Time to tweet the stars! « Parents Across America

Time to tweet the stars! « Parents Across America:

Time to tweet the stars!

by pureparents

The propaganda campaign for the parent trigger law created by charter school operators and promoted by ALEC is in full swing.

The big kick-off event is a concert called “Teachers Rock.” Like the “parent tricker” itself, this concert pretends to honor teachers while promoting a movie, “Won’t Back Down,” that is designed to get a lot of them fired and replaced by Teach for America newbies.

The concert will take place this Tuesday, Aug, 14th, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. CBS will air a one-hour special using footage from the concert and the WBD movie, tributes to teachers from stars, etc. on Friday, Aug. 17th, at 8 pm EDT.

We know that most of the performers, like the actors in the movie, don’t have a clue how they are being used to promote school privatization in the guise of parent empowerment, but this concert and WBD movie are going to put the issue front and center and we need 

Dear Teachers Rock performer: Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Dear Teachers Rock performer::

Dear Teachers Rock performer:

by admin

As active parents, we thank you for your support for our public school teachers. We support them, too.
But you need to know that the agenda behind the “Teachers Rock” concert and the “Won’t Back Down” movie this concert promotes does not support teachers or our democratic public school system.
The WBD movie promotes a parent trigger law created by charter school operators and promoted by ALEC, which wrote the Stand Your Ground law. The real aim is to privatize public schools and get rid of union teachers.
The WBD movie is produced by the same company that produced the controversial documentary “Waiting for 

This Week's Education Research Report 8-11-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Education Research Report:

THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT

Teacher Evaluations Found to Improve Midcareer Effectiveness

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 23 hours ago

A new study, “Can Teacher Evaluation Improve Teaching?”, shows that Cincinnati’s rigorous Teacher Evaluation System (TES) has had a direct and lasting effect on midcareer teachers’ performance. Students taught by a teacher in the years after she had been through the evaluation program scored 0.11 standard deviations higher in math, on average, than the students she taught in the years before her evaluation (as measured by end-of-year 4th through 8th grade state tests). This difference is equivalent to about 3 - 4 months of additional instruction or a gain of about 4.5 percentile po... more »

Shocking Suspension Rates in thousands of districts across the nation

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago

The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles has issued “Opportunities Suspended: The Disparate Impact of Disciplinary Exclusion From School,” a nationwide report based on an analysis of Federal government suspension-related data from the 2009-10 school year for grades K-12. This first-ever breakdown of nearly 7,000 districts found that 17% of African American students nationwide received an out-of-school suspension compared to about 5% of White students. The comparable rate for Latinos was 7%. The data analyzed covered about 85% of the... more »

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WHO CAN PAY ATTENTION MORE LIKELY TO FINISH COLLEGE

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago

Young children who are able to pay attention and persist with a task have a 50 percent greater chance of completing college, according to a new study at Oregon State University. Tracking a group of 430 preschool-age children, the study gives compelling evidence that social and behavioral skills, such as paying attention, following directions and completing a task may be even more crucial than academic abilities. And the good news for parents and educators, the researchers said, is that attention and persistence skills are malleable and can be taught. The results were just publi... more »

Students: strong hearts and lungs = better grades

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago

*Physically fit boys and girls scored higher on reading and math, research reveals* Having a healthy heart and lungs may be one of the most important factors for middle school students to make good grades in math and reading, according to findings presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention. "Cardiorespiratory fitness was the only factor that we consistently found to have an impact on both boys' and girls' grades on reading and math tests," said study co-author Trent A. Petrie, PhD, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Sport Psy... more »

Top Content this Week - 8-11-12 The Educator's PLN

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN:

