Monday, May 21, 2012

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

Guest post by Teresa McCloskey

While at the park today with the kids, I saw a classmate of Mason's, coincidentally also named Mason and also in as much trouble with authorities as my own Mason.

Mason & Mason F. started kindergarten at the same time. Their date of manufacture is obviously comparable. They are both currently in 7th grade. But Mason F. now stands nearly 2 feet taller than my Mason. He's filling out. Mason F. has very obviously hit puberty in his 12th - 13th year of life. Mason F. was stealing backpacks from two girls then later blew them off to hang with a young lady dressed scantily in short shorts and a spaghetti tank top. He escorted her out of the park looking every inch of a 16 or 17 year old if I hadn't known his real age. Meanwhile, my Mason was happily climbing a tree and riding his bike up & down a hill as fast as he could.

Bradley was also along with us today. He's now a couple inches taller than Mason, and his voice has started

The Key to Making Every Child’s Dreams Come True – Found at SAR Academy

by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)

Popout

~Guest post by Sharon Marson

Schoolwide Enrichment Program Coordinator, SAR Academy, Riverdale, New York

A teary-eyed parent says, "Now my child feels really successful. Thank you for what you are doing.” Another shared that Tuesday (the day our new program is scheduled) is “a day my child refuses to be absent. I'm not allowed to pull him out of school for a doctor's appointment and he has even tried pretending he is well when clearly he has fever, in order to not miss an E-slot." The children themselves ask, "How many days until next Tuesday?" and stop me in school regularly to thank me for "making" the this program.

What has brought such joy and excitement to parents and children? The Schoolwide Enrichment program. This

Why college-for-everybody is a sham: Ravitch - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Why college-for-everybody is a sham: Ravitch - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Why college-for-everybody is a sham: Ravitch

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch . She is a research professor at New York University and author of numerous books, including the best-selling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement. This piece appeared on her blog.
Read full article >>

Test scores plummet — so Florida drops passing grade

by Valerie Strauss

Here’s the latest disaster in Florida’s standardized test-based school accountability system, which has been touted as a model for education reform around the country since it was developed by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Read full article >>

Schools Matter: NYC Parents Infuriated Over "Valueless" Test

Schools Matter: NYC Parents Infuriated Over "Valueless" Test:

NYC Parents Infuriated Over "Valueless" Test

by Judy Rabin

There's a lot of talk of VAM (value added measures) these days as the new tool and solution to closing the achievement gap. VAM is popular with corporate ed deformers because it's now obvious the ones being used over the past decade under NCLB used to declare students, teachers and schools failures, have actually been a huge failure. Unfortunately for the architects of this brilliant education policy, the economic crisis is causing the entire testing craziness to crumble under its own weight. With huge budget gaps and deep cuts to programs, services, and teachers at the same time class sizes have increased across city and across the country, we might be in the midst of a perfect storm strong enough to blow the cover off these valueless, worthless, measuring tools and bogus formulas once and for all.

Today it has been reported that parents in NYC are the latest group to organize, protest and stand up to the child abuse being perpetuated by the explosion in standardized tests costing taxpayers millions of dollars and

Two More Florida Districts Poised to Join National Resolution on High Stakes Testing | Scathing Purple Musings

Two More Florida Districts Poised to Join National Resolution on High Stakes Testing | Scathing Purple Musings:

Two More Florida Districts Poised to Join National Resolution on High Stakes Testing

by Bob Sikes

From TCPalm:

More Florida and Treasure Coast school boards could join a growing nationwide campaign against an “over-reliance” on high-stakes standardized tests like the FCAT.
Almost a week before state officials warned more rigorous grading on the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test triggered a steep decline in scores, the St. Lucie County School Board approved a resolution asking the state to develop a new assessment system that relies less on standardized testing and urges the federal government to reduce testing requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
“There were phone calls that were made to discourage us from doing something because it seems to be politically unpopular,” longtime St. Lucie board member Kathryn Hensley said after approving the resolution May 8. “This board takes a stand for things that are right and we will try to get other districts to follow a like course.”

National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing:

Missouri Education Watchdog: Having the Bully Pulpit Doesn't Mean You Get to be a Bully.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Having the Bully Pulpit Doesn't Mean You Get to be a Bully.:

Having the Bully Pulpit Doesn't Mean You Get to be a Bully.

by stlgretchen

Shouldn't bullying constitute teacher termination?

"It’s illegal to disrespect the president, a North Carolina high school teacher told a student in an audiotape that turned up on YouTube".

