Monday, April 15, 2013

The problem with school superintendents

The problem with school superintendents:

The problem with school superintendents

Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 15, 2013 at 4:00 am

Oakland Supt. Tony Smith resigns

What do urban school districts need to see in their leaders? Here to explain is Katherine Schultz, a professor and dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland. She is the author of the 2009 book, “Rethinking Classroom Participation: Listening to Silent Voices.”

By Katherine Schultz

Tony Smith announced his resignation as superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District early this month, news that stunned much of the education community in the Bay Area. Although not without his share of controversy, Tony has done a remarkable job in his five-year tenure as superintendent. He possesses a rare combination of charisma, kindness, and an ability to articulate a powerful vision along with an enthusiasm for listening and learning from others. In a district known for its critique and discord, it is notable that, at this critical moment of leadership transition, there is almost uniform consensus that the next superintendent be someone who can carry forward and implement the bold vision of community schools that Tony and his team have crafted. This moment of transition in Oakland has profound implications for those of us who care deeply about our city’s public schools and it has important and far-reaching implications for other cities around the country.

In recent years, two trends have characterized the urban school district superintendency. First, urban superintendents rarely stay in their positions for more than a few years. Smith was a rare exception to this, especially in Oakland where few superintendents have lasted more than two years. Second, there is a tendency for new superintendents to start anew, with their own bold vision, in order to make their mark. This is nearly always a mistake;

The right -- and wrong role -- for teachers

by Valerie Strauss

What makes an effective teacher? Here is a post on the issue from veteran educator Marion Brady, a classroom teacher for years who has written history and world culture textbooks (Prentice-Hall), professional books, numerous nationally distributed columns (many are available here), and courses of study. His 2011 book,"What's Worth Learning," asks and answer this question: What knowledge is absolutely essential for every learner? His course of study for secondary-level students, called Connections: Investigating Reality, is free for downloading here. Brady's website is www.marionbrady.com.
Read full article >>

Missouri Education Watchdog: Illinois Tracking Students from 24 Hours Old to 3 Years Old. "Baby Talk" Data Set Revealed

Missouri Education Watchdog: Illinois Tracking Students from 24 Hours Old to 3 Years Old. "Baby Talk" Data Set Revealed:

Illinois Tracking Students from 24 Hours Old to 3 Years Old. "Baby Talk" Data Set Revealed

by stlgretchen

We know that data sets have been compiled on students, but in Missouri, we are told by our state agency that it is "not its intent" to compile personal information data on students.

While it might not be DESE's stated intent to gather personal student data, it may inconsequential if mandates exist requiring state educational agencies or local school districts to track students and provide certain data. Illinois will be gathering data on children from 24 hours old to 3 years old in its Student Information System (SIS). It is not stated whether this is mandated by a federal requirement, but this information taken by the state on children less than 3 years old includes data beyond the usual information of name, address, courses taken and attendance.

The data mining set begins on page 52/92 from All Schools Meeting May 2011: Illinois State Board of of School Year 2011 and Planning for School Year 2012:

Demographics and Early Childhood (Ages 3-5) File Format
Changes

Removing
“Pre-K At Risk Classroom”

Replace with Placeholder 1

Student must be identified as one of the following when student is enrolled

Louisiana Educator: Michelle Rhee: No Excuses; Whatever it Takes. Even Cheating?

Louisiana Educator: Michelle Rhee: No Excuses; Whatever it Takes. Even Cheating?:

Michelle Rhee: No Excuses; Whatever it Takes. Even Cheating?

by Michael Deshotels

Michelle Rhee, promoter of all of the latest and most damaging education reforms, may have covered up a major cheating scandal in DC schools that would surely have prevented her rise to godlike status in the education reform movement. That's what a heretofore "secret" memo to Rhee uncovered by reporter John Merrow may indicate. Click on this link to see John's the interview with Chris Hayes of MSNBC.

