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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Big Education Ape: 3-29-12 AM Parents, Not Teachers, Key to Education EDition #soschat

Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!:
Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!

Published by Coopmike48 – 8 news spotters today

Variety of Models Fuels Hybrid Charter Growth

edweek.org - Published Online: March 5, 2012Published in Print: March 7, 2012, as Variety of Models Fuel Hybrid Charter GrowthIn innovation-friendly pockets across the country, the number of hybrid charter scho...
DianeRavitch

Adrienne Rich, Feminist Poet, Dies at 82

nytimes.com - Adrienne Rich, a poet of towering reputation and towering rage, whose work — distinguished by an unswerving progressive vision and a dazzling, empathic ferocity — brought the oppression of women an...
mikeklonsky

UK Study: Parents, Not Teachers, Key to Education

educationnews.org - A study by the Royal Economic Society, to be presented this week, finds that parental effect on test results is five times that of teachers’ influence. This comes in the wake of warnings by Sir Mic...
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Different Results, Same Flawed Methods

shankerblog.org - Without question, designing school and district rating systems is a difficult task, and Ohio was somewhat ahead of the curve in attempting to do so (and they’re also great about releasing a ton of ...
DianeRavitch

OUR CHILDREN FOR SALE « Jean Jacques Crawb's Blog

jeanjacquescrawb.wordpress.com - About 15 years ago, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created the concept of charter schools. These schools were to be free of the entanglement of most state regulations. They also were to be bastio...
DianeRavitch

CT News Junkie | OP-ED

ctnewsjunkie.com - by Sarah Darer Littman | Mar 23, 2012 11:21am(25) Comments | Log in to Post a Comment Posted to: Opinion (Updated 4:39 p.m. Sunday) Wednesday’s Where We Live with John Dankosky featured three membe...
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Adrienne Rich. RIP. « Fred Klonsky

preaprez.wordpress.com - BY ADRIENNE RICHThere’s a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted who ...
fklonsky

Every man a King

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Huey Long was a Progressive Senator during the Great Depression who believed in wealth redistribution. He organized upwards of seven million Americans to see this dream of wealth redistribution com...
coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

Business Bets on the G.O.P. May Be Backfiring

democraticunderground.com - When the number one goal of the republican party is to make president Obama a on term president, so they have to take the opposite stand on "anything" the president is for, it's king of hard to get...
coopmike48

CrimeSee all

Adopted Board Resolutions

tasanet.org - The following is a list of school districts that have adopted the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students. As of March 27, 2012, 192 districts have n...
DianeRavitch

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Princeton Review to Sell Test-Prep Unit

online.wsj.com - BY MELODIE WARNER Princeton Review Inc. agreed to sell its test-preparation business and the "Princeton Review" brand to private-equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners for $33 million in cash as ...
leoniehaimson

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The American Spring’s New Tactics

theassailedteacher.com - The warm weather is rapidly approaching, which means the possibility of a resurgence of protests across the country. The Occupy movement has been scattered thanks to the evictions by the corporatis...
leoniehaimson

Reports from the Front Lines  | Occupy Together

occupytogether.org - This week in Occupy, the arrival of Spring brought everyone back into the streets, thousands rallied for Trayvon Martin, Union Square was #occupied and Occupy UC Davis permanently closed a bank bra...
coopmike48

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CT News Junkie | OP-ED

ctnewsjunkie.com - by Sarah Darer Littman | Mar 23, 2012 11:21am(25) Comments | Log in to Post a Comment Posted to: Opinion (Updated 4:39 p.m. Sunday) Wednesday’s Where We Live with John Dankosky featured three membe...
DianeRavitch

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A lot hangs on Prop 98 ruling | Thoughts on Public Education

A lot hangs on Prop 98 ruling | Thoughts on Public Education:


A lot hangs on Prop 98 ruling - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess
The onus was on the attorney for education groups suing the state: convince a skeptical Superior Court judge that the governor and Legislature violated voters’ will and the minimum school funding requirement under Proposition 98 by diverting billions in tax revenue from the General Fund last year.
“There will be no such thing as a minimum guarantee if the state can manipulate it for political purposes,” attorney Deborah Caplan told San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn on Wednesday.
Judge Kahn issued this one paragraph preliminary ruling on Tuesday then entertained 90 minutes of testimony on Wednesday.
Judge Kahn issued this one-paragraph preliminary ruling on Tuesday then entertained 90 minutes of testimony on Wednesday. Click to read.
In a one-paragraph preliminary ruling the day before, Kahn wrote that nothing in the wording of Proposition 98 precluded the Legislature from shifting $5 billion in sales tax and 
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Early morning Fox. « Fred Klonsky

