SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break EXTRA 3-26-13 #soschat #edreform

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break

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CORPORATE ED REFORM

And in Bridgeport, the winner is Finch’s Campaign Treasurer, Kenneth Moales, Jr.

by jonpelto

As expected, the five members of the Bridgeport Board of Education voted last night to elect Kenneth Moales Jr. the new chairman of the board. Moales is the well-connected insider who not only served as Mayor Bill Finch’s campaign treasurer but was appointed to the illegal Board of Education by the Malloy Administration and then [...]

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Department of Education Statement on Request for Flexibility from California's Core District Consortium

Our strong preference and focus in the ESEA flexibility process remains on working with states, including California, if it decides to seek ESEA flexibility for the upcoming school year. While California does not currently have an ESEA flexibility application under review, we have received a waiver request from CORE, a unique consortium of California districts.

NEA RA retired delegate election. Ballots should be coming any day. I’m running.

by Fred Klonsky

A reminder that I am running for one of the 9 slots for IEA Retired delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly in Hotlanta this summer.
Retired members vote by mail and the ballots must be mailed by April 25th. No need to point out whose interests  I will be looking out for. But if you don’t get the ballot in the mail, I can’t do my job.
Check your mail boxes over the next couple of days and don’t set it aside. You’ll forget. I always do.

Ed News Roundup

by Melissa Westbrook

More stories on the hopeful side.

From Scholastic, a story about the superintendent of what is considered the "best" public school district in the country.  That would be Mooresville Graded School District, outside of Charlotte, NC.  The article is called 10 Lessons From the Best District in the Country.  From the article:

The district undertook a massive “21st Century Digital Conversion” in 2007. Students now frequently work in groups, and they use one of dozens of interactive learning platforms instead of textbooks. Rather than lecturing, teachers act as facilitators, circulating among groups or leading students in interactive lessons.

Results of this transformation are off the charts—the graduation rate for African-American students was 95 percent in 2012, up from 67 percent five years earlier. The overall graduation rate is the third highest in the state, and 88 percent of 2012 graduates are attending college, compared with 74 percent in 2007. Mooresville has accomplished this while keeping spending in check—among the state’s 115 school districts, it ranks 100th in 

Camden: So Very "Accountable"

by Duke

This Camden takeover is going to be so awesome! Just ask the choicest of the choosy:

Those changes, according to Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a professor at Rutgers-Camden and the founder of Camden’s LEAP Academy University Charter School, might include the following:

• New administrative leadership

• Private schools that accept vouchers

• An influx of additional charter schools

• National charter school chains or other educational organizations charged with running persistently failing 

I Don't Believe John King When He Claims Tests Won't Be Used to Close Schools

by ed notes online

I don't believe any of them. Just lies to divide and reduce opposition. He is an agent of the new gen robber barons.

That was my response to this comment on the NYState Ed Commissioner's supposed guarantee:

According to his memo, the tests will not be used to close more schools or create focus schools. They will be used to evaluate teachers, because that is "fair", says the King.

So a word of warning to people who think the growing parent opt-out movement is forcing State Ed to modify its policies, my response is watch out for Trojan horses.

The prime directive of ed deform: privatize as much of the public school, unionized system. The target is union 

Afternoon Video: "180 Days, Part 1"

by Alexander Russo

Watch 180 Days : A Year Inside an American High School Episode 1 on PBS. See more from 180 Days.

Maybe you missed it last night. Maybe you're wondering what a Ford Foundation-funded education documentary looks like (as opposed to a Gates Foundation-funded one). Maybe you just can't get enough of this stuff, or want to catch up with the series before Part 2 airs tonight.

Thompson: Classroom-Level Reform (There's Still Time)

by john thompson

Kathleen Porter-Magee’s words of wisdom to fellow “reformers” provide a “teachable moment.” Her “Opening the Black Box: Common Core as a Classroom Level Reform” draws the distinction between systemic and classroom reforms.
Systemic reformers seek to reimagine school systems. They advocate for charter schools, vouchers, portfolio districts, and teacher-evaluation policies. Classroom-level reformers, however, try to actually change what happens in the classroom.
Porter-Magee writes "the classroom is a black box to systemic reformers. While many leaders have made it their business to understand inputs and student achievement 

Lies, Damned Lies and Bush Foundation Talking Points on Parent Trigger

by Bob Sikes

Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future (FFF)  just released a handy-dandy Misconception-Fact list on Parent Trigger. Let’s explore a few of their “Facts” that don’t pass the smell test:
In response to “this bill allows for-profit companies to take over our public schools,’ FFF responds:

In Florida’s bill, parents have the option to choose a charter school or contract with an outside entity to operate the school. Both options require that the chosen operator must have a demonstrated record of effectiveness. All charter schools are public schools. There are non-profit 

Quitting marshmallow test can be a rational decision

from Education Research Report by Jonathan Kantrowitz

A psychological experiment known as "the marshmallow test" has captured the public's imagination as a marker of self control and even as a predictor of future success. This test shows how well children can delay gratification, a trait that has been shown to be as important to scholastic performance as traditional IQ.