1	Can You Pay Attention for Eight Minutes? NBC Olympic Coverage Says “No” Added by Colette Marie Bennett on August 4, 2012
2	Engage Me! Added by Thomas Whitby on August 12, 2011
3	TEDxCooperUnion- Nina Tandon- Taking TED Into the Classroom Added by Thomas Whitby on June 20, 2012
4	Please leave comments and suggest APPS Posted by Thomas Whitby on April 27, 2012
5	Wordle - Creating Word Clouds Added by Lynda Hall on August 4, 2012
6	How Does #Edchat Connect Educators? Added by Thomas Whitby on August 8, 2012
7	Project Based Learning: Explained. Added by Thomas Whitby on April 9, 2012
8	Share a Connected Experience. Posted by Thomas Whitby on April 9, 2012
9	iPad applications for 5th graders. Posted by Tanya Horton on February 11, 2012
10	Flat Classroom & Project Based Learning Posted by amkamin on May 24, 2012
11	A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4v Added by Thomas Whitby on November 22, 2011
12	Calling all teachers!! Added by Kiera Chase on August 8, 2012
13	www.drgentile.blogspot.com Added by David Gentile on August 7, 2012
14	How to reach young people (13-25 years) with important Health and Safety messages Posted by Richard Wood on August 9, 2012
15	PG Courses at DPCOE Pune Posted by Dhole-Patil on August 10, 2012
16	Thinking Out Loud! If I Don't Tweet and/or Blog, Does That Make Me a "Bad" Teacher? Added by Lisa Mims on August 6, 2012
17	Infrastructure at Dhole Patil College of Engineering Pune Posted by Dhole-Patil on August 7, 2012
18	Wiffiti - the Interactive Message Board Added by Lynda Hall on August 11, 2012
19	Life at DPCOE Pune Posted by Dhole-Patil on August 9, 2012
20	How to reach young people (13-25 years) with important Health and Safety messages. Posted by Richard Wood on August 9, 2012

Daily Kos: Charles Blow gets it right on Romney

Daily Kos: Charles Blow gets it right on Romney:

Charles Blow gets it right on Romney

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

cross-posted from Blue Virginia

Romney is one of the worst presidential candidates in recent memory. He is stiff and awkward and inconsistent and struggles to connect with people. His track record is all over the place. And he’s willing to say anything and embrace anyone to further his ambitions, which is as distasteful a character trait as they come. If you are straightforward with folks, they may disagree with you but most will at least respect you. I’m not sure that Romney ever learned that lesson. His “by any means necessary” approach is by all measures repugnant.

That paragraph is from Wrong-Track Romney, his New York Times column this morning. There is much more of value in there.Let me add about picking Ryan for VP
1. Last time a sitting house member was elected VP was John Nance Garner, but he was Speaker in a landslide year (1932). Before that you have to go back to 1912.
2. Last two times sitting House Members were on ticket as VP candidate did not work out so well -  Geraldine 

This Week's Answer Sheet 8-11-1212 - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post

The Answer Sheet - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post:

Lady Gaga and U-Va.’s Helen Dragas

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 hour ago

Helen Dragas, the rector of the University of Virginia’s governing board, probably never thought she would be linked in a headline to Lady Gaga, but she did it to herself with e-mails she sent to the school’s leaders. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

The deafening silence on test cheating

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 hours ago

Nobody was particularly surprised when the D.C. Inspector General’s Office, after a 17-month investigation into allegations of widespread cheating on standardized tests in D.C. public schools, issued a new report which concluded that the suspicions were unfounded. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Why Alabama is going slow on charter schools

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

This *was written by Larry Lee, who led the study “Lessons Learned from Rural Schools,” a look at 10 high-performing, high-poverty rural schools in Alabama. This appeared in the Birmingham News. * By Larry Lee Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

New school year: doubling down on failed ed policy

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

This *was written by Lisa Guisbond, a policy analyst for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, known as FairTest, a Boston-based organization that aims to improve standardized testing practices and evaluations of students, teachers and schools.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Three core values of science, engineering and how ed reform contradicts them

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

This *was written by Arthur H. Camins, director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.* By Arthur H. Camins President Obama and countless reports all say that improving science and engineering literacy and ensuring a next generation of U.S. scientists and engineers are vital to our future. With the notable exceptions of creationists and climate change deniers, there is little opposition to making this an educational priority. However, current education policies at the state and federal levels contr... more »

