Deborah Kenny on Morning Joe: "these types of things cannot be measured by a standardized test." - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Deborah Kenny on Morning Joe: "these types of things cannot be measured by a standardized test." - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.:

Deborah Kenny on Morning Joe: "these types of things cannot be measured by a standardized test."

"You have to empower teachers
and the only is to have real authentic accountability."

"First of all,
the most important things cannot be measured - objectively."
(referring to how a student speaks or writes) ". . . these types of things cannot be measured by a standardized test."

- both quotes by Deborah Kenny, responding to question by Scarborough
on how to evaluate teachers most fairly and effectively

Accountability: The debate continues . . .

Check out clip below from this morning's MSNBC "Morning Joe" special on education.

Deborah Kenny, CEO of Harlem Village Academies joins Randi Weingarten, head of AFT,
and have a worthwhile discussion on teacher accountability and autonomy. Here is the time breakdown by minute marks:

3:00 - Weingarten answers what is needed for true reform
5:00 - Kenny answers same question agreeing with Weingarten but "with a caveat"
6:40 - Kenny lays out how and why our schools are structured to not allow empow

Bill Schechter: I Was a Teacher, Not a Number - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Bill Schechter: I Was a Teacher, Not a Number - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Bill Schechter: I Was a Teacher, Not a Number

by Anthony Cody

Guest post by Bill Schechter.

Clearly, I was a superb teacher. Probably one of the best. That's what the numbers show, and numbers don't lie.

Before I retired after 35-years as a high school teacher, almost none of my school's students failed the state standardized tests mandated by the 1993 Education Reform Act in Massachusetts. How about a passing rate of 97%! True, I taught in an affluent district where most students were so enriched even before they entered my classroom that sometimes I thought their heads would explode. Mostly their parents were professionals. College? Not an issue. The real question: Would it have a little ivy hanging from its name?

If truth be told, the students generally thought the state exams were a joke, and one that they greatly enjoyed. On the ever-proliferating exam days, upperclassmen could sleep in and then needed to attend only an

L.A. Unified bans blindfolding of students during lessons - latimes.com

L.A. Unified bans blindfolding of students during lessons - latimes.com:

L.A. Unified bans blindfolding of students during lessons

The Los Angeles Unified School District has banned the blindfolding of students as part of the curriculum in a fourth-grade reading program because of the sex-abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School.

The blindfolding of students attracted notice after the January arrest of Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewd conduct for allegedly photographing students blindfolded and being spoon-fed his semen.

In light of that case, blindfolding "may be perceived negatively," wrote Deputy Supt. of Instruction Jaime Aquino in a Feb. 23 memo to principals.

The fourth-grade reading program activity is part of the new California Treasures curriculum and is described in

The Big Lies of Florida’s Parent Trigger Bill | Scathing Purple Musings

The Big Lies of Florida’s Parent Trigger Bill | Scathing Purple Musings:

The Big Lies of Florida’s Parent Trigger Bill

by Bob Sikes

Yesterday’s passage of the Florida house’s version of parent trigger legislation is already drawing defensive posturing by it’s most publicized advocate, Parent Revolution. Writes Marcos Restrepo in The Florida Independent:

According to a California-based organization backing Florida’s controversial “Parent Trigger bill,” the measure isn’t being led by charter schools or business-backed groups, and actually has the support of many in the public school system.

Among its many provisions, the controversial “Parent Trigger bill“ would authorize parents of students who attend a failing public school “to submit a petition to the school district requesting implementation of a school turnaround option…..

Linda Serrato of Parent Revolution, a California organization supporting the bill, tells The Florida

ARPA-Ed: A Qualified Thumbs-Up :: Frederick M. Hess

ARPA-Ed: A Qualified Thumbs-Up :: Frederick M. Hess:

ARPA-Ed: A Qualified Thumbs-Up

by Frederick M. Hess • Mar 2, 2012 at 9:32 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has proposed an "Education-ARPA," modeled on the famed Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Obama administration has included a similar proposal, carving the dollars out of i3. Projected funding seems to hover in the $30 to $70 million range. (The proposals are cost neutral, meaning they'd be paid for by off-setting cuts.)

