10-11-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

NYSED Commissioner John King Whines

Via B-Lo Ed Scene, we present to you a video snippet of rookie teacher/NYSED Commissioner John King trying to quell a hostile crowd attacking him for the corporate education reform agenda they're promoting and not doing a very good job of it:As B-Lo Ed Scene demonstrates, King is full of crap when he says his kid is getting the same Common Core treatment all the children in public schools are gett

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

TIME Magazine: Neither Retirement Nor Death Shall End The Reign Of Bloomberg

 You only think he's going away:Mike Bloomberg is about to be unemployed for the second time in his professional life. The first was in August of 1981, when Saloman Brothers fired Bloomberg from the only full-time job he had ever known. The second time will be January 1, 2014, when he hands control of New York City over to the next mayor.The cover story of this week’s TIME magazine is about what B

by reality-based edu... / 3min 

Eva Moskowitz - A Cancer In The School System

Eva Moskowitz's charter schools - uncontrolled cancerous growth: Like many public school parents and veteran educators, Lynn Manuell is fed up with the special treatment granted charter schools during the Bloomberg era. She’s tired of the endless co-locations of charters in regular public schools decreed by the bureaucrats at Tweed.... Special ed teacher Manuell has witnessed the inequities of cha

by reality-based edu... / 1h mark as read  //  save

Common Core Child Abuse

Newest Pearson/Common Core/NYCDOE innovation - multiple choice standardized tests for four and five year olds: Goodbye Play-Doh, hello No. 2 pencils. Because of a tough new curriculum and teacher evaluations, 4- and 5-year-olds are learning how to fill in bubbles on standardized math tests to show how much they know about numbers, shapes and order.... One of three tests obtained by the Daily News

by reality-based edu... / 4h 

10-10-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Ed Deformer Says If You're A Critic Of Charters, You're A Segregationist@DianeRavitch @rweingarten YOU, the 'historian', are on the same side of history as the segregationists who fought to keep ppl in the hood.— Dr. Steve Perry (@DrStevePerry) October 9, 2013Ravitch responds:@DrStevePerry @rweingarten George Wallace and Strom Thurmond fought for school choice. Dr. ML King f

by mike simpson / 10h 

Competing Traditions of Teaching: An Old Story Written Anew | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Competing Traditions of Teaching: An Old Story Written Anew | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Competing Traditions of Teaching: An Old Story Written Anew

Everything has been said before but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and begin all over again. Andre Gide

Yes, I know that starting a post with the Gide quote makes me sound arrogant. Not my intention. I begin with these words because most people, I include entrepreneurial school reformers, academics, and practitioners, either ignore or forget past reformer-driven conflicts over changing teachers and teaching. I should add a third group: those who  already know about those battles and try to convince others that something can be learned from the past. These three groups of people, and I include myself in the last group, need to be reminded that much has been said and done to alter how teachers teach over many decades.

Today, reformers push Common Core Standards into classrooms. They champion charters and more parental choice of schools. They want teachers to be evaluated  on the basis of student test scores. Policymakers, philanthropists, and vendors send tablets to classrooms. These current reforms aim at changing 

Not a Game

The refusal of a group of Tea Party Republicans to compromise forced a government shutdown that put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work, forced children out of Head Start classes, and is harming ordinary families every day. Now, the same Tea Party faction is threatening a national default on America's bills, which could cause widespread economic disaster.

Speaker Boehner has the power to put an end to this reckless behavior. Call on Congress to stop playing games with STUDENTS, FAMILIES AND THE ECONOMY. Call on Congress to end the Federal government shutdown, PREVENT A NATIONAL DEFAULT ON OUR BILLS AND END SEQUESTER CUTS TO EDUCATION

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 10-10-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Nite Cap 10-10-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #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 CAPTODAYHer name is Laporshia Massey and our hearts are breaking | Parents United for Public EducationHer name is Laporshia Massey and our hearts are breaking | Parents United for Public Education: Her name is Laporshia Massey and our hearts are bre

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Socially scared parents? No problem!

One of the first things I hear from educators as a reason why they shouldn’t jump into the social media stream is because they don’t have families/staff on Twitter. Social media can be very dividing. Justin Tarte and I were just discussing how there is still such a  mentality of “block it & lock” it…as if we were to stick our heads in the sand, *maybe* these crazy tools will go away. I don’t t

2 by Amber Teamann / 4h 

The Fight to Save Common Core: Count Me Out

I have written a number of posts on the so-called Common Core State Standards (CCSS), an unprecedented effort by those outside of the classroom to exercise control over the classroom by standardizing what is taught in classrooms across the nation. Since CCSS did not originate with those forced to accept it, there has been resistance. Legislators are drafting bills to drop CCSS. But CCSS is a real

4 1h 

Child Abuse in New York: Bubble Tests for Kindergarten

The mighty machine that Leaves No Child Untested has now arrived in kindergarten, as tots in New York City encounter their first standardized tests. Children are now learning what matters most in school and getting ready for the Common Core tests, which will place them on a sure path to college- and career-readiness. No more nonsense about sharing and caring. Our nation is falling behind other na

21 by dianerav / 3h 

New law allows experiment with higher tuition for in-demand courses at community colleges - by Kathryn Baron

Despite opposition from the community college Academic Senate and some concerns from the chancellor’s office, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a bill allowing a few community colleges to charge more for high-demand courses. Assembly Bill 955, by Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara), creates a pilot program at up to six ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today websi

by Kathryn Baron / 4h 

Strauss: Malala Yousafzai picks Bethesda teen’s essay as contest winner

Sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai selected an essay written by a Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School senior named Julia Fine, 17, as the winner of a CNN contest for teens to write about being inspired by the young Pakistani. Read full article >>    

13 by Valerie Strauss / 4h 

Anti-Gay Group’s Latest Attempt to Create Junk Science on Gay Households Is Simply Pathetic

In the midst of all the mess of this government shutdown, the National Organization for Marriage is trying to establish credibility for a discredited anti-gay parenting study via a tactic I like to call “propping.” Last week, the New Civil Rights Movement posted the following: Maggie Gallagher Touts Another Regnerus-Type Anti-Gay Parenting ‘Study’. In the article, former NOM head Maggie Gallagher

5 by Alvin McEwen / 3h 

Common Core vs. Common Sense

Four times a year the American Federation of Teachers publishes a magazine called American Educator.  Though I generally like what they have to say in this publication, I was somewhat disturbed by the cover story of the recent issue.  The article, which you can read online, is called ‘Letting the Tet Take Center Stage.  How the common core state standards will transform English language arts instr

1 by Gary Rubinstein / 2h 

Investing in the teaching profession

The school year has begun for children and teachers; it also needs to begin for Congress. At the core of the federal government’s small but vital role in Pre-K-12 education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). First introduced in 1965 at a time when our national leaders wanted to act on their belief that education was a civil right and a moral obligation, the law—now known as No C

by Ronald Thorpe / 1h 

At symposium, a call for state education funding formula

If the Pennsylvania Legislature had not scrapped a statewide education-funding formula in 2011 it had approved three years earlier, the Philadelphia School District would have received $360 million more in state aid this year and would not be in a fiscal crisis now, an expert said Wednesday.

100+ 43min 

Tom Corbett Pressured By Civil Rights Groups On Philadelphia School Funding

Ten high-profile civil rights leaders are pressuring Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) to intervene in the sorry state of school funding in Philadelphia. The national and local leaders -- including the NAACP's Ben Jealous and the Leadership Conference's Wade Henderson -- are asking Corbett to "take immediate action to address the budget crisis in the School District of Philadelphia," ac

8 1h 

HISD board approves 3-cent tax hike

The Houston school board voted 4-3 Thursday to raise the tax rate by 3 cents to balance a budget that includes raises for employees and continues the Apollo reform program. The original proposal called for a 4-cent increase, which would have given the district several million dollars more than was needed to balance the budget.  Read More

20 by Ericka Mellon / 5h 

Brown OKs higher fees for high-demand community college classes

California community colleges will now be able to charge more for high-demand classes during summer and winter terms under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday.

by By Carla Rivera / 5h 

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Education Policy Posts & Articles

Here are some recently good posts and articles on education policy issues: Top Ten Reasons Not to Contract With Teach For America is from John Wilson at Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Raising Concerns About Teach For America. Charter Schools and the Future of Public Education is by Stan Karp at Rethinking Schools. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Anal

7 by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h mark as read  //  save

World Food Day Resources

World Food Day is October 16th. You might find The Best Sites To Learn About World Food Day useful….

10 by Larry Ferlazzo / 5h 

Philly councilman says SRC should decide on controversial tax break

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks Philadelphia Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. continued Thursday in his crusade to change the city's controversial 10-year property tax abatement. He introduced a bill that would allow the School Reform Commission to decide whether a portion of the tax break on new construction should live or die. About 55 percent of the city's property taxes are set aside for the Sc

1 by thenotebook / 5h 

Malala Yousafzai picks Bethesda teen’s essay as contest winner

Sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai selected an essay written by a Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School senior named Julia Fine, 17, as the winner of a CNN contest for teens to write about being inspired by the young Pakistani. Malala, an advocate for education for girls, was … Continue reading →    

13 by Valerie Strauss / 4h 

The Impending Teacher Shortage

The Impending Teacher Shortage by Marc F. Bernstein By the year 2020 there will be a serious teacher shortage, especially in the more demanding subject areas of mathematics and science. Fortunately, there is time to take the necessary steps to turn this shortage into a meaningful education reform that will improve the quality of and broaden the racial demographics of those individuals who enter

by aristotlethewise / 29min 

iFiasco in LA's Schools: Why Technology Alone Is Never the Answer | DMLcentral

iFiasco in LA's Schools: Why Technology Alone Is Never the Answer | DMLcentral:

iFiasco in LA's Schools: Why Technology Alone Is Never the Answer

By THOMAS M. PHILIP AND ANTERO GARCIA October 10, 2013 - 3:00pm

Tags Digital Media & Learning, Education, Equity

The opening sentence to a recent Los Angeles Times article says it all: It took exactly one week for nearly 300 students at Roosevelt High School to hack through security so they could surf the Web on their new school-issued iPads, raising new concerns about a plan to distribute the devices to all students in the district.

When educators and policymakers assume that simply investing in technology will “level the playing field” in schools, it’s clear that those of us in the DML community have a lot of work to do.  As educational researchers who were teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, we want to discuss some of the biggest problems unfolding in the poorly designed technology plan.

Los Angeles Unified School District’s rollout of iPads has played out in an all too predictable fashion.  The $1 billion venture into providing the tablet devices was ill-conceived from the start.  And yet LAUSD’s top brass stubbornly holds on to the idea that they can reboot schools by thrusting students, particularly poor youth of color, into the 21st century by handing over shiny new digital gadgets emblazoned with a partially eaten apple.

In our research on the incorporation of smartphones in classrooms we see a strikingly and unfortunately similar pattern to LAUSD’s venture.  The story routinely begins with adults who have 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Schools are broke but Rahm rolling in election campaign dough

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Schools are broke but Rahm rolling in election campaign dough:

Schools are broke but Rahm rolling in election campaign dough

While he was busy closing public schools, shuttering public health clinics, and reaming the teachers pension fun, Rahm still found time to raise another $1.1 million last month for his election war chest. He hopes to be able to exceed the $14 million he used to buy the election the last time around.

You won't be surprised to learn that the mayor got a $10,000 gift from the group,Stand For Children, which has been promoting anti-union policies nationwide and in Chicago.

Crain's Greg Hinz reports:

Some folks who have obvious issues of importance pending at City Hall also were big donors. Like United Center owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who gave near the maximum $5,300 gift and has been waiting for Mr. Emanuel to sign off on a renewed tax break for the stadium and a proposed shopping complex near it. Or Todd Ricketts, co-owner of