9-23-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Notice how cut scores are a choice, not a measure of proficiency. #DCPS

I’m sure you’ve heard of this. DCPS, the system in which I teach, “chose” math cut scores to perhaps load more positive results, thus trying to make the argument that prevailing reforms, largely propagated by huckster Michelle Rhee, “worked.” Note that CUT SCORES are political choices, nothing scientific or verifiable. They are subjective.  This is […]

by Chalk Face, PhD / 25min 

Score Reports: Send ‘em Back

In a state-wide effort to protest the lack of validity, loss of instruction time, and educational harm caused by mandated state assessments, New York State Allies for Public Education has called for parents to “send the scores back”. Parents around New York will be sending back to their children’s score reports to NYSED Commissioner John […]

by Chris Cerrone / 0min 

This is the speech I intended to give at the Southern Education Foundation Public Education conference this weekend. . . .

Reblogged from Crazy Crawfish’s Blog 9/23/13     This is the speech I intended to give at the Southern Education Foundation Public Education conference this weekend. . . ..

by Michael Paul Gold... / 4min 

“evil” @DianeRavitch said do what’s right and save your soul.

Last night Shaun and I had the chance to talk to one of our favorite guests—Diane Ravitch.  We talked about her new book—Reign of Error—and the possibilities of ending the reform movement.  Diane gave me a brand new kick in the arse!  Simple yet powerful.   How do we fight the reform movement? We do […]

13 by Timothy D. Slekar / 1h 

Is Addressing Different Learning Styles an Unreasonable Demand on Teachers?

  Multiple Intelligences or Multiple Pains in the Ass?  Periodically, I bump into online commentary that is harshly critical of expecting teachers to address student learning styles. Unfortunately, simply dismissing something as essentially “a bunch of hippie crap” is not the same as offering an argument or analysis that would persuade anyone that the writer […]

9 by Michael Paul Gold... / 33min 

“Word Magic,” Education, and Market Forces | the becoming radical

“Word Magic,” Education, and Market Forces | the becoming radical.

by plthomasedd / 15min 

The Indignant Teacher Goes Abroad

Susan DuFresne and Katie Lapham are the women behind the website, Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates; they are experienced public school teachers and amazing authors. Susan recently invited Him to take part in an interview with her, to discuss his role in public education and some of the issues on the table. “After all, public education is […]

by jillconroy / 4h

9-22-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: EPSLP: College Ready? Alliance Charter Corporation’s big scamFirst published on Echo Park Patch on September 20, 2013 “If the American public understood that reformers want to privatize their public schools and divert their taxes to pay profits to investors, it would be hard to sell the corporate idea of reform.” — Professor Diane Ravitch “However, within this market, competition

by mike simpson / 9h 

I Quit Teach for America - Olivia Blanchard - The Atlantic

I Quit Teach for America - Olivia Blanchard - The Atlantic:

I Quit Teach for America

Five weeks of training was not enough to prepare me for a room of 20 unruly elementary-schoolers.

Teach for America Delta Institute, Julia Sweeney, HO/AP Photo

I am sitting in a comfortable gold folding chair inside one of the many ballrooms at the Georgia International Convention Center. The atmosphere is festive, with a three-course dinner being served and children playing a big-band number. The kids are students at a KIPP academy in Atlanta, and they are serenading future teachers on the first night of a four-day-long series of workshops that will introduce us to the complicated language, rituals, and doctrines we will need to adopt as Teach for America "Corps Members."

The phrase closing the achievement gap is the cornerstone of TFA's general philosophy, public-relations messaging, and training sessions. As a member of the 2011 corps, I was told immediately and often that 1) the achievement gap is a pervasive example of inequality in America, and 2) it is our personal responsibility to close the achievement gap within our classrooms, which are microcosms of America's educational inequality.

These are laudable goals. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, white fourth-graders performed better than their black peers on 2007 standardized mathematics exams in all 46 states where results were available. In 2004, there was a 23-point gap in mathematics scale scores between white and 

A plea for book censors to stand down:

A plea for book censors to stand down

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 23 at 5:00 amE-mail the writer

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As noted in the previous post, this is Banned Books Week. Here’s a piece on the ugliness of censorship by James Blasingame, associate professor of English Education at Arizona State University, and the 2010 president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English.

By James Blasingame

“We got trouble, (oh, we got trouble), right here in River City”
Meredith Wilson, The Music Man, 1957

There must be something in the river water in southern Arizona!  Well, actually, there is no water in southern Arizona, but if there were, it would have something in it! Something that turns people into book censors. Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia, a National Book Award finalist, was removed from high school classes this week in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The American Library Association (ALA) had never heard of anyone, anywhere, objecting to this book before, and those people really watch these things! In fact, they have a whole website dedicated to it, and they have been sponsoring Banned Books Week since 1982. Sierra Vista High School’s timing is impeccable on this one, making them the opening act in this year’s Banned Books Week, September 22-28.

Who could have predicted this? Of the many books challenged each year listed on the ALA website, not only has Dreaming in Cuban failed to join such “soul bludgeoning” 

 

Q & A: School superintendents speak out on key issues

Have Washington area school systems been hurt by federal budget cuts? Are students being bombarded with too many standardized tests? How are schools handling the implementation of the Common Core State Standards? I asked superintendents around the Washington region to … Continue reading →    

3 by Valerie Strauss / 2h mark as read  //  save

It’s Banned Books Week. Read a banned book!

It’s Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, sponsored by the American Library Association. Every year, libraries and bookstores around the country use the week to highlight censorship by displaying books that are challenged and/or banned, … Continue reading →    

17 by Valerie Strauss / 3h 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market:

Techies vie with ed conglomerates for a piece of the Common Core market

It's ed tech start-up companies vs. the oligopoly at Stanford conference.

Silicon Valley tech companies, conferencing at Stanford, are trying to become the "Facebook of education," writes Lauren Hepler in the Silicon Valley Business Journal ("Online kindergarten? Tech bets on K-12 disruption"). The potential for superprofits has Valley heads spinning.

Hepler points out that, overall, the market for education is massive. She says the $1.5 trillion US education industry accounts for roughly 10 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, or the second-biggest sector after healthcare,

After meeting with power philanthropist Bill Gates, tech entrepreneur Mick Hewitt, co-founder and CEO of MasteryConnect, sees the looming implementation of government “Common Core” standards for reading and math in elementary, 

NYC Educator: Startup Tips

NYC Educator: Startup Tips:

Startup Tips

I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Practical suggestions were few and far between when I started out. I was an English teacher, with an AP who spent hours describing the difference between an “aim” and an “instructional objective.” To this day, I haven’t the slightest notion what she was talking about. She also spent a good deal of time describing the trials and tribulations of her cooking projects, and other utterly useless information.

Neither she nor any teacher of education ever advised me on classroom control. The standing platitude was “A good lesson plan is the best way to control a class,” but I no longer believe that. I think a good lesson plan is the best thing to have after you control the class.

I also think a good lesson plan need not be written at all, as long as you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, neither the lesson plan nor the aim will be much help.

The best trick, and it’s not much of a trick at all, is frequent home contact. It’s true that not all parents will be helpful, but I’ve found most of them to be. When kids know reports of their classroom behavior will reach their 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Emanuel cut short East Coast fundraising trip and flew back to Chicago after 13 people were shot at a South Side park.

Columnist John Kass

He was absolutely rolled by the Chicago Teachers Union in the strike, and his capitulation cost him credibility with business leaders. His closing of some four dozen schools cost him with African-American voters. Emanuel still found $17 million last week in extra funds for an elite Near North magnet school, while out in the Northwest Side bungalow belt, Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 36th, ran a "toilet paper" drive to help his neighborhood schools provide basic necessities to the children of taxpayers. 

And that $1 billion school deficit? -- Sun-Times

Melissa Harris-Perry 

 “Folks, if you want to do a re-enactment of slavery in your school, how about 

How to Create a Negative School Climate 101 | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates

How to Create a Negative School Climate 101 | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates:

How to Create a Negative School Climate 101

Posted on September 22, 2013by Teachers'LettersToBillGates

Dear Mr. Gates and Mr. Duncan,              

I thought I had better get this to you now while it is still on my mind.

At the end of the last school year, I was informed that I would be teaching 7th and 8th grade language arts instead of the specialized, reading program I had taught for six years.  The reading program was highly effective, yet the administrator decided it was better to move me to regular Language Arts.  I asked for materials to study over the summer to prepare for my new assignment.  I was given nothing.  I started school with nothing. I had no textbooks and certainly no teacher’s editions to reference.  I had no technology available in my class.  Four weeks later, I still don’t.

The second day of school, I was evaluated based on the VAM system in our state.  I had 30 students in my tiny classroom at the time of evaluation…day two!  I was “red flagged” in three areas.  I had students sitting on the floor.  I had requested more tables and chairs or desks, not once, but three times.  I was told in passing to “deal with it”.  My small room can sit 18 students safely.  I had 30.  Once again, I was told, “deal with it”.  I was “red flagged” 

The Educated Reporter: More Than Scores: Assessing the Future of Teacher Evaluations

The Educated Reporter: More Than Scores: Assessing the Future of Teacher Evaluations:

More Than Scores: Assessing the Future of Teacher Evaluations

Teacher evaluations are here to stay. But what is their purpose and what are teachers doing to make them their own? Next month, EWA will hold a journalists-only seminar to examine how new collaborations and methodologies are bringing greater depth to the evaluation process, and how that information is being used to improve both the teaching profession and student learning.

The seminar will be held Oct. 10-11 at the University of Chicago. A limited number oftravel scholarships are available for qualified journalists. Space is limited -- and filling up quickly! -- so register today.Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email EWA public editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. Follow her on Twitter: @EWAEmily.

State constitutional measure binds schools to open meetings SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

State constitutional measure binds schools to open meetings
By Kimberly Beltran
Monday, September 23, 2013

School districts and local government agencies will forever be required to provide meeting notices and documents to the public if voters agree this June to add that provision to California’s Constitution.

But responsibility for the mandate’s costs – estimated as much as $20 million annually – would no longer belong to the state, which now reimburses local agencies who submit claims for these so-called unfunded mandates.

“This Constitutional Amendment – SCA 3 – makes it clear that local governments have a duty to comply with both the Public Records Act and the Brown Act, and that the costs associated with that are to be borne by local governments,” said Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publisher’s Association and long-time advocate for open access laws.

“It’s saying that these things are so fundamental to the democratic process that they should never be subject to the financial whims of the Legislature.”

California’s two key open-government laws have survived myriad challenges over the years, but it was in response to proposed changes to both last year that prompted Senate leader Darrell Steinberg and Sen. Mark Leno to seek a more permanent solution. 

Attempting to right the state’s floundering finances, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature in adopting the 2012-13 

Missed connection: Are schools tripping up on technology? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Missed connection: Are schools tripping up on technology? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Missed connection: Are schools tripping up on technology?  

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Will Richardson

Previous Posts

• A panel on Common Core. An irate parent. An arrest. Who went too far? 
  September 21, 2013
• Sororities at University of Alabama offer bids to black women
  September 21, 2013
• All eyes on pre-k when Arne Duncan and U.S. business leaders converge here Monday
  September 20, 2013

By Maureen Downey

Education innovator Will Richardson, author of “Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere,” raised an issue in Atlanta today that often divides readers of this blog: the role of technology in schools.

The father of two teens, Richardson said the only place kids can’t take technology out of their pockets and backpack to answer questions is at school.

Speaking at the (co)lab summit, Richardson said if he offered a free iPad to the first person in the  symphany hall audience who could name the cause of the demise of the Gupta Empire, everyone would pull out their technology to check Google.

But, said Richardson, his two teens can’t do that in their school, which “gives them a very different sense of what learning looks like in the classroom and what it looks like outside.”

The problem is that the people creating school policy haven’t had the same experience with technology as his kids and their peers. “They are good people. They care about kids,” said 

The Lie and Disgrace that is NBC’s Education Nation | Raginghorseblog

The Lie and Disgrace that is NBC’s Education Nation | Raginghorseblog:

The Lie and Disgrace that is NBC’s Education Nation

September 22, 2013

The yearly corporate sponsored corporate education reform propaganda extravaganza Education Nation sinks lower and lower and as it does so it showers the American people with greater and greater corporate contempt. Here is an event that is billed as a “summit” of educational leaders that, as far as I can see, includes not a single teacher in a position of prominence or authority. (Sorry Weingarten and Walcott, you don’t count.)
Here is an event beamed out across America that includes not a single dissenting voice from the “reformers “ increasingly reckless experiments on American children such as the deceitfully named Common Core State Standards.
Here is an event in which the promoters are not satisfied with merely elevating non-educator hucksters like Joel Klein, (billed as the CEO of education techno firm Amplify) or David Coleman (no longer known as “the architect “ of the Common Core but rather as President and Chief Educative Officer of the College Board ) to the level of expertise but also adds the educational wisdom of non-educator Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, and non-educator politicians like Mike Bloomberg, Jeb Bush, Arne Duncan, and Bobby Jindal.
For a final spit in the face of American parents there is the inexplicable inclusion of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, singer 

Samantha Thibodeaux, SPED teacher from St John Parish, speaks out about CCSS, Jindal, White & Duncan | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Samantha Thibodeaux, SPED teacher from St John Parish, speaks out about CCSS, Jindal, White & Duncan | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Samantha Thibodeaux, SPED teacher from St John Parish, speaks out about CCSS, Jindal, White & Duncan

Posted on September 22, 2013

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I am Samantha Thibodeaux. I am a 14 year teacher of SPED in St. John Parish. I hold a bachelor’s in KHS, a master’s in health education and a master’s in Educational Leadership. I am one and a half years into my doctoral program. There are so many issues I would love to discuss today from needless professional growth plans to a flawed value-added system to a faulty COMPASS teacher evaluation system. But, I will stick to the topic at hand—Common Core.

Today, I come to you not just as an educator but a parent and soon to be grandparent to voice my concerns over the Common Core initiative that has been permitted by Gov. Jindal and the BESE board to infiltrate our schools and our students.

I do not ascribe to the notion that Gov. Jindal and the BESE board did not know the negative effect that this progressive agenda would have on our teachers, students and parents. What I do believe is the Gov. and the BESE board signed on to this defective agenda without doing a simple Google search to find out more on Common Core like the lack of empirical data to support this abomination and the Obama administration’s true intentions. Empirical data and robust research is imperative to any successful program. In a speech in 2010 to the United Nations, Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Arne Duncan stated:

Go home, Congressman. You’re drunk.:

Go home, Congressman. You’re drunk.

by JASON STANFORD on SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

There is evil in the world. In fact, there are too many examples, from Jerry Sandusky and Ariel Castro in the United States to Assad gassing civilians in Syria to Islamic terrorists killing shoppers in a Nairobi mall. You could make a list of all the evil in the world and run out of ideas before you would ever think of writing down the name of Diane Ravitch, a grandmother who has dedicated her life to protecting public schools, but don’t tell that to Rep. Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat.

On Thursday, Sep. 19, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, tweeted out a link to a good review of Ravitch’s latest book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Though Weingarten’s tweet was not directed at him, Rep. Polis responded, and he chose his words poorly.

“@rweingarten don’t know if I can bring myself to read another book from that evil woman who is doing such harm to public education,” tweeted Rep. Polis. He later deleted that, but when challenged by Weingarten, he didn’t back down.