This story about a teacher bullying a student is going viral. You can find write ups on this story here andhere and here and here and here.

This social studies teacher should be fired...not only for her bullying tactics, but also her lack of knowledge of what constitutes free speech. What's particularly disturbing is the young man she bullied

Jersey Jazzman: Some Kids (and Teachers) MUST Fail

Jersey Jazzman: Some Kids (and Teachers) MUST Fail:

Some Kids (and Teachers) MUST Fail

by Duke

Those of us fighting back against reforminess have made a tactical mistake: we don't talk about the grading of standardized tests nearly enough. And Todd Farley has a ton of material for us; here he is on the latest debacle in Florida:

he writing portion of this year's FCAT plummeted so precipitously that the abilities of Florida's student writers aren't even being called into question. The validity of the scoring statistics are. While I don't want to say "I told you so" regarding the dubiousness of those statistics, I did tell you so, as my 2009 book highlighted in detail all the ways the numbers produced by the for-profit standardized testing industry cannot be trusted.
Take the stats produced at Pearson scoring centers around the country, where I worked for the better part of 15 years. On the first project I worked scoring student essays, I had to pass a qualifying exam to stay on the job. When I failed that qualifying exam (twice), I was unceremoniously fired. So were half the original hundred scorers who had also failed the tests. Of course, when Pearson realized the next morning they no longer had enough scorers to complete the project on time, they simply lowered the "passing" grade on the qualifying test and put us flunkies right back on the job.
Yes, those of us considered unable to score student essays 12 hours before were

For-profit standardized testing industry can't be trusted - Tampa Bay Times

For-profit standardized testing industry can't be trusted - Tampa Bay Times:

For-profit standardized testing industry can't be trusted

By Todd Farley, Special to the Times
In Print: Sunday, May 20, 2012

Story Tools
	Print this story		Purchase reprints
	Contact the editor		Email Newsletters

The scores for the writing portion of this year's FCAT plummeted so precipitously that the abilities of Florida's student writers aren't even being called into question. The validity of the scoring statistics are. While I don't want to say "I told you so" regarding the dubiousness of those statistics, I did tell you so, as my 2009 book highlighted in detail all the ways the numbers produced by the for-profit standardized testing industry cannot be trusted.

Take the stats produced at Pearson scoring centers around the country, where I worked for the better part of 15 years. On the first project I worked scoring student essays, I had to pass a qualifying exam to stay on the jo

Sunday, May 20, 2012

NYC Educator: File Letter

NYC Educator: File Letter:

File Letter

by NYC Educator

Dear Ms. Walker:

On May 15th, we met in my office with you and your representative, UFT chapter leader Mr. Rosenboom. We discussed the fact that, despite Common Core standards, you persist in teaching literature in your English class. As we discussed, Common Core standards mandate that no more than 25% fiction be taught in the classroom.

As we discussed, you taught several novels, includingThe Grapes of Wrath, The Kite Runner and The Joy Luck Club. You also taught several Shakespeare plays, though these were not included in the list of suggested materials. I suggested you select from our fine selection of non-fiction works, including The History of Cement, or 1 Million Tedious Essays that No One Wants to Read.

You flatly refused, and referred to me as an "ignorant troglodyte." You then stood up and angrily called me a "killjoy," a "Philistine," and a "corporate tool," among other things. Despite Mr. Rosenboom's repeated entreaties

Drip to the Top: Arne Duncan authorizes new ways to increase test scores | Dailycensored.com

Drip to the Top: Arne Duncan authorizes new ways to increase test scores | Dailycensored.com:

Drip to the Top: Arne Duncan authorizes new ways to increase test scores

Posted by: Danny Weil Posted date: May 21, 2012 In: Daily Journal (Opinion), Education | comment : 0 Comments

Published on May 15, 2012 by iamcompucomp

In order to stay competitive with the Chinese, who are now using I.V. drips of amino acids to raise test scores, Arnie Duncan has launched the “Drip to the Top” for junior I.V. Leaguers.

It’s a wild ride in America on “goof balls” but with the population under the screws of the pharmaceutical industry and drugs, both legal and illegal, being doled out and taken

Schools Matter: Why Corporate Media is Ignoring Public School Closings

Schools Matter: Why Corporate Media is Ignoring Public School Closings:

Why Corporate Media is Ignoring Public School Closings

by Judy Rabin

Where will those children find an education? Where will the teachers find work? Almost certainly in an explosion of private sector “charter schools,” where the quality of education -- from the curriculum to books to the food served at lunch -- will be sacrificed to the lowest bidder, and teachers’ salaries and benefits will be sacrificed to the profits of the new private owners, who will also eat up many millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies. - Ellen Brown

Published on Sunday, May 20, 2012 by Common Dreams

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Quiet Drama in Philadelphia

by Ellen Brown

“You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised. . . .
The revolution will be live.”

