Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Special Advance Screening of 'Bully' Documentary Shown in DC

Special Advance Screening of 'Bully' Documentary Shown in DC:

Special Advance Screening of 'Bully' Documentary Shown in DC

Updated: Tuesday, 10 Apr 2012, 10:41 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 10 Apr 2012, 10:41 PM EDT

Will Thomas | twitter@willthomas
will.thomas@foxtv.com

By WILL THOMAS/myfoxdc

WASHINGTON - A special advance screening of the new documentary "Bully" was shown in Washington Tuesday night for the presidents of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, as well as other members of the community.

The movie takes a look at raw and painful bullying and the mental health effects it can have.

"Bully" director, Lee Hirsch, said he knows firsthand from his own childhood what some of the kids he followed were going through every day.

"I was bullied as a kid and you carry that, you carry that memory and frustration and the difficulty of explaining what it is that happens, and I wanted to give a voice, a voice to

Special Advance Screening of 'Bully' Documentary Shown in DC: MyFoxDC.com

Will Gates Foundation ALSO Dump #ALEC owned Michelle Rhee?

RheeFirst!:

FEATURED STORY

As the test cheating scandals heat up around the country, media attention is now increasingly focused on the issue. Viewpoints vary–from the uninformed and superficial to those that offer a deeper scrutiny on the root causes of cheating. In other words, from the stupid to the sublime. Take your pick. We are compiling a running list on recent ErasureGate articles. Please feel free [...]

WHERE IS RHEE?

ACADEMIC REPORTS

NEW POSTS

Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agenda

“Michelle Rhee calls her organization StudentsFirst, a common affectation among corporate-style education reformers, who often like to claim that the tens of millions of dollars they pour into remaking education policy are spent on behalf of students and parents. But in fact, the policies they push—promoting testing, making it easier to fire teachers, opening charter schools, and bringing profit motives into education in a dozen more ways—are not only empirically flawed and anti-teacher, but are often opposed by actual students and parents, who are increasingly pushing back.”

John Merrow: A Trifecta Of Sins–Test cheating, lying and stealing

Documentarian John Merrow seeks whistleblower information on the test cheating on Rhee’s watch. But believes the fallout is much worse.
“The cheating scandal is next to nothing; that is a product of the testing obsession as a whole, something that Michelle Rhee certainly fed, but it is far from the worst part of her tenure. Those test scores mean nothing about how prepared our children are for their futures–whether or not there was cheating.”
…we’re cheating kids on their tests and stealing essential courses like art and music from them! Add to that, we are lying — because when kids get phony scores telling them they are proficient when they need help, that’s an out-and-out lie.
At what point does this trifecta — lying, cheating and stealing — become a felony? Seriously!
In the face of this disheartening news, one has to ask, “who benefits?” I’m stumped. Certainly not children, parents and teachers.”

A DC teacher speaks out on test cheating, Rhee’s successor declines

“NPR, CLAUDIO SANCHEZ: Frazier O’Leary has taught high school English for most of his 42 years in Washington, D.C. He says administrators and teachers may have altered test scores because they feared for their jobs.
O’LEARY: You know, the pressure was put on principals, the pressure was put on teachers that the test scores had to be raised. But it had nothing to do with educating students.
SANCHEZ: In Washington, D.C., test scores account for 50 percent of a teacher’s performance, more than in any other urban school district in the country. It’s the policy Michelle Rhee devised and Chancellor Henderson has continued. Now, this is where you’d expect and want to hear Henderson’s views, not just about the cheating but about everything else on her plate. After repeated requests though, Henderson declined to speak to NPR. An email from her office read: We felt that the scope of the story did not need the chancellor’s voice in it. Henderson has called the cheating allegations unfounded, but local and federal investigations are under way and the school system’s credibility is on the line. “

Rhee’s DC record: highest per pupil spending ever but poorest student achievement gains among all cities tested

Under her watch, Rhee resorted to smoke and mirrors toclaim budgetary constraints. Attorney Mary Levy, fiscal analyst of education budgets and frequent expert witness in DC Council hearings, sent the following fiscal table showing DCPS 07-11 funding and spending.
Levy writes: “Per student spending from all funding sources rose by $3,744 in the four years from 2007 to 2011, a total of 27%, compared to local inflation of 10%. A cause for concern is that much of the $80 million increase was funded by increases in special Congressional earmarks ($27 million) big foundation grants ($20 million) and federal entitlement grants ($6 million). Federal stimulus funding increased by $22 million. Cutbacks in any of these sources could create a big impact on DCPS.”
In other words, Rhee ran DCPS with more money than previous superintendents. This massive funding was unsustainably sourced from one-offs and private grants, and had nothing to show for it--not statistically significant gains in student achievement. And the widest black-white 8th grade achievement gap among all cities tested.