“Can’t think of anybody else who has caused more harm to public schools, except maybe Koch 

Diane Ravitch’s new book was preemptively attacked. Wow! | Reclaim Reform

Diane Ravitch’s new book was preemptively attacked. Wow! | Reclaim Reform: Diane Ravitch’s new book was preemptively attacked. Wow!Posted on August 19, 2013by Ken PrevitiPeter Cunningham, a professional spin-doctor, today attacked Diane Ravitch and her yet to be published book, The Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Wow! she must have

by mike simpson / 17h 

Democratic Congressman who tweeted Ravitch is “evil” goes on to compare her to Koch brothers - Wait What?

Democratic Congressman who tweeted Ravitch is “evil” goes on to compare her to Koch brothers - Wait What?: Democratic Congressman who tweeted Ravitch is “evil” goes on to compare her to Koch brothers Jared Polis, a Democratic member of Congress from Colorado, who tweeted yesterday that America’s leading public education advocate, Diane Ravitch, was an “evil woman” went on to tweet, “Can’t think of

by mike simpson / 6h 

Jersey Jazzman: @jaredpolis: America's Worst Congressperson

Jersey Jazzman: @jaredpolis: America's Worst Congressperson: @jaredpolis: America's Worst CongresspersonWhat a schmuck:Yes, 75 year old Diane Ravitch -- grandmother, author, and historian -- is "evil" in the eyes of this sitting member of Congress. Aren't you proud, Colorado?This empty suit is the 7th wealthiest member of Congress. But Polis is really just another phony Democrat who push

by mike simpson / 18h 

Connected Educator Month Is Coming – What Will You Do? | Connected Principals

Connected Educator Month Is Coming – What Will You Do? | Connected Principals:

Connected Educator Month Is Coming – What Will You Do?

September 23, 2013

By Patrick Larkin

If you are reading this post, the odds are that you are already somewhat of a “connected educator.” Of course, if you are “connected” then you know that there are some responsibilities that come along with that designation.  One of the primary tasks of a connected educator is to help others learn about the tremendous rewards inherent in online social learning.
With this in mind, the United States Department of Education has designated the month of October as “Connected Educator Month.” The description below comes from the Connected Educator Month District Toolkit created by Powerful Learning Practice:

Connected Educator Month (CEM) is a month-long celebration of community, with educators at all levels, from all disciplines, moving toward a fully connected and collaborative profession. 

 The goals of Connected Educator Month include:

• Helping more districts promote and integrate online social learning into their formal professional development

• Stimulating and supporting collaboration and innovation in professional development

• Getting more educators connected (to each other)

• Deepening and sustaining the learning of those already connected

So, what will you do? How will you promote the power of Connected Learning for others? Whatever its is, be sure to share your ideas here! That’s what being connected is all about!

Coop Goes to High School Part 4 – The Play’s the Thing | Lefty Parent

Coop Goes to High School Part 4 – The Play’s the Thing | Lefty Parent:

Coop Goes to High School Part 4 – The Play’s the Thing

September 22nd, 2013 at 16:19

I returned from my summer in England just a week before school was to start for my junior year of high school, having missed my normal summer activities and been disconnected from my neighborhood friends for those ten weeks I had been gone, but also having undergone a personal transformation from my summer odyssey. I was still a shy kid, but I had a heightened sense of agency from partnering with my mom on our summer adventure in England. I was ready in this school year ahead to play a more active role charting my own course rather than just going with the flow of my school classes and current neighborhood social circle.

The first new opportunity presented itself Labor Day weekend. I was friends with Chris who lived across the street and his older sister Laura, who was actually a schoolmate at Pioneer High, though we had not had any classes together. Laura had invited her new friend Judy, who I had not met before, over to spend that last holiday weekend before school started and so Chris invited me as well. Doing a sort of camp out/slumber party thing we all ended up sleeping together in sleeping bags on their screened in porch. Judy and I ended up next to each other and started talking, and kept talking, late into the night about everything, finally falling asleep and waking up in the morning bleary but newly found buddies. Judy and Laura were both 16 and soon to be high school juniors like me. I was 15 (I’d skipped kindergarten so was generally a year younger than my classmates). Chris was 14, headed into ninth grade now at Pioneer High