Michelle Rhee almost overnight had become the fresh new shining star who demonstrated amazing "results" at turning around the troubled Washington DC school system. Because of her "success" in DC, and her adoption by the media as the darling of education reform, credibility was given to the recent draconian changes inflicted on the American public education system. Rhee was one of the promoters of the idea that there is no legitimate excuse for the failure to educate poor and at-risk students just as successfully as rich or middle class kids.

There was no research upon which to base this revolutionary theory. Michelle Rhee had no credentials in education other than duct taping the mouth of a noisy student when she did her 3 year TFA stint. Like Louisiana's imported superintendent John White, Rhee's rise to the top of the education ranks was

Prove Progress Since "A Nation at Risk," or Start Ducking Now | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Prove Progress Since "A Nation at Risk," or Start Ducking Now | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Prove Progress Since "A Nation at Risk," or Start Ducking Now

by National School Public Relations Association

By Rich Bagin, APR, Executive Director of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA)

The 30th anniversary of the landmark report, A Nation at Risk, occurs this month. We can bet that national and perhaps even local media will use this event to ask, “What has changed?”
And then they will ask the natural follow-up question, “Are our nation’s school still at risk?”
We must be proactive and anticipate how these questions will play out for your local communities. If we do not take the lead on this one, the education-bashing machine will again turn our schools, staff, and leadership into punching bags.
As NSPRA colleague Larry Ascough noted in his Texas daily newsletter:

Anyone who has set foot in a school of late already knows that education today is not anything like it was 30 years ago. It’s improved, and it continues to get better. Teachers and kids are doing things no one could even imagine in 1983. But

UPDATE: Community college presidents team up with the Lumina Foundation and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to rapidly privatize the colleges under Obama’s 20/20 plan | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

Community college presidents team up with the Lumina Foundation and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to rapidly privatize the colleges under Obama’s 20/20 plan | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:

Standardizing regulations across state lines fits well into the Lumina Foundation’s efforts to standardize student learning outcomes and thus the dispensation of cyber courses

by Danny Weil

The Lumina Foundation, once the USA Corporation under Fannie Mae (the student loan outfit that assures that students have no affordable access to college and [...] The post Standardizing regulations across state lines fits well into the Lumina Foundation’s efforts to standardize student learning...

Community college presidents team up with the Lumina Foundation and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to rapidly privatize the colleges under Obama’s 20/20 plan

by Danny Weil

Photo of the arrogant face of privatization: James Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation

Take a look at how the philanthropists like Lumina and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, smuggle themselves, stealth like, into every nook and cranny of civil society.

Photo of the public face of privatization: Eloy Ortiz Oakley, President of Long Beach City College

Research recently revealed that Lumina, community college president, Superintendent-President of Long Beach City College Eloy Ortiz Oakley and the LA Chamber of Commerce had a “meet-up” to discuss the “The College Graduation Crisis”; but don’t be fooled, for these forces of educational privatization have no interest in students, wish to assure no critical thinking is taught, nor do they give a damn if students graduate college or if they ever become successful in their fields, life or work — their interest is in Wall Street and for Wall Street. Even if every young person graduated college there would be no jobs for them as the US work force is either shipped off-shore or, more importantly, as work disappears due to cybernetics (http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2013/03/08/disposable-people-and-new-technology/).

And of course with the ‘Massive Open Online Classes’ (Mooc’s) that

UPDATE: Special Education Op-Ed Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This Week:

Special Education Op-Ed

by Melissa Westbrook

This op-ed by Mary Griffin on disproportionate discipline of Special Ed students appeared in the Seattle Times this weekend (I haven't read it because I don't have a subscription and I maxed out my monthly reading).

Another link related to this piece are here (the Special Ed Advocacy & Advisory Council webpage).

Seattle Schools This Week

by Melissa Westbrook

It's a quiet week for SPS because of Spring Break.

The City has a survey about your use of the Internet, cable tv and city communications. It might be good to take it as it may influence what kind of access to technology may be available in our city.