New research from University of Pennsylvania psychologists suggests, however, that changing one's mind about

Everything you wanted to know, and more

by debmeier

Click for a very good article that Monty sent me–
http://hechingerreport.org/content/why-we-cant-threaten-our-way-to-better-schools_11641/

Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ principal makeover? Yeah, Michael Hinojosa tried that six years ago

by Matthew Haag

Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles has said over and over again that every student deserves an effective teacher and an effective principal. The school district will not improve without them, he has said.
To guarantee that, teachers have gone through training and received orders to change the way they teach and develop lesson plans. The principals have gone through about 100 hours of training. The goal is to transform them into instructional leaders who can spot great teachers and coach … [visit site to read more]

California Superintendents, Elected Officials Launch Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan

Homepage:

California Superintendents, Elected Officials Launch Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan

Pre-K Students Sign, Seal Open Letter to Obama from CA School Superintendents

Sacramento, CA – March 26, 2013 – Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan Raymond and Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla will join teachers, parents and child advocates to launch “Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan” at 10am on Tuesday, April 2 at a pre-kindergarten classroom at H.W. Harkness Elementary School in Sacramento.

The event kicks off the campaign’s efforts to galvanize support for the President’s plan and for early education initiatives in California. The campaign will roll out media campaigns, local rallies and other visibility events and activities to advocate for state legislative action that invests in California’s earliest learners.

What: Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan Launch

When: Tuesday, April 2, 10am PST

Where: H.W. Harkness Elementary School, 2147 54th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95822

Visual and interview opportunities include:

• Superintendent Raymond and Assemblywoman Bonilla will visit a pre-kindergarten classroom and lead students in decorating a life-size open letter to President Obama in support of his early learning plan.
   
• Preschool California President Catherine Atkin will outline the campaign’s goals for supporting the President’s early learning plan and positioning California to leverage new federal funds to advance the state’s top priorities for early learning.
   
• Superintendent Raymond will present an open letter to President Obama in support of his early learning plan on behalf of California superintendents.
   
• Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (D-Concord), Chair of Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education Finance, will present a state resolution in support of a federal/state partnership that puts California’s earliest learners first.  

###

About Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan: A broad and diverse coalition of superintendents, educators, parents, legislators, scholars, child advocates and other supporters working to ensure every California child has access to high quality early childhood education.

About Preschool California: Preschool California works to ensure all children have the early experiences necessary to be successful learners, setting them on a path to college and career readiness. High-quality early childhood programs place children on a trajectory for success in kindergarten and beyond. In addition, economists have found that high-quality early childhood education offers one of the highest returns of any public investment.

Learn more at: Learn more at: www.preschoolcalifornia.org and www.tkcalifornia.org.

School vouchers: Still a bad idea despite Indiana court ruling:

School vouchers: Still a bad idea despite Indiana court ruling

Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 26, 2013 at 3:19 pm

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So the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s school voucher program is constitutional. It isn’t the first time a supreme court has made a questionable call but, apart from the legal argument, the decision doesn’t mean that vouchers are a good educational or civic idea.

They aren’t.

Indiana is one of a growing number of states with school voucher programs. These allow public dollars to be used at private schools, including religious schools, including those religious schools that use creationist materials that teach anti-scientific notions such as the idea that the universe is no more than 10,000 years old, and that humans lived at the very same time as dinosaurs.

With Tuesday’s decision by the Indiana Supreme Court, Indiana can now expand its program, in which more than 9,300 low-income students already are enrolled. Under the program, students in grades 1-8 can receive up to $4,500 annually for private school tuition, and high schoolers can

SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 3-26-13 #soschat #edreform

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break

CORPORATE ED REFORM

California "Reformers" Seek Judicial Over-Reach Based on No Evidence

by John Thompson

Dave Welch, Chief Strategic Officer of Infinera. and the famed attorney Theodore B. Olson believe that five education laws "are destroying California's public education system, demoralizing the teaching profession, and robbing California children of their future." They believe they know how to rid the state of "stagnant, disinterested and uninspiring teachers."  So, they have filed Vergara v California which would strip Californians of their democratic rights to a public education system consistent with their beliefs.

In their press release, Welch and Olson claim to believe, "recent research shows that teaching effectiveness is not only measurable, it is the most important determinant of a child's academic (and future) success--more important than socio-economic status, parent involvement or even per-pupil funding."  Their belief in such an 

List of Florida Opponents to Parent Trigger Continues to Grow

by Bob Sikes

Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory attended today’s staged event put on by Patricia Levesque of Foundation for Florida’s Future to support Parent Trigger. McGrory writes in Naked Politics:

Is the contentious parent-trigger proposal in trouble?
Patricia Levesque, the executive director of former Gov. Jeb Bush‘s Foundation for Florida’s Future, held a press conference Tuesday morning to “debunk myths” associated with the proposal.
She was accompanied by Pat DeTemple, a senior strategist for Parent Revolution, the group that helped create the law in California. Nikki Lowery, of former D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle 

$1.2 million for Conferences and Travel

by pwceducationreform

Over the past year we’ve all been treated to stories about federal employees having a grand time at taxpayer expense at conferences in Las Vegas and other locations.  Because of the controversial nature of these events, I thought it might be worthwhile to look at conferences and travel in PWCS. In the original FY 2014 [...]

The Truth Behind GO Public School’s Corporate Connections

by ClassroomStruggle

Our recent post critiquing the National Council on Teacher Quality’s report entitled “Teacher Quality Roadmap” got the most hits out of any of the posts on Classroom Struggle.  This demonstrates there is clear interest in understanding the politics and economics behind a seemingly well-intentioned nonprofit organization such as GO.  With that said, we’re publishing Jack Gerson’s [...]

No Local Control of Schools For Poor Minorities

by Duke

- Many citizens of Fort Lee, NJ, were unhappy with their school superintendent's performance. The local school board pressured him to resign. The state's response?

Nothing - even though that superintendent, Steve Engravalle, was a personal favorite of both Governor Christie and NJDOE Commissioner Cerf.

- Many citizens of Perth Amboy, NJ, were unhappy with their school superintendent's performance. The local school board voted to remove her. The state's response?

Reinstate her over their will, then wait out hearing an appeal until a new school board could be elected (with the

The Gap No One Wants to Talk About | National Education Policy Center

by P. L. Thomas

The Gap No One Wants to Talk About | National Education Policy Center

School Leadership in the Digital Age: An Interview with 2013 Digital Principal Ryan Imbriale

by obriena

New technologies are dramatically changing how people learn. Unfortunately, many schools are moving far too slowly to adopt them, with classrooms today organized in much the same way they were in the 1950s. We in public education must do a better job incorporating new technologies into teaching and learning to prepare students for success in the changing world that awaits them.
But what does it look like when schools step into the digital age? And what can school leaders do to ensure students are learning in new ways? 
We recently had the opportunity to hear about these issues from an expert, Ryan Imbriale, Principal of Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts in Baltimore and one of NASSP’s 2013 Digital Principals. In an e-mail interview, he shared his thoughts on how school leaders can promote digital learning and the challenges they face in doing so, as well as specific examples of what it looks like in his building.
Public School Insights (PSI): Before we discuss your school in particular, I want to ask a couple overarching questions. You were recently named one of NASSP’s 2013 Digital Principals. What exactly is a “digital principal”?
Imbriale: Well, a digital principal is actually real – it’s not some sort of virtual person.  That’s been the running joke at my school since my staff found out I won the award.  The award is designed to recognize principals who exhibit bold, creative leadership with new technologies.
PSI: In general, what is the role of a school leader in digital learning?
Imbriale: The school leader must be willing to fostering
read more

Alex Abramoff, son of “Casino Jack” Abramoff, to run for Santa Monica College Student Body President

by Danny Weil

Readers might remember the horrific Jack Abramoff who, with his surly counterparts such as Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and a host of crooked politicians, milked [...] The post Alex Abramoff, son of “Casino Jack” Abramoff, to run for Santa Monica College Student Body President appeared...

The Democratic Party’s Anti-Democratic Education Policy

by Jeff Bryant

This post is republished from the Education Opportunity Network, a new online publication edited by Jeff Bryant.

Chicago, the city famous for “big shoulders,” has a big mouth, too.

Spurred by an alarming level of school building closures – 61 in all – mandated by Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, Chicagoans are speaking out loudly and forcefully against a plan to “downsize the facility footprint of the district.”

A point being made most vociferously, according to Huffington Post, is the blatant discriminatory context of the closures due to the fact that “the schools slated for closure are all elementary schools and are overwhelmingly black and in low-income neighborhoods.”

