Big Education Ape Nite Cap 6-2-13 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action - Higher Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 minute ago

Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action - Higher Education: Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action by cmaadmin [image: Irwin Tang] Irwin Tang, an Austin, Texas-based psychotherapist, says he believes that some of the nation’s elite institutions of higher learning have unofficial quotas that cap the admission of students of Asian descent. Irwin Tang, an Austin, Texas-based psychotherapist, says he believes that some of the nation’s elite institutions of higher learning have unofficial quotas that ... more »

Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions : NPR

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 37 minutes ago

Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions : NPR: Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions by NPR STAFF June 02, 2013 5:36 PM http://www.youthfutures.com/report/kids_matter_2008/4/3/ The effectiveness of school suspensions is up for debate. California is the most recent battleground, but a pattern of uneven application and negative outcomes is apparent across the country. California students were suspended more than 700,000 times over the 2011-2012 school year,according to state data. One school district decided it was getting ridiculous. In May, the board for the Los Angeles Unifi... more »

Diane in the Evening 6-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: *IN HER OWN WORDS* L.A. Times: Parent Trigger=Parent Trap by dianerav The Los Angeles Times is not at all pleased with the way the so-called “parent trigger” is working out. Theeditorial board wants a more open, transparent process. The editorial does not point out that only one organization has pushed the idea that parents should seize control of a public institution. “Parent Revolution”–funded by billionaires–wrote the law, sends paid community organizers to gather parent signatures, and litigates to push its goa... more »

Library for All | toteachornototeach

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Library for All | toteachornototeach: Library for All by aristotlethewise From Chalkboard to the Cloud: Library for All Puts the World in a Child’s Hands Imagine you’re a 9-year-old girl attending a makeshift school in Haiti, and a well-meaning church group or charity drops off boxes of donated books for you and your classmates to read. This is a generous gesture, but the books are in English. You speak French Creole and are just learning to read and write, using one chalkboard shared by 50 students. The stacks of donated books become stools for the school’s youngest pupils, and yo... more »

Daily Kos: thoughts after a college reunion

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Daily Kos: thoughts after a college reunion: thoughts after a college reunion by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) I spent from Friday afternoon through midmorning today on the campuses of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges for the 40th reunion of my 3rd and final class at Haverford. I joined the class as a 25 year old junior, and thus did not get to know quite as many people through the normal freshman bonding process. Similarly for our sister class at Bryn Mawr (in those days Haverford was still officially single sex), I had met relatively few of them - those that lived on the Haver... more »

Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plans | GothamSchools

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plans | GothamSchools: Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plansby Philissa Cramer, at 12:19 pm If you’ve finished the Sunday crossword puzzle, it might be time to turn your attention to the full version of New York City’s teacher and principal evaluation plans. The plans, which State Education Commissioner announced on Saturday, were posted to the State Education Department’s website just after midnight. Through 240 pages, King details his responses to proposals set out by the city Department of Education and the... more »

Ed Notes Online: Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Ed Notes Online: Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?: Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership? by ed notes online *Despite the awful and fairy-dust based evaluation system, despite the fact that not one UFT member was allowed a vote on it, we have been almost five years without a raise and missed the 8% pattern raise the rest of our union brothers and sisters got. I have no problem telling the emperor how I feel about that.... NYC Educator on the June 12 rally* * * *Bloomberg is irrelevant. The real emperors ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core?: Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core? by stlgretchen An thought provoking article by Anthony Cody asking *Is the Tea Party Right About the Common Core? *appeared in Education Week: * * Yesterday's Washington Post carried a banner story about growing Tea Party opposition to the Common Core. We learn that across the country, Tea Party activists have been organizing around opposition to the Common Core, and have succeeded in bl... more »

NYC Public School Parents: John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers?: John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers? by Leonie Haimson Lots of news and commentary this morning on Commissioner John King’s From the front page of today's NY Postdecision on a new NYC teacher evaluation system. Here's the one I like best: Jersey Jazzman'sExclusive! First look at NY Student surveys for Teacher evaluation (based on the the fact that starting in 3rd grade, the results of student surveys will be part of ... more »