Transportation is doing a survey about flipping start times. I received word about this from several readers and it appears to be aimed only at elementary parents. I did not see this until after the end of the business day on Friday so I could not ask SPS who received it and why.

Saturday, April 20th

Memorial service for the late Cheryl Chow at Town Hall at 10:30 am. This is likely to be quite crowded so be

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

Susan Ohanian.org

John Merrow

The erasures stayed buried for years. The official who had spotted the problem and urged Rhee to investigate has kept her mouth shut. Five months after she had informed Rhee of the widespread erasures, Deborah Gist resigned to become State Superintendent in Rhode Island. -- Michelle Rhee's Reign of Error

Jay Mathews

In the 42 years I have worked for this newspaper, I have adopted many of this town’s mental habits. One is a deep respect for inspectors general, those stewards of truth whose work we often herald in The Post. That is why I am disappointed by the failure of not one, but two, inspectors general to expose test tampering in the D.C. schools. -- Washington Post

Valerie Leonard, Lawndale Alliance

“I am concerned that when you close these [school] buildings, the effect it’s going to have is that

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota(PEJAM): TFA's 'Transformational' Public Money Grab

Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota(PEJAM): TFA's 'Transformational' Public Money Grab:

SAY NO TO $1.5 MILLION IN PUBLIC MONEY TO TFA!

Teach for America (TFA) is a tax exempt nonprofit with "reported annual operating surpluses of $35 million, $114 million and $37 million" from 2009 to 2011. In 2010, they received a $50 Million grant from the federal Department of Education, and another $8.3 million funded under the Supporting Effective Educators Development (SEED) program. The government further subsidizes TFA with student loan forbearance and education awards. TFA is also looking to get more public money from state legislatures, including Minnesota!

With the state of Minnesota still facing budget deficits, following years of educational spending cuts, TFA is at the capitol with its hand out. Bills are moving through the Minnesota state

Growing charter network under SBE draws interest from lawmakers SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Growing charter network under SBE draws interest from lawmakers

Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991

A sharp increase in the number of charter schools petitioning – and receiving – permission to open from the California State Board of Education has attracted the attention of the Legislature.

Just three years ago, there were eight schools operating under state board supervision. Today there are more than 30.

Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, R-Oceanside, said the expanding network – now comparable to a mid-size school district – may need to be evaluated in terms of long-term governance issues.

“The best educational experience is one that is unique to the needs of the children and to the community,” said Chavez. “California is a huge state and the educational challenges in the inner city versus more rural areas are unique and need to be scripted to meet the needs of each of the children. To put that challenge on the state board of education, asking them to oversee the needs of 33 charter schools across the state is a pretty big challenge.”

State law empowers three levels of government to approve charter schools – local school district boards, county school boards and the state board, which serves as the option of last resort. While most of the charters now operating under the oversight of the state board were on appeal from the local level, there are also a number of sites opened

Vision testing considered potential key for some struggling students

Current vision screening requirements may indicate a problem with distance vision, advocates for more elaborate testing note that it does not detect potential for a whole spectrum of vision disorders, including binocular dysfunction.

Last Stand for Children First: Where is Students First?

Last Stand for Children First: Where is Students First?:

Where is Students First?

by Last Stand for Children

Like everybody who believes in putting students first, I have come to look forward to and count on updates from Michelle Rhee and her advocacy organization Students First. Ms. Rhee provides a valuable service to the education community by holding teachers responsible for the success of their students. We want to be nice and supportive, but test scores have consequences and if a teacher isn't advancing her students, it's time to put someone else in the classroom.

However, since Friday, Students First has been like a ghost town on social media. Michelle Rhee hasn't tweeted, Students First hasn't tweeted or updated their facebook page and Students First cheerleader Tom Greene has made only one post all weekend. I've never seen it like this. If Students First takes the weekend off, who is there to champion accountability?

