12-22-13 Wait What NEWS FLASH: Steve Perry’s use of private email account will not shield public’s right to know - Wait What?

NEWS FLASH: Steve Perry’s use of private email account will not shield public’s right to know - Wait What?:

NEWS FLASH: Steve Perry’s use of private email account will not shield public’s right to know

A set of emails acquired by Wait, What? reveals that as early as November 2012, a year before the Hartford Board of Education voted to reject a secret deal to hand Capital Prep Magnet School and S.A.N.D. elementary school over to a private company created by Capital Prep Principal Perry, discussions were taking place between Malloy’s […]The post NEWS FLASH: Steve Perry’s use of private email accou

3 by jonpelto / 22min 

12-21-13 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:  Wait What? All WeekFoxes guarding the chicken coop or Hartford politics as usual.With relatively little fan-fare last fall, Board of Education Chairman Matt Poland appointed a 13 member search committee to choose a new superintendent of schools for the Hartford School System. Poland, who is not only appointed to the Board of Education by Mayor Segarra, is also the Director of the Hart

by mike simpson / 8h

Parents United calls for investigation into use of pepper spray on students | Parents United for Public Education

Parents United calls for investigation into use of pepper spray on students | Parents United for Public Education:


Parents United calls for investigation into use of pepper spray on students

Posted on December 22, 2013 by PARENTSUNITEDPHILALeave a comment

How far do we go in the name of “safety”? That’s the question Parents United would like answered in the wake of two recently surfaced incidents of pepper spray used against students inside of Philadelphia schools.

Last week one media outlet reported that pepper spray had been used against students to “disperse a crowd” during a fight at Benjamin Franklin High School in October. The incident went completely unreported at the time. This week the Philadelphia Public School Notebook confirmed at least one additional incident of pepper sprayused against a student. As a result of these news articles, Parents United has issued a call for an investigation into the use of pepper spray and any chemical agent against students.

This call for an investigation is not about condoning violence or harassment in schools. It’s about building safe AND responsible climates as we work with young children and students in schools. It’s important to remember that District policy prohibits the use of pepper spray and chemical agents inside of school buildings. We have deep reservations about increasingly dangerous and violent tactics used against students in our schools, whether they be tasers, chemical agents, or other tactics . It is critical that we develop responsible policies governing and reviewing the use of such force against juveniles, in front of and amidst their peers who may also be impacted.

The American Civil Liberties Union has documented a number of fatalities as the result of pepper spray in particular, and has called for a ban on the use of tasers and pepper spray in Texas schools. This call followed the tragic coma of a Texas high schooler who was allegedly trying to break up a fight in school when he was 

TUDA victor go the spoils? | Ward 8 DC Teacher

TUDA victor go the spoils? | Ward 8 DC Teacher:

TUDA victor go the spoils?

by ANGEL CINTRON JR. • DECEMBER 22, 2013

The recently published 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment has received a great deal of attention, especially in regards to the District of Columbia Public Schools. Although leading education reform advocates express cautious optimism, they claim the results as “evidence” that the 2008 education reforms in D.C., vis-à-vis former DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, were, not only necessary, but also valid. Moreover, Mayor Gray has gone as far as to state that these results prove a need to “stay the course.” Is the Mayor correct? Do these gains prove a need to “stay the course,” or, as far as Mayor Gray’s concerned, to re-elect his administration? Let’s examine the data beyond the first glance, and analyze the results a bit further.

In order to analyze the data beyond the first glance, I’ve separated DCPS’ 4^th and 8^th grade students’ performance into two categories: 1) scores recorded between 2003 through 2007, and 2) scores recorded between 2009 through 2013. Using the data available on this website, I simply calculated the percent change (growth rate) between the years mentioned above. The main purpose of separating the overall trend into two categories is to analyze the growth rate of student performance, before and after the Chancellorship of Michelle Rhee. Given the political season in D.C., i.e. 2014 mayoral election, the current administration has taken credit for D.C.’s public school students’ performance on standardized tests. But, is he correct in his assertion? Should we stay the course in D.C.?

4^th Grade Trends

4^th Grade Growth Rate

Koritelling: Wretched Numbers (I'm Looking at You, CPS)

Koritelling: Wretched Numbers (I'm Looking at You, CPS):

Wretched Numbers (I'm Looking at You, CPS)

Yesterday morning, I woke up early to make a really healthy, warm breakfast for EJ, as it is cold outside, and she had the reading portion of her NWEA test, and wanted to do her best.

