I first found her utterly unable to control her classes, gave her some very specific advice, and watched her follow it precisely and instantly. It's not often I get to give someone a concept, watch it put into action quickly and decisively, and see it work well. In fact, this young teacher got so good at it, she got nicknames like "The Nazi." Not ideal, I'll grant you, but she did get her classes under control.

However, the whole nazi thing did not particularly suit her. Actually, I think she may have overdone some of my advice. That particular image does not much appeal to me either.

In her new school, she's been successful with an

Overconfident Experts as Poor Predictors | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Overconfident Experts as Poor Predictors | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Overconfident Experts as Poor Predictors

by larrycuban

Experts are poor predictors of the future.

*”In one study, college counselors were given information about a group of high-school students and asked to predict their freshman grades in college. The counselors had access to test scores, grades, the results of personality and vocational tests, and personal statements from the students, whom they were also permitted to interview. Predictions that were produced by a formula using just test scores and grades were more accurate.”

*In another study, “data from a test used to diagnose brain damage were given to a group of clinical psychologists and their secretaries. The psychologists’ diagnoses were no better than the secretaries.’ “

*In the 1990s, a psychologist interviewed 284 experts who “made their living ‘commenting or offering advice on political and economic trends.’” He asked these experts to predict whether particular events would occur soon in parts of the globe in which they knew well and in areas about which they were familiar but were less

Jersey Jazzman: Logical, Vile Consequences

Jersey Jazzman: Logical, Vile Consequences:

Logical, Vile Consequences

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 52 minutes ago

This Sunday, right after the (error-prone, unreliable, demoralizing, result-of-a-broken-promise) NYC teacher ratings came out, the vile *NY Post*published a hit piece on one of the "lowest rated" teachers in the city. I refuse to provide a link to this disgusting piece of filth, and I have no problem violating copyright laws and the normal ethics of blogging by reprinting the entire thing below (with the teacher's and parents' names removed): The city’s worst teacher has parents at her xxx school looking for a different classroom for their children. Xxx Xxx, a tenured $xx,xxx-a-year ... more »

Corporate Reformers' Motivations Explained!

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 7 hours ago

Why do Bill Gates and Eli Broad and Michael Bloomberg and the Waltons and the Koch brothers and David Tepper and all the rest think they can come in and radically remake both American schools and the teaching profession to their liking? Here's one explanation: It wasn’t just the candy experiment, either. In a game where a computer rolled dice and any score above 12 got the user a $50 gift certificate, those making more than $250,000 were more likely to lie to researchers than those making less than $250,000. “A $50 prize is a measly sum to people who make $250,000 a year,” Berkeley... more »

Reformy Cory

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 8 hours ago

Newark's mayor is one reformy dude: Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker said Monday that he backs Gov. Chris Christie’s education reform measures — including school choice and teacher tenure changes — but he is critical of the new plan for higher education. [...] In addition, Booker said he favors more educational choices for children, including charter schools, public schools run by nonprofits and school vouchers. But he said he was not giving up on traditional public schools, either. “I hold no allegiance to a school delivery model,” Booker said. “I really don’t care if you’re a charter sc... more »

Fool Me Twice...

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 1 day ago

When ACTING NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf worked in NYC, he swore that teacher evaluation data would NEVER be released to the public. Last week, it was. Now, he's making the same promises in New Jersey. How do you think this will turn out? Yesterday, acting education commissioner Chris Cerf tried to quell worries and said he would be against public disclosure of individual teachers' scores. "I don't believe in that," Cerf said in an interview last night. "It is counterproductive, and I believe it is not something we should put out. And especially putting that out in isolatio... more »

30 Pieces of Silver

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 1 day ago

It doesn't take a lot of money to sell out teachers: In the latest move to use money as an incentive, Gov. Chris Christie's administration has added to its new school funding plan a multimillion dollar program to reward schools and districts that meet specific goals and implement targeted reforms. Acting education commissioner Chris Cerf outlined the new "Innovation Fund" in last week's 83-page report on school funding, which serves as the basis of Christie's proposed system for distributing state aid to schools next year and beyond. Under Cerf's plan, the Innovation Fund would serve... more »

Poverty, Schmoverty

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

Childhood poverty bothers ACTING Education Commissioner Chris Cerf: he's worried the little waifs might be ripping him off: In New Jersey and across the nation, the number of students living in poverty is determined by how many of them qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, a federal program run by the Department of Agriculture. But the count is not just about the federally subsidized meals — schools with poor students in the lunch program receive up to 57 percent more state aid than their peers. Citing growing concerns with the program’s susceptibility to fraud and error, acti... more »

Who Has a Job For Life?