The idea intrigues me, but I've been as confused as most others about what ARPA-ED would look like or actually do. To try to get a clearer picture of what Sen. Bennet and the Obama administration have in mind, I invited the Senator and some key authorities over on Wednesday morning to explain it all at more length. The conversation included a public event, featuring Bennet; Jim Shelton, chief of ED's Office of Innovation and Improvement; John Easton, Director of the Institute for Education Sciences; and Ken Gabriel, the Deputy

What Was the Lorax? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

What Was the Lorax? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

What Was the Lorax?

by obriena

And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere…?

Back in 1971, Dr. Seuss brought us the Lorax, a small orange creature who speaks for the trees (“for the trees have no tongues”). The Lorax goes up against the greedy Once-ler, who cuts down all the Truffula trees in his rush to make a product he believes that everyone must have – Thneeds ("It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat."). As a result of the damage to the environment that his production brings, the Lorax and the other inhabitants of the community (Swomee-Swans, Brown Bar-ba- loots, and Humming-

Schools Matter: Education: Quick Takes

Schools Matter: Education: Quick Takes:

Education: Quick Takes

by P. L. Thomas

I'll avoid the pitfall of quoting Polonius about brevity (hint: Polonius is a blowhard being satirized by Shakespeare and not passing on pearls of wisdom). So instead, I'll credit Stephen Krashen [1] for his dedication to brief commentary on education reform. Here are a couple quick takes on education worthy of deeper and genuine consideration:

• My home state of South Carolina has a long history of creating controversy around issues large and small. SC, I regret to acknowledge, also tends to take stands that are wrong on some or all levels. Now the current Superintendent of Education in SC, Mick Zais, has joined the Tea Party-like fight against federal education policy by challenging Secretary of Education Arne Duncan—specifically about Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which SC has regretfully already adopted and begun to create new state tests, and NCLB reauthorization policies, including Race to the Top and opting out of NCLB.

Duncan has responded with Orwellian bravado.

This exchange is the battle of who can be more wrong.

Duncan represents the political doublespeak of making claims that mask corrosive policy, and Zais represents

Wayne Au: Learning to Read: Charter Schools, Public Education, and the Politics of Educational Research | Seattle Education

Wayne Au: Learning to Read: Charter Schools, Public Education, and the Politics of Educational Research | Seattle Education:

Wayne Au: Learning to Read: Charter Schools, Public Education, and the Politics of Educational Research

by seattleducation2011

Dr. Wayne Au is an Assistant Professor in the Education Program at the University of Washington in Bothell. Dr. Au is also editor of Rethinking Schools.

Dr. Au was a panelist at the PTA forum on charter schools that was held on February 28, 2012. To follow are the opening remarks that he made.

Learning to Read: Charter Schools, Public Education, and the Politics of Educational Research

By Wayne Au

Good evening. Some of you might recall that about a month ago The Seattle Times published an Op-Ed that I

Digital Natives, Or Digital Citizens? | Taking Note

Digital Natives, Or Digital Citizens? | Taking Note:

Digital Natives, Or Digital Citizens?

by John Merrow

How can we make today's students less consumers of technology -- and more the innovators behind it?

I often hear adults describing today’s young people as ‘digital natives,’ usually with a tone of resignation or acceptance: “They are so far ahead of us, but we can turn to them for help,” is the general message I hear.

My reaction is “Whoa there, Nellie,” because to me that kind of thinking smacks of abdication of adult responsibility. Yes, most young people know more than we adults because the fast-changing world of modern technology is alien to us, wildly different from the one we grew up in. But being a ‘digital native’ is not the same as being a ‘digital citizen.’ Young people have always needed ethical guidance and the security of rules and boundaries. That’s more true now because today’s technologies have unprecedented power to harm, as we have seen in documented cases of cyber-bullying and harassment.

