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Monday, June 11, 2012

Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 6-11 AM Posts #soschat #edreform



BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS


New education standards end rote learning, cursive

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago
New education standards end rote learning, cursive: New education standards end rote learning, cursive Jill Tucker Monday, June 11, 2012 ------------------------------ PrintE-mailShareComments (33)Font | Size: ------------------------------ 28 Michael Short / Special to the Chronicle Third-graders practice cursive writing at Encompass Academy in East Oakland. Cursive writing and repetitive learning are not priorities under a new set of national education standards offered to states. IMAGES[image: Third-graders practice cursive writing at Encompass Acade...][image: A student looks at ... more »

RheeFirst! » Four Years On, Checking in With Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's ’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 minutes ago
RheeFirst! » Four Years On, Checking in With Rhee’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed: Four Years On, Checking in With Rhee’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed by admin Written by Julia Lawrence for Education News. Read the entire article here. “*During Michelle Rhee’s tenure as the head of the Washington D.C. public school system, she presided over a wide-ranging staffing overhaul that saw over a third of the district’s principals and administrators fired and replaced. Rhee’s 2008 recruits were called “an army of believers” by a the non-profit New Le... more »

Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process | ED.gov Blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 minutes ago
Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process | ED.gov Blog: Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process by Arne Duncan *This op-ed appeared in today’s edition of Politico.* Last month, I had the honor of giving the commencement address at Howard University. I was filled with hope and inspiration looking out at the faces of all those young people, often the first in their family to attend college. Those students and their families worked hard, sacrificed and saved to go to Howard. And for many of them, getting a degree would not have been possible without the help of Pell Grants and low-... more »

Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman :: Frederick M. Hess

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 32 minutes ago
Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman :: Frederick M. Hess: Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman *by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 11, 2012 at 8:50 am Cross-posted from Education Week* Print Send RSS [image: Share] Share The whip-smart and polished David Coleman has been the quiet architect behind the Common Core. With no formal position, he's played a pivotal role in shepherding and selling the work coordinated by the NGA and CCSSO. Of late, he's been spending most of his t... more »

Vallas on Spending Spree – Another Major Contract For Another Firm He’s Used Before - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Vallas on Spending Spree – Another Major Contract For Another Firm He’s Used Before - Wait, What?: Vallas on Spending Spree – Another Major Contract For Another Firm He’s Used Before by jonpelto The illegally appointed Bridgeport School Board is meeting tonight. One of their agenda items is a discussion about extending the City’s contract with Paul Vallas. Reportedly, board members want to sign a multi-year contract with Vallas in order to prevent the democratically elected board that will soon take office from conducting their own review of whether Vallas is the most appropria... more »

Shanker Blog » Reviving Labor After Wisconsin: Unions Need A New Approach Emphasizing Civil Rights

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Shanker Blog » Reviving Labor After Wisconsin: Unions Need A New Approach Emphasizing Civil Rights: Reviving Labor After Wisconsin: Unions Need A New Approach Emphasizing Civil Rights by Richard D. Kahlenberg *Our guest authors today are Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, and Moshe Z. Marvit, a civil rights attorney. They are authors of the book *Why Labor Organizing Should Be a Civil Right: Rebuilding a Middle-Class Democracy By Enhancing Worker Voice.** Conservatives are calling the failure of public sector unions to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott... more »

The Day I Was Terminated « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
The Day I Was Terminated « Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Day I Was Terminated dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 18 minutes ago A few years ago, when I began speaking candidly about the destructive policies that are now called “education reform,” I had the comfort of knowing that no one could punish me. I didn’t want a job, I didn’t want a political appointment, and I didn’t want a foundation grant. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I [...] The Textbooks in Voucher Academies dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 hour ago There are... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLES by Mike Klonsky Jonah Edelman *Jonah Edelman of Stand for Children bragged last year that “the union cannot strike in Chicago. They will never be able to muster the 75 percent threshold needed to strike.’’* -- Sun-Times, "Sources: CPS teachers authorize strike" N.Y. high school student *“Everyone in school either has a prescription or has a friend who does.”* -- Risky Rise of the Good-Grade Pill Valerie Strauss *In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending a... more »