Rhee et al. forms yet another group to wage more war against teachers

“’If these 1-percenters want to mount an AstroTurf campaign with their deep pockets, they’ve done this before,’ [union president Mulgrew] said. ‘But let’s be clear: the public school parents have not bought into the Bloomberg education reform movement.’
…Ms. Rhee and Mr. Klein have a confrontational history with teachers’ unions. But some charter school leaders and other advocates have spoken of the need to lower the temperature of the debate and have turned their focus inward on improving their own schools.
‘Folks are genuinely looking for opportunities to make peace and not war,’ Mr. Canada said. ‘And I think that’s terrific. But someone has to make war.’”

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Is There A War On Higher Education? | Loop21

Is There A War On Higher Education? | Loop21:

Is There A War On Higher Education?

LOOP 21 COMPOSITE

Minority youth aiming for college degrees are faced with crushing debt and soaring unemployment

Since 1985, the cost of college has increased by 498%. Outstanding student loan debt, as reported earlier this year by Loop 21, has hit $1 trillion. In addition, wages for most Americans have remained stagnant since the 1970s, and some studies, like the one published in 2011 by Sentier Research, have shown that household income has been falling ever since. The paper states, “Real median annual household income has fallen significantly more during the economic recovery period from June 2009 to June 2011 than during

Smoking Toward New Jersey: Education Reform and What I Learned at Taft High School

Smoking Toward New Jersey: Education Reform and What I Learned at Taft High School:

Education Reform and What I Learned at Taft High School

Here's what education reformers like:

- Tenure reform, which would end tenure to stop protecting “bad” teachers who supposedly are responsible for “failing” schools.

- School turnaround, where lots of teachers at “failing” schools get fired in order to stop the failing.

- Closure of “failing” schools. Self explanatory.

- Merit pay, where teachers get extra money to teach better, because presumably, without financial incentive, they’re not teaching as well as they could, resulting in - you guessed it - more “failing”.

- High stakes testing, based on which teachers are evaluated and “bad” teachers are identified. Again, this is supposed to cut down on the “failing.”

- Ending LIFO (Last In First Out), a system said to promote failing because

Missouri Education Watchdog: MN Social Studies Standards Paint a Picture of a Different America

Missouri Education Watchdog: MN Social Studies Standards Paint a Picture of a Different America:

MN Social Studies Standards Paint a Picture of a Different America

by Anngie

Though there is plenty of discussion occurring regarding the language arts and math standards that have been drafted for Common Core, there is some solace in knowing that at the end of the day a noun is still a noun and 2+2=4. When it comes to history or, as the progressives have renamed it, social studies, what seems reasonable to teach becomes far less clear. The Common Corers will tell you they are only working on math and language arts, but only a fool would believe there are not people already assigned to develop standards for "social studies" and science. These are two subjects where it is often difficult to separate fact from ideology.

We found one state who is working to develop new social studies standards and a professional view of those standards. Marjorie Holsten, an attorney and teacher of the US Constitution for home schooled students and a board member of Education Liberty Watch, reviewed the third draftof the social studies standards for MN high school students which is now available for a final public comment period. What she found in these standards is staggering and is provided here in its entirety to preserve the

As States’ Pre-K Funding Declines, Feds Offer Another Early Learning Challenge Round «

As States’ Pre-K Funding Declines, Feds Offer Another Early Learning Challenge Round «:

As States’ Pre-K Funding Declines, Feds Offer Another Early Learning Challenge Round

April 11, 2012 by Irene Sege

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

Over the past decade, pre-kindergarten enrollment across the country has increased, but states’ spending on pre-kindergarten has fallen 15% in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars, according to a report – “The State of Preschool 2011″ – released yesterday in Washington by the National Institute for Early Education Research. State funding for pre-k was down almost $60 million in 2010-11, compared with the previous school year, the annual report also found.