Why teachers quit — and why we can’t fire our way to excellence

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

* This was written by Aaron Pallas, professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He writes the Sociological Eye on Education blog—where this post first appeared—for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, non-partisan education-news outlet affiliated with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

On teachers unions and sexual predators

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

Under the headline “*Campbell Brown: Teachers Unions Go to Bat for Sexual Predators*,” the former NBC and CNN reporter writes a tale in The Wall Street Journal about teachers unions that are so darn awful, she says, that they protect members who are sexual predators. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Jindal’s voucher program called ‘bad for religious freedom’ by Interfaith Alliance

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is getting new pushback on his school voucher program, which is now the biggest in the country. Opposition is coming from the Interfaith Alliance, a national, nonpartisan grassroots and educational organization based in Washington that has 185,000 members nationwide made up of 75 faith traditions as well as those of no faith tradition. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Principals: Our struggle to be heard on reform

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This w*as written by Carol Burris and Harry Leonadartos. Burris is the principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York. Leonadartos is the principal of Clarkstown High School North in Rockland County, New York. Carol is the co-author and Harry is an active supporter of the New York Principals letter of concern regarding the evaluation of teachers by student scores. Over 1,500 New York principals and more than 5,400 teachers, parents, professors, administrators and citizens have signed the letter which can be found here. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Fac... more »

What science can — and can’t — do for education

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This *was written by cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His newest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” This appeared on his Science and Education blog.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

U-Va. Faculty Senate expresses concerns to governing board

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

Here’s a letter that the University of Virginia Faculty Senate president, George M. Cohen, sent to the governing Board of Visitors. It expresses concern about how the board plans to move beyond this summer’s leadership fiasco, in which university President Teresa Sullivan was first fired — for reasons that are still not quite clear — and then reinstated after a campus revolt. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Rhee’s teacher evaluation system is revised — but is it improved?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

For three years, 50 percent of the evaluations of many D.C. public school teachers were based on students standardized test scores, a key part of the ground-breaking IMPACT assessment system introduced by Michelle Rhee. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

10 most inaccurate school reform axioms

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

Below Dov Rosenberg lists what he considers the 10 most inaccurate and damaging statements that some school reformers toss around. Rosenberg, who loves to help teachers use technology, has been serving North Carolina public school students and teachers for 11 years as a teacher and instructional technology facilitator. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Newest Olympic sport: Teacher bashing?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

You all know about Michelle Rhee’s anti-teachers union organization StudentsFirst. But do you know about Students Last? It’s a new blog with this as its operating principle: *If you care about education, we would like to encourage you to stop.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Rhee’s teacher evaluation system is revised — but is it improved?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 6 days ago

For three years, 50 percent of the evaluations of many D.C. public school teachers were based on students standardized test scores, a key part of the ground-breaking IMPACT assessment system introduced by Michelle Rhee. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

School district acts to stop ‘sexting’

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 6 days ago

A school district in Michigan is implementing a new policy that allows officials to inspect students’ cellphones and other electronic devices if they receive a complaint of “sexting,” whether it was committed on or off campus. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Missouri Education Watchdog: Look Who Else Is Concerned About Data Collection and Privacy

Missouri Education Watchdog: Look Who Else Is Concerned About Data Collection and Privacy:

Look Who Else Is Concerned About Data Collection and Privacy

by Anngie

We have been warning parents about the potential for their child's personal data to be widely shared across government agencies and with private interests who claim some link to education. Now teachers are beginning to realize that they will be part of the data collection process and their entire teaching careers will be tracked, assessed, and possibly publicized.

Anthony Cody at EducationWeek Teacher posted a great piece a couple months ago summing up the concerns with the longitudinal data systems.

What will it mean for every one of the nation's 50 million students to have a unique ID number, and be included in a national database that tracks every test they ever take? And teachers will get ID