Unlike in past years, when this has been "just another thing they do" at school, with little fanfare, this year we have gotten notices about when the tests are happening—math, then reading—with suggestions to make sure the kids get adequate sleep, relax the night before, etc.

We have also had to sign papers that the kids developed with their goals for improving their test scores, and what they were going to do to make this happen. I may be mistaken on this, but I think I saw these papers—or some version of this—posted on a bulletin board in her classroom when I went in for conferences. I didn't have time to take a close look; they looked familiar to me, though.

Sigh. I feel bad that she is being asked to focus on improving her test score, write goals to do so, etc.; her goal for reading is the same as it was for math: 2-point rise from last spring, which seems nuts, as it is likely within the margin of error, and her scores are already so high, well beyond grade level, the whole push seems pointless.

When I picked EJ up, I realized she wasn't talking about her test; earlier this month, she had been so thrilled to come running out to tell me she had exceeded her math goal by two points, so I knew her quiet wasn't a good sign. I asked her about it, and she got sullen. "It was fine. I don't want to talk about it. Math is more fun."

Okay.

By the time we reached the car, I had discovered that she didn't meet her goal; her score actually went down. By how much? Three points. "Now I'm five points away from my winter goal, and my spring goal is even higher," she said, with actual anguish in her voice.

At that point, I felt like punching out every single school reform specialist or administrator who thinks that my third-grade kid should be 

Thanks for voting for us! | Parents United for Public Education

Thanks for voting for us! | Parents United for Public Education:

Thanks for voting for us!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by PARENTSUNITEDPHILALeave a comment

Thanks Philly!

Thanks for voting for Parents United for Public Education as Philebrity’s 2013 Non-Profit Organization of the Year.We had a great time at Johnny Brenda’s and had a drink (or two) celebrating the hard work all of us put in to support a strong public school system in Philadelphia. The night was made doubly fun by the excellent and well-deserved popular win of friend, colleague, and school nurse Eileen Duffy as Do-Gooder of the Year along with many other pretty cool folks all over Philadelphia. We thought all of our friends and supporters would get a kick out of the text of the award (very Philebrity). It applies to all of us in whatever place we are working in to do what we can to make our schools stronger and more nurturing places for our children. Thank you for all that you’re doing!

This certificate is given to the recipient by Philebrity.com on behalf of the good and true people of the City of Philadelphia, who have recognized and voted in favor of the above, over all nominees, in the Philebrity Awards poll for the year 2013. It was awarded live on stage at Johnny Brenda’s in the urban province of Fishtown on the evening of December 19, 2013. There was laughter and song and a general sense that what you people were doing was totally right on. We THANK YOU for everything you’ve done: Though you may not have realized it while you were doing it, you made this city a better place in which we all can live and love. Go forth, and keep on keepin’ on. An Entire City has your back, Friend. ~ Warmly, Philebrity.com

12-22-13 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

"Shrieking" People of Color Demanding Autonomy, and Other Threats to America

When black people in Newark start getting a little too "uppity," it's time to fluff up the pillows on our local punditocracy's fainting coach. Quickly, someone catch the editorialists at the Star-Ledger - and bring the smelling salts!Cami Anderson, the superintendent of schools in Newark, has proposed another round of sensible and bold reforms. And she is facing the predictable shrieks o

by Duke / 17min 

12-21-13 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All WeekLocal Control Is a White People Thing: Ask Asbury ParkIs it wrong of me to feel a little embarrassed when someone catches something reformy going on in New Jersey that I completely missed? Luckily, some Facebook friends hipped me to this pick-up from the always excellent folks at Schools Matter, quoting the Asbury Park Press:ASBURY PARK — Where is the

by mike simpson / 1d 

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Teacher Workload and Pretending

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Teacher Workload and Pretending:

On Teacher Workload and Pretending

The New York Times published an article yesterday on the effects of budget cuts on class sizes across the country.

A few items that stand out:

• "Across the country, public schools employ about 250,000 fewer people than before the recession."

• "Staff cuts among reading, special education and English language specialists have hit especially hard."

• One teacher notes, "'There is no way I could adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all the kids in my class.'"

