What English classes should look like in Common Core era:

What English classes should look like in Common Core era

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 10, 2013 at 4:00 am

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The recent controversy over how much fiction and non-fiction high school students are supposed to read under the Common Core State Standards begged the question of where the 70 percent non-fiction 30 percent fiction for seniors actually came from and how English classes should look. Here Carol Jago, a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, explains. She has taught high school for 32 years and is associate director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. She is the author of “With Rigor for All: Meeting Common Core Standards for Reading Literature and Classics in the Classroom.”

By Carol Jago

The claim that the Common Core State Standards have abolished the teaching of literature makes for a great headline.  Who wouldn’t get hot and bothered over the idea that high 

A call to Obama to focus on early childhood education

by Valerie Strauss

President Obama will be delivering his State of the Union address outlining his priorities for the next year in a few weeks. Here's an open letter to Obama urging him to make early childhood education -- an initiative that has proven results -- a real priority in his second term. It was written by Elaine Weiss, the national coordinator for theBroader Bolder Approach to Education, and Cassie Schwerner, senior vice president of programs at the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
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2013 RHSU Edu-Scholar Top 10 Lists :: Frederick M. Hess

2013 RHSU Edu-Scholar Top 10 Lists :: Frederick M. Hess:

2013 RHSU Edu-Scholar Top 10 Lists

by Frederick M. Hess  •  Jan 10, 2013 at 5:53 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Yesterday, we unveiled the 2013 RHSU Edu-Scholar rankings. For a lot of readers, the natural question is not how did scholars fare overall, but how are folks faring by field or discipline. After all, the nature of the work is different for the field of psychology versus the field of economics. Today, we will break out the top 10 lists for five disciplinary categories, as well as the top 10 assistant professors.

Now, there's a touch of ambiguity in determining the fields of study. Generally, my uber-competentent research assistant Allie Kimmel worked off of CV's, relying primarily on a scholar's degree discipline and self-identified field. Only when these were sufficiently ambiguous did we seek to make determinations. In the cases where we were compelled to rely on judgment, we looked to scholarly appointments and bodies of work.

I also want to give a shout-out to assistant professors who scored especially well. Given that the Edu-Scholar rankings, by design, favor scholars who've bodies of work and sustained influence, these junior faculty deserve particular note for making the (rarely rewarded) effort to engage in the public square. Harvard's Marty West topped the junior faculty league table, assisted by his prominent role with the Romney campaign. Other assistant profs rounding out the top five included Marcus Winters, Arnie Shober, Jal Mehta, and Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Administration

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Economics

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Confusing Teachers With Teaching: Looking for the Magic Bullet | toteachornototeach

Confusing Teachers With Teaching: Looking for the Magic Bullet | toteachornototeach:

Confusing Teachers With Teaching: Looking for the Magic Bullet

by aristotlethewise

Confusing Teachers With Teaching: Looking for the Magic Bullet

by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Why does the United States do so poorly compared to our international competitors on achievement tests? And why is it that the public — even veteran educators — keep looking for magic bullets that can fix this problem overnight? We’ve tried the magic bullet route for at least 100 years and the U.S. still has poorly performing schools. What are we doing wrong?
Maybe the magic bullet is an illusion. Maybe it’s time to step back and examine alternatives that could gradually but steadily improve students’ learning in ways that would last. Maybe transforming our educational system 

TEACHED: Provocation and Distortion « InterACT

TEACHED: Provocation and Distortion « InterACT:

TEACHED: Provocation and Distortion

by David B. Cohen

A few months ago I wrote about a trio of short films I’d seen, directed by Kelly Amis as part of a project calledTEACHED; two of those films in particular led me to include the description “glossy propaganda” in my blog post title.  To her credit, Amis responded to my critique (and linked to it) in her own blog post, with the clever titleThanks for calling me glossy.   However, she isn’t pleased with the “animosity” in my post – and I’ll admit that my tone conveyed animosity, though aimed at the product rather than the producer.  Given that filmmaking (and writing) are such personal endeavors, I suppose it’s hard to avoid criticizing someone’s work without it having a personal sting, but I hope that my prior post, and this one, are focused on content and issues and not interpreted as personal attacks.  Ms. Amis seems like a nice enough person, with a sense of humor that I appreciate.
For those who don’t want or need all the details, the basic thrust of my problem with the films, and with Amis’s follow-up post, is that the challenges we face in public education are being oversimplified, and seemingly for the 

Schools Matter: Make sure the common core doesn’t get credit for test score inflation

Schools Matter: Make sure the common core doesn’t get credit for test score inflation:

Make sure the common core doesn’t get credit for test score inflation

by skrashen

Make sure the common core doesn’t get credit for test score inflation
S Krashen

Please don’t get too excited when initial common core tests appear to produce low scores. New tests typically result in low scores, and then scores rise for the next few years as teachers and students get used to the test format and content, and teachers learn how to teach to the test (Linn, Gaue and Sanders, 1990). I predict that the Common core will get credit for this bogus “improvement.” The improvement will stop after a few years, but by then the apparent success of the common core will be considered “proven.”

This is exactly what happened after California dismantled bilingual education. In 1998, the same year Proposition 227 passed, a new test, the SAT9, was introduced. Scores went up for everybody the first year, and 227 got the 

Prickly Bush Foundation CEO Responds to Mississippi Parent Advocate | Scathing Purple Musings

Prickly Bush Foundation CEO Responds to Mississippi Parent Advocate | Scathing Purple Musings:

Prickly Bush Foundation CEO Responds to Mississippi Parent Advocate

by Bob Sikes

Nancy Loome, the executive director of The Parents’ Campaign, sure got underneath Patricia Levesque’s skin. The CEO of Bush’s foundation wrote this in response to Loome’s December 31 editorial in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

As executive director of The Parents’ Campaign, Nancy Loome has a responsibility to provide accurate information to the public.
She failed to do that in her editorial, http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013301020017″>”Public education for sale? Big money pushing charter school 

NYC Educator: Bloomberg's Successors

NYC Educator: Bloomberg's Successors:

Bloomberg's Successors

by NYC Educator

Recently. the New York Times ran a story about whom Mayor Bloomberg may have been grooming as a successor. The story mentioned such names as Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and all of us reading it knew they were as far as could be from real consideration. For one thing, neither of them really share the goals of this particular mayor. For another, it's doubtful the mayor's ego could fit in another room with either of these individuals; just witness the rocky relationship he's had with Governor Andrew Cuomo. Clearly the original list, from a Bloomberg letter we've managed to acquire, was edited at least somewhat by Howard Wolfson.

Dear Howie,

Here's my dream list of mayoral candidates in case I decide not to buyrun for a third term. Please clean it up and release it to the press.

Jersey Jazzman: The Great Stuff In Public Schools That Tests Can't Measure

Jersey Jazzman: The Great Stuff In Public Schools That Tests Can't Measure:

The Great Stuff In Public Schools That Tests Can't Measure

by Duke

There will never be a standardized test that captures the truly great things that happen in our public schools:

Hewett had been given the medals to present to the Gov.Livingston foil squad which had already boarded their bus, by the New Jersey Interscholastic Fencing Association, the coaches' governing body that ran the tournament, on what appeared to be a technicality.
As I stood by Hewett at the conclusion of the event she gave a knowing look said 

Ed Notes Online: UFT/Unity District Rep Spills Beans to Chapter Leaders: Just Shut Up and Shove Our Policies Down Their Throats

Ed Notes Online: UFT/Unity District Rep Spills Beans to Chapter Leaders: Just Shut Up and Shove Our Policies Down Their Throats:

UFT/Unity District Rep Spills Beans to Chapter Leaders: Just Shut Up and Shove Our Policies Down Their Throats

by ed notes online

My monthly Chapter Leader meetings are for me to give you important information....It is not the place nor the time to get on a soap box and speak about what you want to speak about.  The information that I present ..is information passed down from our leadership to you so that you can act as the conduit of information to the membership in your school. We present the information, not to be filtered by you or to be changed in any way, it is to be presented to your members as you have heard it from me or any of the leadership in this union.... UFT District Rep in letter to Chapter Leaders in district

I have sad news for the people running out union. Chapter leaders do not work for them or in their interests (unless they are Unity Caucus.) They actually are supposed to w

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 1-9-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Brian Jones in Portland Friday evening

by seattleducation2011

This will be an opportunity to meet Brian Jones, co-narrator of The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman and meet other concerned and active parents, teachers and students. Friday, January 11th, 5-6:30PM Public Forum with Brian Jones: Real VS. Phony … Continue reading →

Another Day – Another Charter School Closure in Florida

by Bob Sikes

From the Lehigh Acres Citizen:

Most of the 149 students at the Lee Alternative Charter School, off of Taylor Lane in Lehigh Acres, are in classes in other schools in Fort Myers this week.
The students and their parents were forced to find other schools because the Lehigh school, which was owned by Richard Milburn Academy Schools of Southwest Florida, was forced to close due to 

Frontline on Rhee: Only Part of the Story

by Duke

So the big Frontline special on Michelle Rhee aired last night. Diane Ravitch says most of what's on my mind right now; I'll only add a bit more:

- How can any report about Michelle Rhee talk about her years teaching in Baltimore yet not mention the reporting this year that shows she greatly exaggerated her "success" as a teacher there? And that now she disavows the very specific claims she made on film that were shown on Frontline last night? How could John Merrow, the reporter, miss this in his piece?

- The test scores that Merrow talked about were all related to the DC-CAS, Washington D.C.'s local test. But Rhee admitted that many of her "gains" were due to simple changes designed expressly to increase scores, and 

More Reformy Gift Card Nonsense

by Duke

What is it with StudentsFirst types and gift cards?