Adult ed falls to flexibility | Thoughts on Public Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Adult ed falls to flexibility | Thoughts on Public Education: Adult ed falls to flexibility Share Districts are sweeping the funds into K12 Posted on 6/11/12 • Categorized as State Budget By *Kathryn Baron* *This is the first of two articles on the state of adult education in California. The second piece will run on Wednesday, June 13.* The sun was still melting through the gray morning sky as teacher Don Curtis rode his bicycle into a warehouse yard belonging to Oakland Unified School District, opened a large garage door, and backed his classroom into the parking lot. [image: The mo... more »

LAUSD: COURT TO RULE IF STULL CAN BE USED TO SCAPEGOAT GOOD TEACHERS - Perdaily.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
LAUSD: COURT TO RULE IF STULL CAN BE USED TO SCAPEGOAT GOOD TEACHERS - Perdaily.com: LAUSD: COURT TO RULE IF STULL CAN BE USED TO SCAPEGOAT GOOD TEACHERS by Leonard Isenberg [image: Think.jpg] *(Mensaje se repite en Español) (For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)* *According to a recent Los Angeles TImes article, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant will rule today on requiring the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to use student test scores in teacher STULL evaluations, which are supposed to determine if the te... more »

The Innovative Educator: Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
The Innovative Educator: Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past?: Are teachers keeping students prisoners of their past? by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen) *For today’s youth life outside of school is a fast-paced, connected environment where students have the freedom to learn in the spaces and with the tools they love. Once inside school walls however, in many cases digital devices are banned, collaborating is viewed as cheating, and students are often prohibited from accessing the very sites that are necessary for real-world success. * * * *I will be speaking t... more »

$1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
$1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: $1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement by Valerie Strauss In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending about $1.1 million to develop a way to physiologically measure how engaged students are by their teachers’ lessons. This involves “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their engagement levels could be measured. Read full article >> Cha... more »

Schools Matter: Evaluate This! Shows the way forward for authentic education reform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Schools Matter: Evaluate This! Shows the way forward for authentic education reform: Evaluate This! Shows the way forward for authentic education reform by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene *"I am heading for a four-year college. The classes that most helped me prepare for this were NOT test prep classes. They were the ones where I got to explore stuff and do projects." — Tiffany Tuggle (CEJ Member and Senior at UCLA Community School)* Jessica Kochick teaches at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in the Westlake District of Los Angeles near my home. Jess and I come out of the same p... more »

1984: Melinda and Bill Gates’ Dystopian Ethos of Propaganda « Living Behind the Gates

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
1984: Melinda and Bill Gates’ Dystopian Ethos of Propaganda « Living Behind the Gates: 1984: Melinda and Bill Gates’ Dystopian Ethos of Propaganda by livingbehindthegates *“Our** ethos is all that we currently hold to be true. It is what we act upon. It governs our manners, our business, and our politics.”* ~ Howard Zinn *Big Brother*: [*voice-over*] “*This is our land. A land of peace and of plenty. A land of harmony and hope. This is our land. Oceania. These are our people. The workers, the strivers, the builders. These are our people. The builders of our world, struggling, fi... more »

The Educated Reporter: A Troubling Time Capsule: JFK On The State Of Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
The Educated Reporter: A Troubling Time Capsule: JFK On The State Of Education: A Troubling Time Capsule: JFK On The State Of Education by Emily Richmond In his commencement speech at San Diego State College, the President of the United States covered unsurprising territory in describing the challenges facing the nation’s public schools – inequities for minority students, a high dropout rate, and the need for better teacher training. What might be surprising is that the president was John F. Kennedy, and he was addressing the class of 1963. “Our current education programs, much a... more »