Arne Duncan Loves Many Things

by Last Stand for Children

Daily Kos: E. J. Dionne's must-read column on the Newtown families

Daily Kos: E. J. Dionne's must-read column on the Newtown families:

E. J. Dionne's must-read column on the Newtown families

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

is titled Newtown’s call to reason. The key point he makes is that those playing on emotion are not the Newtown families, but rather those who seek to scare us about guns.
The heart of the column is these three paragraphs:

The truth is that the Newtown slaughter has finally moved the gun debate away from irrational emotions, ridiculous assumptions, manipulative rhetoric — and, on the part of politicians, debilitating terror at the alleged electoral reach of those who see any new gun regulations as a step into totalitarianism. These bills are being taken seriously precisely because we are finally putting emotion aside. We are riding a wave of reason.Reason tells us that those who embrace the old slogan that “guns don’t kill people, people do” should support background checks because their very purpose is to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people, including criminals and those with deep psychological disturbances. Reason tells us that mass killers will kill fewer people if they cannot buy large magazines and have to keep reloading their weapons. Reason tells us that our freedom as Americans does not rest on the existence of an armed citizenry.
Who is really playing on emotions in this debate? Consider this gem from the NRA’s Wayne

NYC Educator: Being Reformy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

NYC Educator: Being Reformy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry:

Being Reformy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

by NYC Educator

Reformy Rhee is besieged by suggestions Erase to the Top was bigger and badder than she'd ever acknowledged. The smoking memo has been released, and she's all Scarlett O'Hara: "What? Little old me? Well I never saw any blessed memo. Let them look at it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day."

Apparently, her successor, Kaya Henderson never saw the memo either, yet now deems it to be flawed. One of the great things about being reformy is this--whatever goes wrong, it isn't your fault. It was an emergency! Children were suffering. We didn't have time to do any stinking research! How could we possibly have anticipated people would cheat?

And that's a good question. After all, they had choices. They could raise test scores and get bonuses, or fail to raise test scores and get fired. In Rhee-world, there are No Excuses. How could she possibly have anticipated that people would cheat and get bonuses rather than tell the truth and get fired? After all, she now only never saw the memo, but she also never heard of Campbell's Law.

California Dem’s Resolving not to be suckered by corporate “reformers” | Persephone's Mother

California Dem’s Resolving not to be suckered by corporate “reformers” | Persephone's Mother:

California Dem’s Resolving not to be suckered by corporate “reformers”

I came back today after spending the week-end in Sacramento at the 2013 California Democratic Convention. A contingent of labor groups, including the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, submitted a resolution titled, “Supporting public education and dispelling the corporate reform agenda”. It not only calls out the corporate reformers, but so-called democratic organization (in name only) such as, Democrats for Education Reform and Students First. This resolution was heard on the floor of the convention today. I’m very proud of the fact that this resolution was passed by a majority of California Democrats. The text of the resolution is below.

Supporting California’s Public Schools and Dispelling the Corporate “Reform” Agenda
Whereas, the reform initiatives of Students First, rely on destructive anti-educator policies that do nothing for students but blame educators and their unions for the ills of society, make testing the goal of education, shatter communities by closing their public schools, and see public schools as potential profit centers and children as

Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parent movement - The Washington Post

Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parent movement - The Washington Post:

Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parents’ movement

http://unitedoptout.com/

By Lyndsey Layton, Sunday, April 14, 5:42 PM

A decade into the school accountability movement, pockets of resistance to standardized testing are sprouting up around the country, with parents and students opting out of the high-stakes tests used to evaluate schools and teachers.

From Seattle, where 600 high school students refused to take a standardized test in January, to Texas, where 86 percent of school districts say the tests are “strangling our public schools,” anti-testing groups argue that bubble exams have proliferated beyond reason, delivering more angst than benefits.