Common Core: Assessing the real level of support

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Common Core: Assessing the real level of support: Common Core: Assessing the real level of support By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 2, 2013 at 12:30 pmE-mail the writer 1 Comments More [image: common core]Does “the great majority” of Americans really support the Common Core? How do we know? Here’s a piece on the subject from P.L. Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. He edited the 2013 book “Becoming and Being a Teacher,” and wrote the 2012 book, “Ignoring Poverty in the U.S.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Education.” This was publi... more »

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky: Sunday reads. by Fred Klonsky [image: NYSED005] *EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation! ** Photo: Jersey Jazzman**“Today, educators would do well to remember the lesson* of the power of fusing civil rights movements with

UPDATE: Great News from Seattle Schools Seattle Schools Community Forum: State sets deadline for Seattle Special Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: State sets deadline for Seattle Special Education: Great News from Seattle Schools by Melissa Westbrook From SPS: - Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced that two Seattle Public Schools students – Tara N. Conley, The Center School; and Derek B. Gasaway, Garfield High School – are among the winners for college-sponsored scholarships. - South Lake High School teacher Web Hutchins received the state’s top honor for civic education - the Civic Educator of the Year award. Hutchins was nominated for the... more »

The story of an ‘offending’ blog post

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

The story of an ‘offending’ blog post: The story of an ‘offending’ blog post By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 2, 2013 at 10:30 amE-mail the writer 0 Comments More [image: (Associated Press photo)] (Associated Press photo) Here is a new piece from award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York. Burris was namedNew York’s 2013 High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and in 2010, tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School A... more »

Rahm Emanuel, there’s a good reason people are mad at you — MSNBC

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Rahm Emanuel, there’s a good reason people are mad at you — MSNBC: Rahm Emanuel, there’s a good reason people are mad at you Melissa Harris-Perry, @mharrisperry 12:46 PM on 06/01/2013 Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The photo of this week’s *Time* magazine cover guy is accompanied by a question that I can only assume is rhetorical. Because the answer to the question about Chicago’s mayor–why are people mad at him?–should be readily apparent to anyone following recent headlines about the 50 Chicago schools slated to be closed. It’s certainl... more »

Education group to get more oversight - StamfordAdvocate

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Education group to get more oversight - StamfordAdvocate: Education group to get more oversightKen DixonPublished 8:56 pm, Saturday, June 1, 2013 [image: A little-known organization that was used by the state education commissioner Stefan Pryo to circumvent state bidding requirements last year would have several new layers of oversight and transparency under legislation that awaits action in the House. New State Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor speaks at a news conference to announce his appointment the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., Wednesday, Se... more »

Firing Day at a Charter School | Seattle Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Firing Day at a Charter School | Seattle Education: Firing Day at a Charter School An image of Dany Edwards. Art by Sean Flaherty, who was also fired from this charter school on June 1, 2011. I just quit my job as a teacher in an urban charter school. Even though I still don’t have another job and I support myself entirely, it is the best decision I ever made. It is especially liberating this week while my colleagues – and after five incredibly stressful years on the education front lines, my truly beloved friends – wait for the June 1 ax to fall. Every June 1, the exhausted teacher... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Should Police Departments Offer Iris Scans for Children?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: Should Police Departments Offer Iris Scans for Children?: Should Police Departments Offer Iris Scans for Children? by stlgretchen Mexico launches national ID cards for children From *Granby police offer iris scans under child identification program sponsored by Hampshire County Sheriff's department:* Over the next couple of months, parents will be able to have their children's irises scanned under a child identification program sponsored by the Hampshire County Sheriff's Department. Police Chief Alan P. Wishart Jr. said consent forms to participate in t... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Google and the Death of Privacy by dianerav There is good reason to be worried about the effort by the federal Department of Education to create a massive database. Doing so is part of Race to the Top. There is reason to be concerned about inBloom, the project funded by Gates and managed by Rupert Murdoch. Sharp Increase in Homeless Kids in NYC by dianerav Yoav Gonen and Frank Rosario in the New York Post report a spike in the number of homeless students in the Ne... more »