NYC Educator: The Bad Business of Being a "Bad" Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
NYC Educator: The Bad Business of Being a "Bad" Teacher: The Bad Business of Being a "Bad" Teacher by NYC Educator * by special guest blogger Turnaround Teacher* I am working at one of the dozens of high schools that Mayor Mike, in his wisdom, has decided to "turnaround." "Turnaround" really means "closing," with all teachers put in excess and forced to reapply for their own jobs. Rumors circulate about how many teachers will be re-hired, but we all know that if only 50% of the staff is rehired, the school gets some extra $1.5 million. The teachers at our school are all obviously ... more »

Last Stand for Children First: The Secret to Effective Teaching - Galvanic Response Bracelets

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Last Stand for Children First: The Secret to Effective Teaching - Galvanic Response Bracelets: The Secret to Effective Teaching - Galvanic Response Bracelets by Last Stand for Children Diane Ravitch recently broke the story of the Gates Foundation awarding grants to both Clemson University and The National Center on Time and Learning for a combined 1.2 million dollars to study the use of Galvanic Response Skin bracelets to determine student engagement. This high tech bling measures emotional arousal via skin conductance, a form of electrodermal activity that grows higher during... more »

Daily Kos: a few brief thoughts after Providence

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago
Daily Kos: a few brief thoughts after Providence: a few brief thoughts after Providence by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) I was delighted with how packed the room was for the session I organized on education with Diane Ravitch and John Jackson. Both Diane and John enjoyed themselves. While I am aware of a diary that was critical of the session, I was honored by the number of people who came up to me and thanked me for the session, who got value from it. I found the part of Providence in which we were located to be delightfully walkable. I enjoyed many of the events and parties out... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Jonah Edelman: Massive Fail!

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago
Jersey Jazzman: Jonah Edelman: Massive Fail!: Jonah Edelman: Massive Fail! by Duke While I hate the thought of the damage a strike will do to Chicago's children and teachers, I can't help but take a little satisfaction in thinking that Jonah Edelman has much to answer for to his masters: *Chicago Teachers Union officials are expected to announce Monday that they have handily met a new 75 percent strike authorization threshold*, despite a blitzkrieg of emails and ads against the action, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The union concluded three days of voting Friday and a weeke... more »

 

New education standards end rote learning, cursive

New education standards end rote learning, cursive:


New education standards end rote learning, cursive

Third-graders practice cursive writing at Encompass Academy in East Oakland. Cursive writing and repetitive learning are not priorities under a new set of national education standards offered to states.
Like fashion, trends in public education come and go.
What's in vogue depends on the decade and often reflects which way the political wind blows and what shiny gadgets have hit the market.
With the threat of Soviet innovation and Sputnik, old math became new math in the 1960s and then back to old arithmetic about 10 years later.
Phonics, like bell bottoms, always makes a comeback, although some fads are but brief historical blips. Think the metric system and mullets.
But with such limited time to teach, there have long been debates about what children need to know and how and when to teach it - and when to stop teaching something altogether.
"Is it still necessary for kids to learn their times table


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/10/MNDQ1OTUIR.DTL#ixzz1xUrkM5EK

RheeFirst! » Four Years On, Checking in With Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's ’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed

RheeFirst! » Four Years On, Checking in With Rhee’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed:


Four Years On, Checking in With Rhee’s DC ‘Army of Believers’–like her, they’ve failed

Written by Julia Lawrence for Education News.  Read the entire article here.
During Michelle Rhee’s tenure as the head of the Washington D.C. public school system, she presided over a wide-ranging staffing overhaul that saw over a third of the district’s principals and administrators fired and replaced. Rhee’s 2008 recruits were called “an army of believers” by a the non-profit New Leaders for New Schools. It has been four years since that revolutionary event, and The Washington Post’s Bill Turque checks in to find out what happened to the the army since then.
The news, it turns out, isn’t great. It isn’t really a surprise since the new hires were often placed at the most difficult and struggling schools in the city, and those are notorious for extensive staff churn. Still, the attrition rate is high, even when that factor is taken into account. Turque estimates that nearly 60% of people who were hired by Rhee in 2008 are now either out of the district entirely or are in positions different from where they began.

Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process | ED.gov Blog

Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process | ED.gov Blog:


Take Politics Out of Student Loan Process

This op-ed appeared in today’s edition of Politico.
Last month, I had the honor of giving the commencement address at Howard University. I was filled with hope and inspiration looking out at the faces of all those young people, often the first in their family to attend college.
Those students and their families worked hard, sacrificed and saved to go to Howard. And for many of them, getting a degree would not have been possible without the help of Pell Grants and low-interest federal student loans.
These students and parents understand that a post-secondary education is the ticket to economic success in America. But while it’s never been more important to have a degree, a certificate or an industry-recognized credential — it’s also never been more expensive.
Since 1995, college costs across the country have increased almost five times faster than median household income. As a result, students and their families are taking on more and more debt. Borrowing to pay for college used to be the exception, now it’s the rule.
About two-thirds of college graduates borrow to go to school, and on average they’re graduating with more than $26,000 in debt. In an economy still recovering from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, getting a job is hard enough, but paying back those loans is daunting.
To make matters worse, a policy change is coming at the end of this month that will make getting out of debt more expensive for more than 7 million young Americans next year: Without congressional action, the interest rate on Stafford loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, starting July 1.
Based on the average loan amount, doubling the Stafford loan interest rate will add more than $1,000 in total costs for borrowers. For students who borrow heavily to go to college, it could cost even more. Only Congress can keep these interest rates from doubling. And yet Congress has so far failed to deliver.
While I appreciate that some congressional Republicans have recently indicated they’re now willing to work with the administration to find a solution, the debate so far has been largely divided along party lines and made no progress.
Americans are tired of political fights in Washington. It’s time to stop talking and start doing. People want Congress to put politics aside and come together to produce real results that make a difference. And you can count college students at the top of that list. I am optimistic that both parties can — and should — find common ground to reach a bipartisan compromise.
President Barack Obama has traveled to colleges and universities across the country, urging Congress do its part to keep college affordable by stopping student loan interest rates from doubling this July. With so many students struggling to both make ends meet and afford the skyrocketing price of a college degree, now is not the right time to heap more costs on them.
All of us share responsibility for making college affordable and keeping the middle-class dream alive. Parents need to be smart consumers, and students need to finish on time or even early.
Colleges and universities need to be efficient and productive in delivering educational value to students. Graduating students ready for success should be as important to professors as research and publishing. Institutions should ensure that keeping costs down does not take a back seat to the expensive amenities outside the classroom. Where it makes sense, they should offer lower-cost options such as online learning.
States must do their part to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets. Last year, 40 states cut higher education spending — the single most significant factor in tuition increases.
The Obama administration is working everyday to do its part. But we need Congress to step up and help. Over the past two years, we’ve worked with Congress to dramatically boost Pell grant funding by passing the Recovery Act. We’ve also eliminated billions of dollars in wasteful taxpayer subsidies to banks, plowing the savings into aid for low-income college students.
We’re helping students better manage their debt after graduation with programs like income-based repayment, loan consolidation and public service loan forgiveness. And we’re proposing to double the number of work-study jobs and make the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent, which would provide $2,500 annually for working families to pay for college. We’re also calling for new incentives for states and institutions to keep college costs from escalating.
We took all of these steps because the president and I believe education is a public good. College should not be reserved only for those who can afford it. Investing in education is the best investment America can make to bolster its competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global economy. If we don’t invest today, we will lose tomorrow.
Now, America can take another simple step forward and keep the interest rate on Stafford loans at 3.4 percent — but only if Congress does its job and comes together around a fair and responsible way to pay for it.
In 2007, a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Republican president came together to lower interest rates on these loans because it was the right thing to do. That Congress did not put politics ahead of students and neither should today’s. Let’s do the right thing for America’s students — and for our nation’s economy.
Arne Duncan is the secretary of education.

Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman :: Frederick M. Hess

Straight Up Conversation: Common Core Architect and New College Board President David Coleman :: Frederick M. Hess: