LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-29-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Local School Boards to Duncan: Back Off!

by dianerav

The U.S. Department of Education is not supposed to control U.S. education.
It was created to serve schools, protect the rights of the neediest children, and coordinate funding programs, not to tell schools what to do.
One prong of the corporate reform movement seeks to strip local school boards of their responsibility, because they don’t like privatization.
The National School Boards Association listened to Secretary Duncan and a leading Republican member of Congress yesterday, then released this statement:
NSBA contact: Linda Embrey, Communications Office
703-838-6737; lembrey@nsba.org
School Board Leaders Advocate for Less Intrusive Role of the U.S. Department of Education
Alexandria, Va. (Jan. 29, 2013) – More than 700 school board members and state school boards association 

The Biggest Testing Scandal of All

by dianerav

Pearson has a contract with the state of Texas for five years that is worth close to $500 million.
That ought to bring gold-plated service and products to the children of Texas, right?
Wrong.
Pearson is advertising for test graders in Texas on craigslist!
The graders need only a bachelor’s degree, and they wil

Special Education Teacher on Common Core

by dianerav

This NYC teacher of children with autism is having trouble teaching her students the Common Core.
Readers, do you have any advice for her?
“I just started teaching full-time in NYC as a special educator for children with autism. Upon arriving my new job, I have not received any support and help from my administration. With the new common core alignment for my students, I know that many of them are just not ready for that kind of learning yet. It is ashamed that my administration is pushing me to teach my kids how to retell details from a text when some of them still need to learn how to hold a pencil, do potty training, or drawing a line. I am absolutely opposed to this common core 

Diane in the Evening 1-28-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Why Are We Hoodwinked by Metrics? by dianerav A reader explains why policymakers and the public are hoodwinked by numbers. Follow the links: *Diane-* *I got to this article in the WSJ through the Naked Capitalism blog I read daily:* Bobby Jindal Backs Down–For Now by dianerav Acting in response to a loud outcry and planned protests, Bobby Jindal has decided not to eliminate funding for hospice care for elderly patients on Medicare. The program has gotten a reprieve until June 30. But the administration is still looking for ways to cut the costs, such as by ... more »

Shanker Blog » Value-Added As A Screening Device: Part II

Shanker Blog » Value-Added As A Screening Device: Part II:

Value-Added As A Screening Device: Part II

by Douglas N. Harris

Our guest author today is Douglas N. Harris, associate professor of economics and University Endowed Chair in Public Education at Tulane University in New Orleans. His latest book, Value-Added Measures in Education, provides an accessible review of the technical and practical issues surrounding these models. 
This past November, I wrote a post for this blog about shifting course in the teacher evaluation movement and using value-added as a “screening device.”  This means that the measures would be used: (1) to help identify teachers who might be struggling and for whom additional classroom observations (and perhaps other information) should be gathered; and (2) to identify classroom observers who might not be doing an effective job.
Screening takes advantage of the low cost of value-added and the fact that the estimates are more accurate in 

LAUSD to compete with charters to run ‘parent trigger’ school | EdSource Today

LAUSD to compete with charters to run ‘parent trigger’ school | EdSource Today:

LAUSD to compete with charters to run ‘parent trigger’ school - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

The parents at 24th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles Unified will have plenty of choices for an operator to take over their school under the “parent trigger” process they initiated this month. One of the contenders will be the district itself.

The school’s Parents’ Union announced Monday it had received letters of intent from eight organizations saying they would submit detailed proposals on how they would turn the low-performing school around. They include six outside charter school operators, a former teacher at the school who created a management organization and Superintendent John Deasy, who pledged “to collaborate with the parents and students of 24th Street by implementing the necessary reform efforts to vastly increase student achievement and the community engagement efforts to date.”

Ten days ago, parents at 24th Street Elementary became the third group, following efforts in Compton Unified and Adelanto Unified, to file a petition under the state’s three-year-old Parent Empowerment Act. That law permits a majority of parents at a low-performing school to petition for a change in governance. The 24th Street Elementary Parents’ Union became the first to actually be welcomed by their district.

In receiving their petition, Deasy had promised to collaborate, not thwart, the parents, and he

Linked learning comes of age in California with new pilot programs - by Susan Frey

by Susan Frey

The California Department of Education has selected 63 districts and county offices of education – many of them working together in consortia – to pilot “linked learning” programs in their high schools beginning next fall. These programs integrate academics with real-world work experiences in an effort to engage students. High schools with linked learning programs typically offer several courses...

Quantify This! | toteachornototeach

Quantify This! | toteachornototeach:

Quantify This!

by aristotlethewise

Quantify This! 

by Robert J. Cabin
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” Albert Einstein
A first-generation college student stays after class to talk with his professor about something he found particularly interesting, even though this topic will not be on the test. An introverted student slowly gains enough confidence to start raising her hand and speaking her mind. A group of formerly disengaged and apathetic students are outraged over the injustice of a particular policy and become personally and professionally committed to righting this wrong.
Many of us teachers live for such moments, when for whatever usually intractable combination of factors, we help 

Do we put students first when we promote them when they aren’t ready? | Get Schooled

Do we put students first when we promote them when they aren’t ready? | Get Schooled:

Do we put students first when we promote them when they aren’t ready?

by Maureen Downey

A retired APS teacher sent me this note in response to my entry a few ago on Michelle Rhee’s state report cards. I thought it was worth sharing as it addresses a problem that I hear about all the time — the promotion of kids who are not ready or prepared for the next grade:

I am a retired teacher from an APS middle school. I have tried to get someone to listen to what I consider a big problem in APS schools.
The article “Students first? really touched me. So many students in APS will never graduate from high school because they can’t read, write, or pass the CRT. It’s not their fault or their parents’ fault.
In the last 10 years of my teaching career, I saw so many students struggle because they were always put up to the next grade level even when they could not pass the grade they were in.
My last two years of teaching were in the sixth grade, and I had students who read on the third, fourth and fifth grade level but were “passed on.”
What does that mean? They did not pass …

UPDATE: National school boards group blasts U.S. Education Department + A tough critique of Common Core on early childhood education

A tough critique of Common Core on early childhood education:

National school boards group blasts U.S. Education Department

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 29, 2013 at 2:01 pm

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(Jacquelyn Martin-Associated Press)

The National Schools Board AssociationTuesday blasted the Obama administration’s education policies, saying that the Education Departmentunder Secretary Arne Duncan has pushed “unnecessary and counter-productive federal intrusion” onto local school districts.

Here is a news release issued Tuesday by the association, which is holding a conference in Washington D.C.

Alexandria, Va. (Jan. 29, 2013) – More than 700 school board members and state school boards association leaders will be meeting with their members of Congress and urging them to co-sponsor legislation, developed by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), to protect local school district governance from unnecessary and counter-productive federal intrusion from the U.S. Department of Education.

School board leaders are in Washington D.C. to take part in NSBA’s 40th annual Federal 

A tough critique of Common Core on early childhood education

Posted by Valerie Strauss on January 29, 2013 at 6:00 am

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The debate on the Common Core State Standards has in recent months centered around the issue of how much fiction high school students should read. Here’s a tough critique on the standards and how they relate to early childhood education. It was written by Edward Miller, a writer and teacher who lives in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. He is the co-author of “Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School,” and you can reach him ted@ed-at-large.com. Nancy Carlsson-Paige is professor emerita of early childhood education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the author of “Taking Back Childhood” and you can reach her at ncarlsso@lesley.edu.

By Edward Miller and Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Recent critiques of the Common Core Standards by Marion Brady and John T. Spencerhave noted that the process for creating the new K-12 standards involved too little researc

Why we love artists but not arts education

by Valerie Strauss

Last week, arts educator and author Lisa Phillips wrote about the top 10 skills young people can learn from arts education. Here is a new piece about the seeming contradiction between America’s love of artists and its penchant to undervalue … Continue reading →

Missouri Education Watchdog: Where's The Math in Common Core Math Problems?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Where's The Math in Common Core Math Problems?:

Where's The Math in Common Core Math Problems?

by stlgretchen

Yesterday we linked an article about the stress on kindergartners because of Common Core standards.

Today we highlight Barry Garelick's article on 5th grade Math taught via Common Core standards.  From EdWeek and Developing the Habits of Mind for Algebraic Thinking:

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

....a friend of mine who lives in Spokane directed me to the website of the Spokane school district, where theyposted a math problem at a meeting for teachers regarding best practices for teaching math.

The teachers were shown the following problem which was given to fifth graders.  They were to discuss the 

DeWitt Clinton – How a School Can Change Us All « JD2718

DeWitt Clinton – How a School Can Change Us All « JD2718:

DeWitt Clinton – How a School Can Change Us All

by jd2718

Danny Schecter is a filmmaker, and a DeWitt Clinton graduate. And he’s making a documentary film about Clinton. The DoE was going to close Clinton, but afraid of a fight with a loyal alumni, they chose to try to move in two small schools instead. Those of us in the Bronx know, those schools are the first steps towards closing DWC. So we will fight. And Danny’s work is part of that. Below are a two-minute promo and a five-minute trailer.
Both excellent, by the way. Professional. Political. He knows this is an assault on public education, and on democracy. And he tells us, without

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What a night! Belafonte at Northwestern and protest at CPS hearings in Uptown

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What a night! Belafonte at Northwestern and protest at CPS hearings in Uptown:

What a night! Belafonte at Northwestern and protest at CPS hearings in Uptown

by Mike Klonsky

"Without radical thought, our society cannot move forward."  -- Harry Belafonte (M. Klonsky pic)

I drove up to Evanston last night to hear the great Harry Belafonte deliver an keynote to a packed house at Northwesteern's Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration 2013. Belafonte was a close friend and supporter of Dr. King. He minced no words last night while talking about our nation's history of racism and oppression of people of color and the great freedom struggle of which he and Dr. King were a part. That racist oppression, said Belafonte, includes the world's largest prison population of more than 2 million people-- mostly people of color, (more than 7 

UPDATE: ISBE’s Chris Koch explains it all. + Hundreds turn out to confront CPS on school closings + The in box. National call-in to Scrap the MAP. « Fred Klonsky

The in box. National call-in to Scrap the MAP. « Fred Klonsky:

ISBE’s Chris Koch explains it all.

by Fred Klonsky

Popout.
Every couple of years they call a meeting of the faculty to show a power point about the new thing.
This time it is the Common Core.
But don’t worry they tell you. You won’t actually have to change anything that you are doing.
That is the

The in box. National call-in to Scrap the MAP.

by Fred Klonsky

GET READY! THIS WEDNESDAY, January 30 is a national call/phone/fax day to tell Seattle Public Schools that you, your organization and your union stand with the teachers in the MAP test boycott. Send your message to Seattle Schools Superintendent José Banda:
Phone: (206) 252-0180
Fax: (206) 252-0209
Email: superintendent@seattleschools.org
If you send an email, share it with us here in the comments!
Next week, WEDNESDAY, February 6 will be a National Day in Solidarity with the Seattle Test Boycott. This can be an opportunity to gather petitions, pass resolutions and take solidarity photo

Raising teacher contributions to our pension is a solution that doesn’t speak to the problem.

by Fred Klonsky

From Ken Previti’s blog:

Pat Hermann explains the present situation clearly for all to comprehend. She is a retired teacher highly admired for her teaching skills in addition to her lengthy and superb support of the past IEA and all of Illinois’ teachers.
What we need is a union that is going to stand up for us and not solve the “pension” problem on 

Hundreds turn out to confront CPS on school closings.

by Fred Klonsky

Photos: DNAinfo
First they tried to shut people up with a one hour power point presentation.
That didn’t work.
Then they tried that old trick of creating 

Schools Matter: High-tech tots?

Schools Matter: High-tech tots?:

High-tech tots?

by skrashen

Science education: No reason to panic
Sent to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, January 27, 2013

The Hopkins District has introduced science education into preschool (“Hopkins School District takes science ed down to the next level,” Jan 27), apparently under the impression that the US is experiencing a shortage of science and technology experts.
Hopkins administrators may want to consult research done by Rutgers Professor Hal Salzman, who concludes that there are two to three qualified graduates for each science/tech opening: There is a surplus, not a shortage.

We are all in favor of high-quality science education, but there is no reason to panic.

Stephen Krashen

Sources:

The Flawed Assumptions and Intentions of Florida’s Education Accountability System | Scathing Purple Musings

The Flawed Assumptions and Intentions of Florida’s Education Accountability System | Scathing Purple Musings:

The Flawed Assumptions and Intentions of Florida’s Education Accountability System

by Bob Sikes

It’s not certain where the most recent work of the Shanker Institute’s Matt DiCarlo will take the debate on Florida’ education accountability system. DiCarlo weighed in on Florida Senate president Don Gaetz comment (here and here) that Florida’s entire education accountability system was “in danger of imploding.” DiCarlo asserts that Gaetz’ assumptions that a correlation should exist between school grades and teacher evaluation is misguided:

…..in summary: Florida’s schools grades are heavily driven by students’ absolute performance levels, while its teacher evaluation ratings are designed to be independent of those levels. Again, both are matters of degree, and there are other reasons to expect to find some level of concentration of “lower-performing” teachers in schools with lower absolute performance scores (e.g., recruitment/retention issues).
That said, Florida’s school and teacher rating systems are, by design, measuring different things. If 

Brian Jones discusses Real vs. Phony Education Reform « Seattle Education

Brian Jones discusses Real vs. Phony Education Reform « Seattle Education:

Brian Jones discusses Real vs. Phony Education Reform

by seattleducation2011

Brian Jones discusses Real vs. Phony Education Reform

I had the pleasure of hearing Brian Jones speak in Portland a few weekends ago, the day after the MAP boycott began, so things have been a bit crazy but…I want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to view this wonderful presentation. Then, we’ll get back to the struggle at hand.

Education activist Brian Jones discusses Real vs. Phony Education Reform and punctures the myth that privatization (charter schools, high-stakes 

Fax the Supe Action Day while wearing Red for Public Ed

by seattleducation2011

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 30th, is “Fax the Supe Action Day” and the first day for Wear Red for Pubic Ed in support of the MAP test boycott.

Please fax, e-mail or call our superintendent, Jose Banda, and let him know that you support the teachers and families who are coming out en masse to boycott the MAP test.

Our supe’s contact information is as follows:

Superintendent José L. Banda

(206) 252-0180

superintendent@seattleschools.org

Fax: (206) 252-0209

Office of the Superintendent

MS: 32-150

P.O. Box 34165

Seattle, WA 98124-1165

By the way, check out Solidarity Austin:

Thanks Austin.

Dora Taylor

 Digital Pink Slips