An effort by a Livingston billionaire to hand out free $100 gift cards to Jersey City residents affected by Hurricane Sandy turned into a fiasco last week after some residents who spent hours in line say they were shut out.
The effort led to long lines last Monday night at some community centers, including the Mary McLeod Bethune Center, as people sought to register for the 

The "Disrespectful Student" Dilemna!

by Lisa M

I'm trying. I am really trying. I am trying not to let one kid ruin my enjoyment of my class. I refuse to let this student get on my last nerve to the point where I lose my cool. But, it is hard. And everyday, it gets more difficult. I understand where it comes from. When you live in a household where you are king in a house of two, and then come into

State has taken over probe into past test cheating at Wagner Middle School

by thenotebook

by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has taken over the probe into possible widespread cheating on state tests at Philadelphia's Wagner Middle School in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
The investigation had previously been the purview of the School District of Philadelphia. District spokesman 

Teaching: Dead-End Job: Part I

by teachbad

Wow… Happy New Year. That was a long Teachbreak I just took there. I wouldn’t say I was relaxing. The holidays and family visiting isn’t relaxing. I’ve been working on a major Teachbad-related project and another non-Teachbad-related project which have both kept me unbloggish for a bit. Plus I have a job, kids, dog and a house that’s 115 years old. But I’m back. And I missed you. I hope your heat shields maintained their integrity upon reentry into your classroom this week. I know it was Read more […]

The Brain Drain and The Wallet Drain

by Walt S.

I recently had the poor judgment to log in to the local message board on the Internet. In so doing, I read a post by a town resident regarding the high school.

After reading it, I continued to exercise poor judgment by responding.

I guess I just lack self control! Maybe that's why I continue to write this blog.

Below is the initial statement to which I replied. It is followed by the remainder of the conversation.

I have blocked out all the names of the institutions mentioned because I don't want be accused of spreading disparaging comments about any school system.

 ****************   

Poster:

Unfortunately, the problem of the brain drain at the high school level inNHS is not unique in Bloomfield and Montclair as well. The movement of students to private high schools in this part of Essex County seems to be common.

[/quote]

*****************

W:

I have worked with many students who attend  private schools and also 

NEW WAY TO FUND THE TEACHERS’ PENSION

by alkleen

I have another way that the State of Illinois can repay some of the stolen money to the Teachers’ Pension fund. Currently there are millions of dollars in lottery winnings promised to people who won huge lottery sums. Those people elected to take lifetime payments, so many millions of dollars in promised payments by the state have yet to be paid. The state should simply tell those lottery winners that they will not receive the remainder of their lifetime payments because of the financial problems of the state.
Can you imagine the outrage if the state were to pull such a stunt ? That is exactly what the state has done and 

A new approach to mental math

by Sol

I received an email from Anton Prosolov, a programmer from Norway. His site, King of Mnemonics, sells software that Anton developed, and a novel he wrote.

I have invented a brand new approach to mental math that focuses on something people are good at (which is memory) rather than something they're bad at (which is arithmetics).
For the first time in history, ANY person can now learn how to perform truly amazing calculations 

Coeducation effort at Deep Springs College dealt setback in Inyo County court ruling

by Molly Peterson

Deep Springs sits in California's high desert. A current student body of 28 men runs a cattle ranch and an alfalfa farm, as well, as a mostly organic garden. Credit: Molly Peterson/KPCC
An Inyo County court has dealt a setback to a coeducation effort at an unusual eastern Sierra college that for a 

Helping Explain #optout

by Timothy D. Slekar

Since October I have met with parent groups across the state of Pennsylvania to talk about the opt out movement.  I have been impressed by the strong desire on the part of many parents to explore opt out as a way to fight corporate education reform and the inhumane practice of using high stakes tests [...]

The Education 4 the 99% blog and newsletter has a new name: ClassRoom Struggle!

by ClassroomStruggle

We are very excited to announce that the Occupy Oakland Education Committee and the Education for the 99% Newsletter and Blog have been renamed.  Our new name is ClassRoom Struggle and we are calling to Transform Education, Abolish Capitalism and Heal (TEACH :).  Following is an explanation of this decision.  Please comment to share your [...]

D.C.’s Controversial Former Chancellor Releases New Ed. Policy Report Card

by cmaadmin

The “State of Education” report has met with mixed reviews.

Washington — A new report card released Wednesday gives mostly mediocre and poor grades to states on whether their education policies are conducive to raising student achievement. But it was the report card itself that earned some unfavorable marks during its national debut.
The new annual report card — titled “State of Education: State Policy Report Card” — was released by 

Pew Report Finds that College Degrees Shelter Economic Stability

by cmaadmin

Dana Elliott, Pew Research Center Manager

As recent college graduates have continually struggled with finding employment upon the economic downturn, many have questioned the validity and strength of a college degree. However, a recent report released by Pew Charitable Trusts found that graduates holding four-year college degrees are in actuality more protected in a