I accept the general truth of what someone called the “Three C’s 1-9-90” rule of thumb, sad and

Shanker Blog » A Look At The Education Programs Of The Gates Foundation

Shanker Blog » A Look At The Education Programs Of The Gates Foundation:

A Look At The Education Programs Of The Gates Foundation

by Ken Libby

Our guest author today is Ken Libby, a graduate student studying educational foundations, policy and practice at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest philanthropic organization involved in public education. Their flexible capital allows the foundation to change course, experiment and take on tasks that would be problematic for other organizations.

Although the foundation’s education programs have been the subject of both praise and controversy, one area in which they deserve a great deal of credit is transparency. Unlike most other foundations, which provide a bare minimum, time-lagged account of their activities, Gates not only provides a description of each grant on its annually-filed IRS 990-PF forms, but it also maintains a continually updated list of grants posted on the foundation’s website. This nearly real-time outlet provides the public with information about grants months before

(Real) Graph vs (Fake) Graph Friday « School Finance 101

(Real) Graph vs (Fake) Graph Friday « School Finance 101:

(Real) Graph vs (Fake) Graph Friday

by schoolfinance101

This post provides a quick follow up to yesterday’s post (late last night) when I critiqued a questionable graph from an NJDOE presentation here: State of NJ Schools presentation 2-29-2012

It turns out that the slide presentation had many comparable graphs that deserve at least some attention. First, there’s this graph which attempts to argue that early reading proficiency is a statewide issue, and not just a problem of low income urban neighborhoods:

Rather impressive eh? Certainly gives the impression that early reading deficits are concentrated not in the poorest districts but in the least poor ones.

Why would someone make such an argument? Well, one reason would be if this argument was being coupled with arguments to redistribute funding to those less poor district to help them out – to argue that educational

Diane Ravitch criticizes Jindal education plan | The Advertiser | theadvertiser.com

Author criticizes Jindal education plan | The Advertiser | theadvertiser.com:

Author criticizes Jindal education plan

11:00 PM, Mar. 1, 2012 |

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Guest speaker Diane Ravitch delivers her keynote address during the School Board Association Meeting at the Cajundome Convention Center on Thursday in Lafayette.

Written by

Mike Hasten

• FILED UNDER

• News
• Local News
• Bobby Jindal

LAFAYETTE — Gov. Bobby Jindal and several other governors across the country have bought into an education reform plan that won't work, a nationally recognized education advisor and author told members of the Louisiana School Boards Association on Thursday.

Diane Ravitch, who says she once supported vouchers, charter schools and standardized testing for grading schools, says she reversed her opinions when she found "they don't work."

"It's the wrong way to go," she said. "Public education is in a state of crisis, in a fight for survival."

But Louisiana Superintendent

of Education John White, a

strong supporter of the changes Jindal wants the Legislature to approve in the legislative session that starts March 12, says Ravitch is wrong. He said the current school operations are failing, so "we need solutions and we need change.

"It's an easy thing to show up at a speech and poke holes in other

The Education Games: Reform as Doublespeak | Dailycensored.com

The Education Games: Reform as Doublespeak | Dailycensored.com:

The Education Games: Reform as Doublespeak

by Paul Thomas

Although we currently live in a world informed by George Orwell’s dystopian unmasking-as-novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, we seem unable to acknowledge that the Ministry of Peace is actually waging war. In our current education reform debate, educators must come to terms with Orwell’s recognition of the essential nature of political speech:

“I have not here been considering the literary use of language, but merely language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought. Stuart Chase and others have come near to claiming that all abstract words are meaningless, and have used this as a pretext for advocating a kind of political quietism. Since you don’t know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism? One need not swallow such absurdities as this, but one ought to recognize that the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language, and that one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end. If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy. You cannot speak any of the necessary dialects,