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

Not teachers; politicians: Success of congressional incumbents has become something of a half-funny joke recently. These are the figures for those Representatives who sought reelection in the 13 biennial national elections for 435 U.S. House seats from 1982 through 2006: *95.17%* of incumbents who sought reelection were successful. What's more, an average of 396 of the 435 incumbent seat holders sought another term, leaving only 39 "open seats" each biennium for new Members of Congress (Jacobson 2008, 28-29). You can see these effects graphically via thirty-thousand.org - Reelec... more »

The Coming Nightmare For Principals

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

When they start releasing teacher VAM scores in the 'burbs, watch out: Cheryl Champ, principal of Lakeland High School and leader of the northern Westchester/Putnam group, said she agreed with a column written this week by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in which he wrote that making ratings public would be “shaming poorly performing teachers.” “There is a lot of fear around the numbers becoming public,” she said. “It will open a can of worms with parents fighting over teachers with the highest scores. But if we have two classes to fill, we can’t put 60 kids in one teacher’s class.” A... more »

The Incoherent Arguments For Releasing Teacher Evaluations

Duke at Jersey Jazzman - 2 days ago

The only argument I can see here for releasing the error-ridden ratings of NYC teachers seems to be: "Because the unions didn't want us to": UFT President Michael Mulgrew is furious, having failed first to avoid meaningful teacher evaluations and now to block the public release of those ratings. After using money taken from teachers’ salaries to pay lawyers to litigate in vain, he’s now using union funds to wage a media ad campaign attacking the city Department of Education and the rating system. Mulgrew screeches that the ratings are flawed, based on “bad tests, a flawed formula a... more »

About that Florida Virtual School the State Board Shoved Through | Scathing Purple Musings

About that Florida Virtual School the State Board Shoved Through | Scathing Purple Musings:

About that Florida Virtual School the State Board Shoved Through

by Bob Sikes

Few observers were surprised yesterday when a stacked state board of education overruled Orange county school district for rejecting a Charter Schools USAmanaged school. It was predicted here that CSUSA CEO Jonathan Hage – also a member of Rick Scott’s education transition team – would prevail in the end. But the state board’s stunning denial of its own charter school appeals commission on two Florida Virtual School applications should give voters pause. From the Florida Times-Union on the Duval county FVS application:

On Oct. 4, the School Board denied the application from Northeast Florida Virtual Charter School Board Inc., which wanted to open a kindergarten-to- ninth-grade school with a proposed enrollment of 620 students.
The organization failed 12 of the 19 sections of the application of which at least 15 sections must

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Looking back to 2001: Death of the Small Schools Movement

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Looking back to 2001: Death of the Small Schools Movement:

Looking back to 2001: Death of the Small Schools Movement

by Mike Klonsky

"There were two strategies going on at the same time which were diametrically opposed to each other." -- Bill Gerstein

A 2004 article by Beandrea Davis, in the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, tracked the beginning of the end of the small schools movement to the Paul Vallas era in Chicago, circa 1995-2001. By 2004, this promising reform movement, led by teachers with support among parents and community activists, had met its match -- the so-called accountability wave of top-down, test-and-punish, mayor-controlled corporate "reform."

Before he was fired by Mayor Daley, Vallas had succeeded in replacing teacher-led, highly-autonomous small schools with privately managed charter schools and school re-design with school closings. It was a trend he would take to scale as CEO of Philadelphia Public Schools and later as school boss in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Vallas

Davis quotes Vallas during a 2004 press briefing: "I really see charters as

Special Ed Students and Standardized Tests | California Father

Special Ed Students and Standardized Tests | California Father:

Special Ed Students and Standardized Tests

by California Father

In the Sunshine State they want to judge schools for the intellectually disabled with the same standardized tests they give to typical children. Guess what? It’s happening everywhere. Guess what else? Just as Florida seems to be backing down from this policy some disability rights groups want to keep in force. They worry that there won’t be accountability if disabled kids are held to different standards. Well, of course there’s accountability. THOSE KIDS HAVE IEPs. Hold the school responsible if the students aren’t reaching their goals. Don’t punish the kids for not being able to do what they can’t.

Check out this video of some very courageous kids and teachers who are being harmed more than helped by folks trying to protect them. Question: Don’t they deserve better? Answer: They sure do.