Early morning Fox. « Fred Klonsky:


Early morning Fox.

by Fred Klonsky

WGN’s early morning sport reporter, Pat Tomasulo.
I’m getting ready to fly off to Brooklyn this morning to see my daughters, their partners, my grand kids and the rest of my New York family.
I never watch Fox. But I had heard that Kyle Olson was on something called Fox and Friends at 5:50 AM.
I usually turn on WGN, a local station for weather, sports and traffic as I get dressed. On this morning, I switched over to Fox.
Olson was telling this story of a Wisconsin custodian who allegedly got fired for having a Scott Walker bumper sticker on her car.
Can I say the story sounded fishy? But fishier still was Olson and the host going on about how this shows how the unions are all about “their way or the highway.”
One (and only one) problem with this story was that the WEAC, the teachers union in Wisconsin, never was a


The in box. Rockford out.

by Fred Klonsky

Fred,
RPS205 in Illinois is on strike as of this morning. Our BOE broke off negotiation last night around 10:00 pm even though progress was being made. So, today I’m off to the picket line. Parents are angry at teachers for the inconvenience, and the Tea Party (against teachers) and Occupy Rockford (for teachers) will be joining the fray. And to complete the party, we have almost all of the district administration making 6 figure salaries with an interim superintendent making 225,000, but 
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Reform You Can Believe In « InterACT

Reform You Can Believe In « InterACT:


Reform You Can Believe In

by David B. Cohen
Eslava-BurtonDebra Eslava-Burton, SFUSD Supervisor for Teacher Support and Development, discussing National Board Certification at the Stanford "Mitchell 20" screening, Mar. 20 (photo by the author).
What if I told you I know of a school improvement strategy that would…
  • raise the level of teaching for individuals and school staffs – without requiring expensive and often ineffective trainers or consultants?
  • provide the individual validation and “rewards” that reformers would offer through performance pay – but without pitting teachers against each other or rewarding the wrong behaviors?
  • engender support among school board members, administrators, and other policy makers – without undermining or alienating teachers or unions?
  • improve student learning – without driving anyone to focus on testing, scores, or value-added measures?
  • improve student attendance and parent engagement at school – without relying on any “triggers”, 
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Give me charters or give me.... - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Give me charters or give me.... - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Answer Sheet




Give me charters or give me....

by Valerie Strauss
This was written by Jack Hassard, professor emeritus of science education at Georgia State University and a former high school teacher. He is the author of these books: “The Whole Cosmos Catalog of Science, Science Experiences , Adventures in Geology, The Art of Teaching Science” (2009), and most recently, “Science As Inquiry.” Specialities include science teaching and learning, global thinking and education, geology, web publishing, blogging, writing, and antiquing. A version of this was originally posted at his blog, The Art of Teaching Science .
Read full article >>

High school that monitors students’ tweets expels senior

by Valerie Strauss
A high school in Indiana that tracks students’ tweets made through the school’s computer system — even if it is done from a teen’s home — expelled a senior close to graduation for what it said was a message with foul language.
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Questions about NAEP benchmarks

by Valerie Strauss
This was written by James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable, and is part of a discussion on this blog about the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It started with a post by Harvey that was critical of NAEP’s achievement benchmarks. Then I published a response from David Driscoll, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which adminsters NAEP, and which took issue with Harvey’s post. And now, here is Harvey, in response to Driscoll.
Read full article >>
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All Education Matters: The Loop 21: GOP Candidates Unpopular Among Young Voters

All Education Matters: The Loop 21: GOP Candidates Unpopular Among Young Voters:


The Loop 21: GOP Candidates Unpopular Among Young Voters

Super Tuesday couldn't be ignored, especially after watching these GOP debates. Regardless of how you feel about the electoral system or the Republicans, it has - in the very least - been quite entertaining. At one point, it seemed Romney and Gingrich were going to challenge one another to a duel.

I reached out to several experts about the youth vote recently, and wrote an articled entitled, "GOP Candidates Unpopular Among Youth Voters." 

Here's a snippet:
GOP fails to capture the youth like Democrats have in the past

When it comes to the youth vote, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney are tied at a dismal figure.