“Over the last couple of years, they’ve turned this one test into the all and everything,” said Cindy Hamilton, a 50-year-old mother of three in Florida who founded Opt Out Orlando in response to the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which starts again

Common Core Non-Fiction Reading Task #1: The DC Erasure Study Memo - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Common Core Non-Fiction Reading Task #1: The DC Erasure Study Memo - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Common Core Non-Fiction Reading Task #1: The DC Erasure Study Memo

by Anthony Cody

As all educators know, the reading of non-fiction is supposed to be significantly increased as a result of the new Common Core (wanted to be national) Standards.
It seems to me that the recently uncovered "Erasure Study" memo, written by investigator Sandy Sanford in 2009 makes a fine primary source document to be used as the basis for student inquiry. This memo has been hidden since it was first written. Its existence sheds light on the behavior of some of the nation's most well-known education reformers, including Michelle Rhee.
Rich Cairns suggests:

Primary sources provide authentic materials for students to practice the skills required by the CCSS. Encouraging students to grapple with the raw materials of history, such as photographs,

Jersey Jazzman: NJ's New Reformy School Report Cards: Peer Grouping Mysteries

Jersey Jazzman: NJ's New Reformy School Report Cards: Peer Grouping Mysteries:

NJ's New Reformy School Report Cards: Peer Grouping Mysteries

by Duke

The reformies at the NJDOE, little data maniacs that they are, have released a brand new format for the annualSchool Performance Reports. In the old days, good test scores meant you were a good school - no longer:

The new reports include the usual information on state test results and high school graduation and dropout rates. But the first page provides what Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said is what most parents want to know: how their school achievement compares with other “peer” schools, and whether the school is doing a good job preparing students for college and careers.

“All the action is on the front page,” Cerf said in a media webinar on the new reports Tuesday. [emphasis mine]

It certainly is: here's an example of the first table you'll see in your local school's report:

We'll get to each of the categories later this week, but let's start with this idea of a "peer group." What is that,

Schools Matter: Exxon-Mobil Concerned with Teachers As Its Tar Sands Oil Spreads in Arkansas

Schools Matter: Exxon-Mobil Concerned with Teachers As Its Tar Sands Oil Spreads in Arkansas:

Exxon-Mobil Concerned with Teachers As Its Tar Sands Oil Spreads in Arkansas

by Jim Horn

If you are watching golf for the past 4 days, you would see hundreds of millions spent by Exxon-Mobil to push the Common Core Corporate Standards and to convince Americans there is some educational emergency in our schools. I guess I would be trying to change the subject at hand, too, if I were responsible for ruining another American community with a flood of dirty oil. From Nation of Change:
________________

Cleanup Workers Collect Oil Faster than Media Collect Information

Ten days after the ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline burst, spewing thousands of barrels of Canadian tar sands oil into the North Woods residential development in Mayflower, Arkansas, much of the oil spill has been collected, although it continues to spread slowly, seeping into wetlands and nearby Lake Conway.

Slow as the oil’s movement may be, it seems to move faster than news related to the spill, the cleanup, or ExxonMobil and the local, state, and federal agencies who keep tight control

Bill Gates' warning on test scores - latimes.com

Bill Gates' warning on test scores - latimes.com:

Gates' warning on test scores

In a recent op-ed article, he cautions against overusing students' standardized test scores in evaluating how well teachers are doing their jobs.

By The Times editorial board

April 11, 2013

A recent op-ed article in the Washington Post warned against overusing students' standardized test scores in evaluating how well teachers are doing their jobs. There would be no surprise about that — if it had been penned by the leader of a teachers union. But it was written by Bill Gates, arguably the most influential voice over the last few years in pushing for the use of test scores to rate teachers.

Gates' warning was based on a study released in January that his foundation funded. It determined that student scores have a useful but limited place in measuring a teacher's work, and that some other measurements, such as student surveys,are more consistent.

The billionaire philanthropist's reasoned perspective is appreciated; the problem is that schools in this country are already well down the testing-and-evaluations road. Prodded heavily by reform groups, many of which receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, states and school districts have in some cases taken the use of students' scores to extremes that have no grounding in research, making them count for half or more of a teacher's rating, or hastily concocting tests to measure unmeasurable subjects — and then applying the results to teachers. The most mocked

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