Ed Notes Online: Mr. Merrow, how about reconsidering your adulation of RSD in New Orleans?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Ed Notes Online: Mr. Merrow, how about reconsidering your adulation of RSD in New Orleans?: Mr. Merrow, how about reconsidering your adulation of RSD in New Orleans? by ed notes online *It is a sham, just as Rhee is a sham..... deutsch29* John Merrow has done a mea culpa on Michelle Rhee and took particular aim at the Washington Post's coddling of that Cheatn' Rhee. Does Washington have an ‘Atlanta-style’ situation? In some respects, yes. There are four striking similarities: Irregularities at a majority of schools in both cities; a secret report buried by the school administrati... more »

6-2-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: NY Columnist Worries About Global Warming from School Air Conditioners as State Prepares to Punish Teachers in Hot Classrooms by Jim Horn Opinionator Sara Mosle learned both teaching and politics from Teach for America, and now she is a favorite at the NYTimes to express the positivized neoliberal edu-position without having to think about it. Sara wonders in her latest column if children in air conditioned classrooms have an advantage over children who must swelter in school […] Asking a Better CCSS Support Question by plthomasedd As a fo... more »

Louisiana Educator: Help Stop Vouchers and Course Choice

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Louisiana Educator: Help Stop Vouchers and Course Choice: Help Stop Vouchers and Course Choice by Michael Deshotels Now that the legislature is winding down, most of the remaining decisions will be in establishing budget priorities. Governor Jindal has been successful so far in expanding the funding for a very poorly designed and executed voucher system. The final budget will be negotiated in the next few days to find a compormise between the House and Senate versions of the budget. The Senate approved budget includes funding for an expanded voucher program even though there is n... more »

Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: How connected is your school? Take this quiz to find out.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: How connected is your school? Take this quiz to find out.: How connected is your school? Take this quiz to find out. by noreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen) In our Web 2.0 world, schools can communicate, connect, interact and engage like never before. As we leave 2013 behind and move into the 2014 school year it is time to think about how we will replace the one-way communication of the backpack note home with a truly interactive and connected experience for the school community. This quiz will help you take a look at where you are so you can ... more »

Students Last: Baby-faced Blackmailers

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

Students Last: Baby-faced Blackmailers: Baby-faced Blackmailers by Students Last NYC's youngest criminals major in reading, writing and extortion*New York -* Sometime on Thursday several elementary school students, who thought they were going on a field trip, were instead ushered into a police van and then taken to the local precinct. Their crime? The gang of eight-year-olds allegedly tried to shakedown their teachers. At a press conference held by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. Friday morning, prosecutors shared some information about the suspects in the plot to extor... more »

Name That Legislature to Win a Grand Prize | Reclaim Reform

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

Name That Legislature to Win a Grand Prize | Reclaim Reform: Name That Legislature to Win a Grand Prize by kenpreviti [image: Furlanetto] Below is a direct quotation. *Name the legislature being referred to for a Grand Prize!* “Whatever direction you look, you only see private interest, corruption, bribery. It’s really depressing. Most of the opera companies are struggling, severely struggling, and in the short term I do not foresee a positive future for any of them – or for music and art in general. The political class built there in this decade, the first thing that all of these ge... more »

Jersey Jazzman: EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation!

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation!: EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation! by Duke Today, details of New York State's new teacher evaluation system were released: The state also said New York City *students in third through 12th grades should have a say in their teachers' ratings. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, student surveys will count for 5% of a teachers' grade in New York City,* the state said. Only one other school district in New York state, Syracuse, is currently using student surveys. The U... more »

Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education »

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress: Bill Introduced: H.R.2155 American Dream Accounts Act of 2013 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education - 10 minutes ago To award grants in order to establish longitudinal personal college readiness and savings online platforms for low-income students. Bill Introduced: H.R.2108 Foster Youth Higher Education Opportunities Act Open Congress : Major Bill Actions in Education - 10 minutes ago To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide information to foster youth on their potential eligibility for Federal student aid. Bill Introduc... more »

Diane in the Evening 6-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: G.F. Brandenburg Deconstructs Rhee by dianerav In this post, blogger and former math teacher G.F. Brandenburg dissects a speech by Michelle Rhee. What he finds especially amazing is that Rhee doesn’t acknowledge her own role as chancellor of the D. C. Schools as she rid into the flaws of public education. He notes that the achievement gap grew during her time in office. Why Other Nations Fear Race to the Top by dianerav A reader writes about his experience at an international conference: *Last May I had the privi... more »

Commissioner Pryor to Bridgeport Parents: DROP DEAD - Wait, What?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Commissioner Pryor to Bridgeport Parents: DROP DEAD - Wait, What?: Commissioner Pryor to Bridgeport Parents: DROP DEAD by jonpelto Back when it was Dan Malloy, instead of Dannel, the candidate running for governor said that increasing parental involvement in schools, especially through the utilization of Connecticut’s school governance councils was a high priority. In fact, candidate Dan Malloy even said he’d take the concept of school governance councils statewide, instead of just requiring them in poorer school districts. When Governor Malloy pushed through his “education reform”... more »

Ed Notes Online: Video: Since You Asked, Mr. Walcott

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Ed Notes Online: Video: Since You Asked, Mr. Walcott: Video: Since You Asked, Mr. Walcott by ed notes online Excess'd - A Teacher Without a Room comes up with another in a series of videos this time spoofing Walcott's appearance at the principal's conference (Whining Walcott Misuses Public Funds and Public Space) two weeks ago. Popout

NYC Educator: Highlights of Reformy John's New Decree

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

NYC Educator: Highlights of Reformy John's New Decree: Highlights of Reformy John's New Decree by NYC Educator For third grade and above, 5% of your rating will come from students. Surveys will be piloted next year and will count the following year. While observations and whatever will count as 60% this year, they will be reduced to 55% the following year. So think twice before confiscating that cell phone, contacting parents, or demanding that homework assignment. A majority of the 55 or 60% must be based on observations from administrators. 20% to be determined at school level. Co... more »

Jersey Jazzman: DFER's Misleading and Innumerate "Research"

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Jersey Jazzman: DFER's Misleading and Innumerate "Research": DFER's Misleading and Innumerate "Research" by Duke Bruce Baker has sort of cornered the market on critiquing stupid education policy graphs, so I feel like maybe I need to pay him a royalty or something when I say this: *Democrats For Education Reform has produced quite possibly the year's dumbest education policy graph.* Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes (p.4): Let's go right to the text of the policy brief this comes from, written by Mac LeBuhn, and see if we can figure out what the young gentleman is trying to sa... more »

State releases outline of evaluation system it’s imposing on NYC | GothamSchools

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

State releases outline of evaluation system it’s imposing on NYC | GothamSchools: State releases outline of evaluation system it’s imposing on NYCby Philissa Cramer, at 5:29 pm;; Student surveys, observation options for teachers, and a role for educators at each school are part of the city’s new teacher evaluation system, which State Education Commissioner John King is imposing today. The plan appears to contain some elements that will please each of the Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers, which were not able to agree on a system by a January deadline. Th... more »

Student loans: The financialized economy of indentured servitude | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Student loans: The financialized economy of indentured servitude | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News: Student loans: The financialized economy of indentured servitude by Danny Weil [image: chomskeydebt] Get ready students! Your college student loans are due to double on July 2013! The cost of higher education is spiraling and with it the cost of student loans, one of the biggest Wall Street rackets currently in existence. Both the Obama administration and the Republicans are seeking “market solutions” they say will staunch the bleeding ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: video: Diane Ravitch vs. Michelle Rhee

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

NYC Public School Parents: video: Diane Ravitch vs. Michelle Rhee: Warning to parents and CECs considering DOE's proposals to dezone your district schools by Leonie Haimson At the end of the school year and towards the end of the Bloomberg reign, DoE has been hurriedlyHazel Dukes of the NAACP, who spoke up against dezoning District 5proposing to dezone Districts 4, 5, 6 (twice), 7 (unzoned into two large preference zones this year), 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 23 (unzoned for MS this year). In order to achieve this, theCommunity Education Councils in these districts have to approve.... more »

NPE Webinar: Uncovering the Truth About Education Reform – June 4, 2013 | The Network For Public Education ← NPE News Briefs

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

NPE Webinar: Uncovering the Truth About Education Reform – June 4, 2013 | The Network For Public Education ← NPE News Briefs: *NPE News Briefs* NPE Webinar: Uncovering the Truth About Education Reform – June 4, 2013 | The Network For Public Education by NPE News Briefs Learn from the Experts: Mercedes Schneider and Michael Corwin Are you frustrated when corruption goes on and nobody even seems to notice? Do you want to learn how to uncover the truth about what is happening to our schools? We are presenting a special webinar where two outstanding experts will share tips and ... more »

Homeschool Academy Launched to Teach Science From Biblical Worldview | toteachornototeach

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Homeschool Academy Launched to Teach Science From Biblical Worldview | toteachornototeach: Homeschool Academy Launched to Teach Science From Biblical Worldview by aristotlethewise *Innovative New Home-school Academy* *Launched to Teach Science From Biblical Worldview* By Garrett Haley *DAYTON, Tenn.* – In 1925, a historic court case forever changed the way many Americans view science and religion. Today, nearly 90 years later, two professors are launching a new Christian science organization less than a mile from where that momentous trial unfolded all those many years ago. In the ea... more »

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. by Fred Klonsky [image: davidgoliath] The sun rose over a partly cloudy Illinois this morning and teachers still had their pensions intact. The attempt to allow Chicago to short their obligation to the teacher pension fund failed in spite of the attempts by both Madigan and Cullerton to pass a bill allowing another so-called *pension holiday. * That would be a holiday for the political hucksters. Not the teachers. Illinois public employees keep their constitutionally guaranteed benefits. What a David and Goliath battle that was. On the ... more »

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Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action - Higher Education

Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action - Higher Education:

Asian-American Students Face Unique Challenges When It Comes to Affirmative Action

by cmaadmin

Irwin Tang, an Austin, Texas-based psychotherapist, says he believes that some of the nation’s elite institutions of higher learning have unofficial quotas that cap the admission of students of Asian descent.

Irwin Tang, an Austin, Texas-based psychotherapist, says he believes that some of the nation’s elite institutions of higher learning have unofficial quotas that cap the admission of students of Asian descent.

Though many Asian-American interest groups have lined up to support the University of Texas’ affirmative action policy amid the Fisher v. University of Texas court battle, some Asian-American groups have sided with Abigail Fisher, arguing that race-conscious decisions in university admissions hurt qualified Asian-American students.
When Abigail Fisher, who is White, sued the University of Texas after she was denied admission, claiming UT’s affirmative action policy discriminated against her, as it gave preference to minority candidates over her, the subject of universities and the validity of their affirmative action practices were called into question. Scores of pro-affirmative-action groups voiced their support and stressed how a diverse campus benefits all students, including 

Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions : NPR

Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions : NPR:

Why Some Schools Want To Expel Suspensions

by NPR STAFF

June 02, 2013 5:36 PM

http://www.youthfutures.com/report/kids_matter_2008/4/3/

The effectiveness of school suspensions is up for debate. California is the most recent battleground, but a pattern of uneven application and negative outcomes is apparent across the country.

California students were suspended more than 700,000 times over the 2011-2012 school year,according to state data. One school district decided it was getting ridiculous. In May, the board for the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a new resolution to ban the use of suspensions to punish students for "willful defiance."

Those offenses include: bringing a cellphone to school, public displays of affection, truancy or repeated tardiness. They accounted for nearly half of all suspensions issued in California last year.

But there's mounting research that says that out-of-school suspensions put students on the fast track to falling behind, dropping out, and going to jail. Moreover, some groups are 

Diane in the Evening 6-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

IN HER OWN WORDS

L.A. Times: Parent Trigger=Parent Trap

by dianerav

The Los Angeles Times is not at all pleased with the way the so-called “parent trigger” is working out. Theeditorial board wants a more open, transparent process.
The editorial does not point out that only one organization has pushed the idea that parents should seize control of a public institution. “Parent Revolution”–funded by billionaires–wrote the law, sends paid community organizers to gather parent signatures, and litigates to push its goals without full information to parents who don’t want to 

Burris to King: Listen and Learn

by dianerav

Carol Burris, a principal of a high school in Long Island, New York, tells a sorry tale of a heavy handed effort by an official of the Néw York State Education Department to intimidate Peter DeWitt, an elementary school principal in upstate Néw York.
DeWitt has a regular blog hosted by Education Week. He ran a guest post by an author who wrote about “the testing bullies.” The post also said, erroneously, that Commissioner John King sends his own children to a private Montessori school that does not give the state tests.
DeWitt received a call from Tom Dunn, King’s communications director, who said that the school in question does give the state tests. DeWitt promptly removed the sentence, but the communications director warned that 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 6-1-13 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG 

DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] “Mrs. Ratliff” Lives by dianerav I received a letter from a veteran teacher who recognized herself as my teacher Mrs. Ratliff, whom I wrote about in chapter 9 of my recent book *The Death and Life of the Great American School System*. When I read about all the schemes to measure the worth of students by the test scores of their students, I thought about Mrs. Ratliff, who was both my homeroom teacher and my literature teacher. She had high standards, she was no-... more »

Library for All | toteachornototeach

Library for All | toteachornototeach:

Library for All

by aristotlethewise

From Chalkboard to the Cloud: 
Library for All Puts the World in a Child’s Hands 

Imagine you’re a 9-year-old girl attending a makeshift school in Haiti, and a well-meaning church group or charity drops off boxes of donated books for you and your classmates to read. This is a generous gesture, but the books are in English. You speak French Creole and are just learning to read and write, using one chalkboard shared by 50 students. The stacks of donated books become stools for the school’s youngest pupils, and you’re stuck with just a few chances per day to take your turn at the chalkboard.
The aforementioned scenario may seem far-fetched, but in some parts of the developing world, it’s a reality. To the nearly 2.5 billion people around the globe living on less than $2 a day, access to books — especially those that contain culturally and linguistically appropriate material — is very limited.
A new organization called Library for All is building a digital library for the students in the developing world that will change the way children read, learn and access educational materials — by putting an inexpensive electronic tablet filled with thousands of educational resources right into their hands.
It’s been almost a year since Library for All founder Rebecca McDonald (CEO) and co-founder Tanyella Evans 

Daily Kos: thoughts after a college reunion

Daily Kos: thoughts after a college reunion:

thoughts after a college reunion

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I spent from Friday afternoon through midmorning today on the campuses of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges for the 40th reunion of my 3rd and final class at Haverford.  I joined the class as a 25 year old junior, and thus did not get to know quite as many people through the normal freshman bonding process.  Similarly for our sister class at Bryn Mawr (in those days Haverford was still officially single sex), I had met relatively few of them - those that lived on the Haverford Campus, those that dated (and in some cases married) guys I knew, and a few in some of my classes, most notably a class at Bryn Mawr on the History of Women in America.  Over the recent cycles of every 5 years I have come to know more people from both campuses.  What I offer here is a set of impressions reflecting on both the weekend and the passage of time.
As those who follow my Facebook posts know, there were a number late-night conversation, some well lubricated with alcoholic beverages.  Those were important, but there were three events that stood out  -  meeting with some of the faculty from our days at the college (some are still around, at least one still teaching), our traditional class meeting where people sit in a circle and we go around people sharing key things since the last saw us - for many 5 years, for some, for the first time since graduation (and this always includes a certain amount of quips and spontaneous humor), and what was intended to be an all-classes dance with three bands that overlapped my time at the College, the first with people through the classes of 68 and 69, and the later two with people raning from 71 through I think 74.

Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plans | GothamSchools

Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plans | GothamSchools:

Weekend reading: New York City’s complete evaluation plans

by Philissa Cramer, at 12:19 pm

If you’ve finished the Sunday crossword puzzle, it might be time to turn your attention to the full version of New York City’s teacher and principal evaluation plans.

The plans, which State Education Commissioner announced on Saturday, were posted to the State Education Department’s website just after midnight. Through 240 pages, King details his responses to proposals set out by the city Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers and lays out in meticulous detail exactly how teachers in every grade and of every subject will be rated.

Ed Notes Online: Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?

Ed Notes Online: Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?:

Evaluation Deal: The Enemy, King/Bloomberg/etc or UFT/AFT/NYSUT Leadership?

by ed notes online

Despite the awful and fairy-dust based evaluation system, despite the fact that not one UFT member was allowed a vote on it, we have been almost five years without a raise and missed the 8% pattern raise the rest of our union brothers and sisters got. I have no problem telling the emperor how I feel about that.... NYC Educator on the June 12 rally
 
Bloomberg is irrelevant. The real emperors are the people running our unions at all levels. ... Me

Posted at Jersey Jazzman blog

Pssst, kid. Want some candy for a good evaluation?... NYC Teacher to 3rd grader.

Remember the great exclamations about Mulgrew being a hero last December for withstanding the pressure from Bloomberg to give up the sunset provision? Well that's gone anyway. Ignore the selling points that any changes have to be bargained collectively. In fact isn't this a new contract anyway given the major change in language and 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core?:

Can the Left and the Right Find Enough Common Ground to Work Against Common Core?

by stlgretchen

An thought provoking article by Anthony Cody asking Is the Tea Party Right About the Common Core? appeared in Education Week:

Yesterday's Washington Post carried a banner story about growing Tea Party opposition to the Common Core. We learn that across the country, Tea Party activists have been organizing around opposition to the Common Core, and have succeeded in blocking or delaying the standards in at least nine states.

There has been a contemptuous reaction from the highest levels of our educational system. Arne Duncan has implied that opponents are tin-foil hatted paranoids: "It's not a black helicopter ploy and we're not trying to get inside people's minds and brains," he said last week. A week before he responded to questions at Capital Hill, saying "Let's not get caught up in hysteria and drama." And of course corporate-funded conservatives like Jeb Bush, and the Fordham Institute are still on board all the way.

The problem they have is that the substance of the Tea Party criticism of Common Core standards is solid. And it aligns pretty well with what many of us a bit more to the left have been saying for years. Let's take the arguments, as presented by this Washington Post article and elsewhere, and check them out. 

Read more here. 

NYC Public School Parents: John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers?

NYC Public School Parents: John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers?:

John King's decision on teacher evaluation: voodoo or wake-up call for "bad" teachers?

by Leonie Haimson

Lots of news and commentary this morning on Commissioner John King’s 

From the front page of today's NY Post

decision on a new NYC teacher evaluation system. 

Here's the one I like best:  Jersey Jazzman'sExclusive!  First look at NY Student surveys for Teacher evaluation (based on the the fact that starting in 3rd grade, the results of student surveys will be part of the formula.)  See also NYC Educator:  Highlights of Reformy John's New Decree.