According to a report by The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement 
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Missouri Education Watchdog: Life is Hard and Scary Sometimes. Sorry, Can't Teach this Fact or Talk About Scary/Unpleasant Moments in NYC Public Schools.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Life is Hard and Scary Sometimes. Sorry, Can't Teach this Fact or Talk About Scary/Unpleasant Moments in NYC Public Schools.:


Life is Hard and Scary Sometimes. Sorry, Can't Teach this Fact or Talk About Scary/Unpleasant Moments in NYC Public Schools.

by stlgretchen
Life will be difficult for these NYC public school kids when real life disappoints hit them.  Life is scary and unfair sometimes but adults are attempting to shield them from any thing that would cause them discomfort or unpleasant emotions:

In a bizarre case of political correctness run wild, educrats have banned references to “dinosaurs,” “birthdays,” “Halloween” and dozens of other topics on city-issued tests.

That’s because they fear such topics “could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students.” 

Dinosaurs, for example, call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists; birthdays aren’t 
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Louisiana Educator: Holly Boffy is Wrong

Louisiana Educator: Holly Boffy is Wrong:


Holly Boffy is Wrong

by Michael Deshotels
Holly Boffy, a teacher turned politician has now come to the conclusion that the current discontent among teachers is really just a small minority disturbance caused by the "teacher unions". What a ridiculous politically motivated whine! I hope my readers can take the time to read the top story in The Education Week Teachersection this week. It is an account of the evaluation experience that the teachers in Louisiana will soon be subjected to. This Florida teacher likens her experience to Dante's rings of hell. Please read also the blog this week by Dianne Ravitch. She has some pointed remarks about what is now happening in Louisiana.

Ms Boffy is wrong! She has sold her soul to the non-educator "reformers" who would have the public believe that the under performance of many Louisiana students should be totally and permanently placed upon the shoulders of teachers. These reformers like White and Jindal talk about honoring and "empowering" teachers while they systematically dismantle both the profession and the public schools our children depend upon. The unions had nothing to do with these false charges against teachers. The unions had nothing to do with the claim that the 
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Jersey Jazzman: They Just Don't Trust Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: They Just Don't Trust Teachers:


They Just Don't Trust Teachers

by Duke
When I went in for my yearly union indoctrination, they told me the goal is to only be a good teacher when I have my observation. That's when the union gives us permission to abandon our usual sloth and really shine; the rest of the time, we teachers pretty much post on Facebook, eat snacks, and let the kids run amuck.

But damn these corporate reformers - they've figured out our nefarious scheme!
The state announced new twists Wednesday in its effort to devise better teacher evaluations: requiring unannounced classroom observations, including some by educators from outside the teacher’s building.
Now teachers typically are told in advance when they are to be observed in the classroom for formal evaluations, which often are conducted by their supervisors. The precise conditions for observations often are spelled out in union contracts. A spokesman for the 
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“Charter School” Suddenly Appears in Adelanto Parent Trigger Petition | Scathing Purple Musings

“Charter School” Suddenly Appears in Adelanto Parent Trigger Petition | Scathing Purple Musings:


“Charter School” Suddenly Appears in Adelanto Parent Trigger Petition

by Bob Sikes
Parent Revolution finally got they really wanted in their efforts to flip a public school in California. While the parents who they sold initially just wanted modest changes, a rejection of their signatures gave them the opportunity to get a new petition. This time it suits the folks who pay the salaries of Parent Revolution’s operatives as “charter school” is on the new petition. Writes Teresa Watanabe in theLos Angeles Times:
The petition asks that Desert Trails be transformed into a charter school, but parents reiterated they would prefer that reforms be collectively developed by an independent organization of parents, teachers and district staff.
A key change, parents said, would be the ability to choose their own principal with more flexibility to remove ineffective teachers and more autonomy over curriculum and budgets.
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the parents originally were looking for more limited and


Arne Duncan Feels “Tests Accurately Reflect Student Learning”

by Bob Sikes
Last weekend’s release by the Atlanta Journal Constitutionof an investigative report into possible cheating across the nation drew this email comment from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan:
“These findings are concerning,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an emailed statement after being briefed on the AJC’s analysis.
He added: “States, districts, schools and testing companies should have  sensible safeguards in place to ensure tests accurately reflect student  learning.”
Does Duncan believe that tests can accurately “reflect student learning?”  If so, he’s taking the position that one multiple choice test – designed far away from the building where a student goes to school – is absolute 
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