While the rationale for closing the schools, or not, gets quickly into the weeds – are the schools really“underutilized” and “under performing,” does the city really have a budget “emergency” – what has gone completely unaddressed is the incoherence that an edict of this nature has been promulgated by a mayoral 

QoTD Chris Christie: Vouchers

by Rosi Efthim

Quote of the Day was pulled from Star-Ledger reporter Jenna Portnoy's Twitter feed, and retweeted by Blue Jersey alum DSWright (hat/tip) and then @BlueJersey:

"We don't have a vouchers system yet -- much to my chagrin," @govchristie tells Catholic school student.
— Jenna Portnoy (@jennaportnoy) March 26, 2013

The state controls Newark public schools and Newark is going to court to get control back. Jersey City, the first school system in New Jersey to come under state control, in 1989, retains the label of "failing school system". The state also controls Paterson schools - it was at a 'Town Hall' there that a man shouted 'fix the schools' and 

Nurses Vs. Test Scores

by Duke

Warning: This post is completely unscientific and only represents me thinking out loud. However...

Matt DiCarlo has an excellent post out today about school nurses. Only 41% of schools surveyed have a full-time RN on staff. Matt asks:

There are several ways to look at these results. One might ask, for example, how many children are sent home from school unnecessarily every day because there is no nurse on site, and whether that affects their academic performance (a point that is likely to be politically viable in today’s test-obsessed environment). Or, taking a different approach, one could wonder about cost effectiveness – it costs money to hire nurses, and school budgets always reflect difficult choices. Finally, one might zero in on the ever-present issue of underlying variation – i.e., whether the 

Junot Díaz Talks “Superman Question” on The Colbert Report

by NewsTaco

By Latino Rebels
Last night Junot Díaz appeared on “The Colbert Report” talking literature, immigration, and Freedom University, a college for undocumented student. Like he tells Colbert, “Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That’s just the truth of it.”
And then what about the “Superman Question?” You do know that Superman is undocumented, right?
The Latino Rebels are a collective of social media influentials, bloggers, marketers, journalists, poets, writers, 

Did Chicago Tribune and Joyce Foundation Do Push Polling?

by dianerav

Several weeks ago, a Chicago website reported that the Chicago Tribune, the Joyce Foundation, and the University of Chicago were engaging in “push polling.” This is a telephone poll that literally “pushes” the listener in a certain direction, with questions designed to have pre-determined conclusions.
Read the transcript. Do you think this was a push poll?

Too much testing?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

From the Seattle Times: Seattle school leaders have decided to relax a few requirements for the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) this spring, the exams that are the focus of a teacher boycott that has received national attention. Ninth-graders who have passed the state’s reading exam will not have to take the MAP reading test,  Read More

More states will reconsider their position to implement the Common Core

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

From Scholastic Administrator Alabama’s move in February to withdraw from both of the groups designing assessments for the Common Core, PARCC and Smarter Balanced, raised red flags across the country. Alabama’s pullout echoed Utah’s, which withdrew from Smarter Balanced last year. And in Indiana, former education commissioner Tony Bennett was denied reelection last November, largely  Read More

Common Core Math Problems

by Shane Vander Hart

Jane Robbins sent me some Common Core Math problems that she had obtained from an elementary school in the Metro Atlanta area.  We’ll let these speak for themselves.

Community Schools, An Untapped Resource: A March 18, 2013 Convening

by cynthia

By Deb McCurdy, Special to K12NN

Hayle Community School (Photo credit: Artichoke_Trust)

On March 18, 2013, public education advocates, administrators, school board members, school administrators, non-profit organizations and philanthropists convened at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles. The event followed from a discussion a group of First District CA PTA delegates had with State Senator Carol Liu’s staff on state funding issues.
They met to prove that it takes a village to care for our children, but to also discuss exactly how a village might go about it.
State Senator Carol Liu explained that the “Community Schools” strategy, one that maximizes local resources to better the academic, health and social well being of our children, is a movement that works when it is supported both from the top down and from the bottom up. Senator Liu described a system where there is an alignment of resources, cross-sector coordination, and an agenda that is as individual as the community of people it serves.
This coordination, she said, was crucial in order to efficiently maximize a holistic approach to helping our children out of poverty, steer them away from crime and prepare them to fully participate in a 21^st Century skilled 

When knowing everything about your students isn’t enough

by Sarah Garland

In March, technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, representatives from big-name companies and philanthropies and some teachers descended on Austin, TX for a conference meant to highlight new solutions to the biggest dilemmas in education. Educational games, apps, data dashboards and social media were touted as the next big things in panels with titles like “EdTech Entrepreneurs: Are They the Next Superheroes?” and “Building Schools Into the Innovation Ecosystem.” The main theme at the SXSWedu conference—which is linked to the better known music and technology festivals—was how these new technologies are poised to make the learning experience for students more “personalized.” With data gathered and organized by new software