NYC Doenuts points out that the 20% that was supposed to be based upon "locally-determined measures" to allow for flexibility will have to be selected from a pre-determined menu selected by John King: Making Sense Of the New Eval System.

Before we get to the mainstream media, which is mainly limited to repeating the pronouncements of Cuomo, Bloomberg, King, Walcott and Mulgrew about how much this system will benefit NYC children,  let us recall the celebration of these folks at City Hall in 2010, when NY state was awarded Race to the Top funds.  What have we gotten from the collective efforts of these men to win these funds?

Common Core: Assessing the real level of support:

Common Core: Assessing the real level of support

By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 2, 2013 at 12:30 pmE-mail the writer

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Does “the great majority” of Americans really support the Common Core? How do we know? Here’s a piece on the subject from P.L. Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. He edited the 2013 book “Becoming and Being a Teacher,” and wrote the 2012 book, “Ignoring Poverty in the U.S.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Education.” This was published on @the chalk face.

By P.L. Thomas

If you have a moment, take some time to glance through your middle school (or if you’re old like me, junior high) or high school yearbook.

Play close attention to the powerful consistency of fashion and the related recognition that you and your peers look ridiculous. You didn’t look ridiculous to yourself or each other at the time because you were all conforming to a naive and powerful norm that represented some discourse between contemporary teen efforts to assert their adulthood as well as simultaneously disconnecting from the adults controlling their lives and the consumer/materialistic culture imposing fashion expectations onto that teen 

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky

Sunday reads. | Fred Klonsky:

Sunday reads.

by Fred Klonsky

EXCLUSIVE! First Look at NY Student Surveys for Teacher Evaluation!  Photo: Jersey Jazzman

“Today, educators would do well to remember the lesson of the power of fusing civil rights movements with 

UPDATE: Great News from Seattle Schools Seattle Schools Community Forum: State sets deadline for Seattle Special Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: State sets deadline for Seattle Special Education:

Great News from Seattle Schools

by Melissa Westbrook

From SPS:

• Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced that two Seattle Public Schools students – Tara N. Conley, The Center School; and Derek B. Gasaway, Garfield High School – are among the winners for college-sponsored scholarships. 

• South Lake High School teacher Web Hutchins received the state’s top honor for civic education - the Civic Educator of the Year award. Hutchins was nominated for the award by State Representative Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle). 

Hutchins’ Civics for All Initiative is under consideration by the School District and has been introduced in 

State sets deadline for Seattle Special Education

by Charlie Mas

The Seattle Times reported today that the OSPI is giving Seattle Public Schools eighteen months to correct non-compliance in Special Education or lose federal funding.

Items of special note from the Times story:

• Doug Gill, the state’s special-education director is quoted as saying "At some point you have to do the right thing." You may be surprised to learn that point doesn't come at the beginning, but only after several years of consistently doing the wrong thing. He makes it sound like doing the right thing is a great burden to him - or at least a severe inconvenience. What's he getting paid to ignore problems for years until the feds get involved?
• "School Board member Michael DeBell said the board should have made special education a higher priority sooner." Gee, if only someone had told them about the problems. You know, someone other than 

The story of an ‘offending’ blog post:

The story of an ‘offending’ blog post

By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 2, 2013 at 10:30 amE-mail the writer

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(Associated Press photo)

Here is a new piece from award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York. Burris was namedNew York’s 2013 High School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and in 2010,  tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State. She is the co-author of the New York Principals letter of concern regarding the evaluation of teachers by student test scores. It has been signed by more than 1,535 New York principals and more than 6,500 teachers, parents, professors, administrators and citizens. You can read the letter by clicking here.

By Carol Burris

I met Peter DeWitt, a principal from upstate New York, when he was doing his doctoral research.  Peter courageously chose a topic few had explored at the time—whether and how schools safeguarded LGBT students.  He chose my school as a study site because we had an active Gay/Straight Alliance and worked hard to make sure that all of our