--From the 1970 hit song by Gil Scott-Heron

Last week, the city of Philadelphia's school system announced that it expects to close 40 public schools next year, and 64 schools by 2017. The school district expects to lose 40% of its current enrollment, and thousands

Lifting the Cap and Political Activity « DFER Watch

Lifting the Cap and Political Activity « DFER Watch:

LIFTING THE CAP AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Posted by ken libby on May 21, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Earlier this year, ERN submitted a Form 990 from the year 2010 noting “political expenditures.” The updated Form 990 noted ERN would file a Form 4720, but that form was not included. However, a more recent Form 990 including the Form 4720 is now available here.

Quickly, here is what the IRS website says about 501c3 organizations and political activity :

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to

WE NEED TO BE RESISTERS, NOT COLLABORATORS « Teachers Fight Back

WE NEED TO BE RESISTERS, NOT COLLABORATORS « Teachers Fight Back:

WE NEED TO BE RESISTERS, NOT COLLABORATORS

by alkleen

Every public school teacher needs to ask themselves the following question: Have I done enough to help fight the pension injustice and the teacher bashing and scapegoating that has been going on over the last several years? What have you done? When the topic comes up among you and your neighbors do you speak out and defend teachers? Have you made your anger known to your legislators? Have you made others aware of the injustices? Have you written in to the newspapers and expressed your views to the press? Have you joined in rallies and protests and discussed ways to fight the ever-increasing attacks on public educators? Have you asked parents for their support? Have you worked along with your union leaders and helped them to address all the problems in your district and throughout the state? Are you prepared to work harder and take some serious actions to stem the tide of oppression that teachers are facing today?
We all need to become resisters. We cannot sit back and passively accept all the injustices being heaped upon teachers. I recently read a wonderful quote from Vaclav Havel, the great Czech playwright and statesman who

The growing fascism in America and the pushback | Seattle Education

The growing fascism in America and the pushback | Seattle Education:

The growing fascism in America and the pushback

by seattleducation2011

Even though this blog is about education it is also about the right that I have to share my views and opinions as well as information that might not be too comfortable for some people to have acknowledged publicly, but nonetheless I am able to write freely without concern of censorship or someone breaking down my door and arresting me. This is America. Right?
When I read the following article, I felt it was time to post what I have seen as an infringement on that right as well as the right that we have to be safe and secure in our own homes as listed in the Bill of Rights, specifically the following amendments:
Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

Diane Ravitch: Do Our Public Schools Threaten National Security? by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books

Do Our Public Schools Threaten National Security? by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books:

Do Our Public Schools Threaten National Security?

Diane Ravitch

US Education Reform and National Security

by Joel I. Klein
Condoleezza Rice, and others. Council on Foreign Relations, 103 pp., available at www.cfr.org

Simpson Kalisher

Syracuse, New York, 1971; detail of a photograph by Simpson Kalisher from his recent book The Alienated Photographer. It is published by Two Penny Press, with an introduction by Luc Sante.

In his Pulitzer Prize–winning book,Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, Richard Hofstadter characterized writing on education in the United States as

a literature of acid criticism and bitter complaint…. The educational jeremiad is as much a feature of our literature as the jeremiad in the Puritan sermons.

Anyone longing for the “good old days,” he noted, would have difficulty finding a time when critics were not lamenting the quality of the public schools. From the 1820s to our own time, reformers have complained about low standards, ignorant teachers, and incompetent school boards.

Most recently, in 1983, an august presidential commission somberly warned that we were (in the title of its statement) “A Nation at Risk” because of the low standards of our public schools. The Reagan-era report said:

Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world.

Our national slippage was caused, said the commission, by “a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.” This mediocre educational performance was nothing less than “an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.”

Imagine the peril, the threat of national disaster: “our very future as a Nation and a people” hung in the balance unless we moved swiftly to improve our public schools. What were we to do? The commission proposed a list of changes, starting with raising graduation requirements for all students and making sure they studied a full curriculum of English, math, science, history, computer science, as well as foreign languages (for the college-bound), the arts, and vocational education.

It also proposed more student time in school, higher standards for entry into

Latest News and Comment from Education