The news, however, was not all bad. In his remarks at yesterday’s NIEER event, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan referenced the previous day’s announcement of a new, albeit more modest, round of the federal Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge. Massachusetts was one of nine states that

We Don’t Judge Teachers by Numbers Alone – The Same Should Go for (Some?) Schools

We Don’t Judge Teachers by Numbers Alone – The Same Should Go for (Some?) Schools:

We Don’t Judge Teachers by Numbers Alone – The Same Should Go for (Some?) Schools

by Anne Hyslop

In the Huffington Post yesterday, Fordham’s Mike Petrilli throws his support behind adding a UK-esque school inspectorate system into school accountability – a topic Craig Jerald explored in Education Sector’s On Her Majesty’s School Inspection Service and in subsequent chatter on this blog. Petrilli writes:

To the extent that school grades (and consequences linked to them) drive policy and behavior, we ought to make sure that those grades are informed by more than just numbers.

I completely agree that numbers – specifically test scores alone – cannot paint a complete picture of school quality. There are numerous other pieces of information – whether they are quantitative measures like AP success, postsecondary enrollment, and college remediation rates, or qualitative observations made by professional inspectors – that could inform our perceptions of school performance. And I am a firm believer in the

Schools Matter: Krash Course #6: Educators Know, Reformers Don't

Schools Matter: Krash Course #6: Educators Know, Reformers Don't:

Krash Course #6: Educators Know, Reformers Don't

by P. L. Thomas

When Diane Ravitch asks "What do teachers want?" we must be diligent to clarify that educators know what reformers do not.

As I have noted recently, education has been driven historically by non-educators, and the current self-identified crop of "reformers" have no expertise or experience as educators, resulting in an important inverse relationship between what educators identify as important education reform and what "deformers" claim is reform but is actually perpetuating and expanding the status quo.

Two messages must come from the teacher survey so well examined by Ravitch:

(1) Teacher expertise and experience are calling for the following:

"1. Family involvement and support (84 percent said it would have a 'very strong impact');
"2. High expectations for all students (71 percent said it would have a 'very strong impact');
"3. Fewer students in each class (62 percent said it

Charter Schools Spend More On Administration, Less On Instruction Than Traditional Public Schools: Study

Charter Schools Spend More On Administration, Less On Instruction Than Traditional Public Schools: Study:

Charter Schools Spend More On Administration, Less On Instruction Than Traditional Public Schools: Study

Posted: 04/10/2012 4:49 pm Updated: 04/10/2012 4:50 pm

Public schools are often criticized and scrutinized for perceived administrative bloat, tied to concerns that those sitting behind desks in district offices are diverting funds away from investment in students. Conversely, charter schools are touted for successes through their leaner administrative model, allowing for more resources to go directly to classrooms.

But a new study by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Educationdebunks this belief. By looking at charter and traditional public schools in Michigan, where both receive about the same operational funding, researchers found that charter schools actually spent more per-student on administration and less on instruction than non-charter public schools.

Controlling for factors that determine school resource allocation like student enrollment and school location, Michigan State University's David Arsen and the

Divisive Darling of the Right Wing Michelle Rhee Details How Her Ed Reform Group Will Jack The Mayor’s Race [Video] | Politicker

Michelle Rhee Details How New Ed Reform Group Will Influence The Mayor’s Race [Video] | Politicker:

Michelle Rhee Details How New Ed Reform Group Will Influence The Mayor’s Race [Video]

By David Freedlander 4/10 5:31pm

Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of the Washington DC school system and now the the head of Students FirstNY, a new group dedicated to electing education reformers in New York, appeared on “Good Day New York this morning to lay out her agenda.

“We want to make sure that the incredible work that has been done in New York City over the last decade or so continues on. A very strong foundation has been built. In many ways, New York City serves as the model for other cities across the country, particularly for Democratic mayors who want to get involved in education,” she said. “We don’t want to see any kind of a backslide. We want to make sure that the next mayor, whoever that person is, is putting education at the forefront.”

The group–which includes former schools chief Joel Klein and former top Bloomberg

From Diane Ravitch: Stunning statistics and a plea for investing in teachers - News Blog - Rochester City Newspaper

From Diane Ravitch: Stunning statistics and a plea for investing in teachers - News Blog - Rochester City Newspaper:

From Diane Ravitch: Stunning statistics and a plea for investing in teachers

By Mary Anna Towler Comments (0)

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012