• "...the public school population increased by 24 percent rom 1987 to 2012, while the number of working teachers grew by 46 percent."

It continues to surprise me how much seemingly sincere debate goes into whether class size matters. It's not really a debatable topic. Or, at least, it is something akin to debating whether the earth is at the center of the universe. Virtually any topic, I suppose, can be subject to seemingly legitimate debate if given play by the right media outlets.

A few weeks ago, a phenomenal teacher I know related to me that he recently told his administrator that he learned long ago he could not meet the needs of all the students in his class every day. He 

12-22-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Potpourri of Parenting Stories

No "This Week in Seattle Schools" today.  Instead a round-up of stories - happy and sad - about parenting.Let's go with happy first (and you can skip sad if you want to).What to do over the holidays (unlike the Times, I'll try to give you the free/low-cost stuff):visit the Gingerbread Villlage at the Sheraton, 1400 Sixth Avenue. Donations accepted for Juvenile Diabetes. Free.Seattle Cent

by Melissa Westbrook / 14min 

12-21-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumYoo Hoo, Seattle Times and OSPI - See You in the New YearI called and left a message for two different people at OSPI today to get a comment about OSPI signing an agreement with the Seattle Times for student and teacher data (it was November 13, 2013 to be exact).  No one called back.I called and talked to Jim Simon, who is the managin

by mike simpson / 1d 

What You Believe About Homosexuality Doesn’t Matter | In The Parlor

What You Believe About Homosexuality Doesn’t Matter | In The Parlor:

What You Believe About Homosexuality Doesn’t Matter

Posted on December 19, 2013

by Tyler

Today, there are 2 news stories that have been circulating all over my Facebook and Twitter news feeds. One you are probably aware of, the other maybe not. The two, though, are closely related. The first news story is the indefinite suspension of Duck Dynasty starPhil Robertson due to the comments he made during an interview with GQ magazine. The second news story is about the “defrocking” of Pennsylvania UMC pastor Frank Schaefer after he performed the marriage for his gay son and subsequent refusal to submit to church law regarding this action. The link between these two stories is clear. The church’s views (or, in the case of Duck Dynasty, a certain understanding of the Christian faith’s views) regarding homosexuality.

The reaction to both of these stories has been…emphatic, to say the least. The debate over the “rightness or wrongness” of homosexuality has once again been fired up. The appeals to the Biblical passages have been made. The academic rebuttals to the interpretation of those passages has no doubt been referenced. The calls for freedom and tolerance (from both sides) have been shouted…or at least typed out with great gusto. The theological debate (and I am using that term VERY generously here) has been raging all day long, and no doubt will continue to rage in the weeks to come.

But I refuse to engage in it. The way I see it, the time for that debate has long since passed. The stakes are too high now. The current research suggestions that teenagers that are gay are about 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. That puts the percentage of gay teens attempting suicide at about 30-some percent. 1 out of 3 teens who are gay or bisexual will try to kill themselves. And a lot of times they succeed. In fact, Rev. Schaefer’s son contemplated suicide on a number of occasions in his teens.

The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter whether or not you think homosexuality is a sin. Let me say that again. It does not matter if you think homosexuality is a sin, or if you think 

Tennessee Student: Is Standardization Making Us Conform to an Ill Formed Bureaucracy? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Tennessee Student: Is Standardization Making Us Conform to an Ill Formed Bureaucracy? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Tennessee Student: Is Standardization Making Us Conform to an Ill Formed Bureaucracy?

By Anthony Cody on December 22, 2013 11:28 AM

A remarkable video has been making the rounds, of a Tennessee student named Kenneth Ye, a senior at Farragutt High School in Knox County. He recently spoke to to his local school board on the subject of the Common Core and the high stakes reform he has seen enacted in recent years. I reached out to Mr. Ye, and asked if he would share his comments here, and respond to some questions. Here is the result.

Kenneth Ye's remarks to the school board:

I am Kenneth Ye. I stand before you today as someone who has achieved within the mold of standardization. I speak as a student that has taken the tests and jumped through the hoops.

I've taken over 12 Honors courses and 18 AP courses so far in my high school career.

I'm a National Merit Semifinalist. A National AP Scholar. I scored a 35 on the ACT composite the first time I took it. And I am a proud product of Knox County Schools.

It's my teachers that have inspired me to learn and pursue my interests. It's my teachers that have sent me towards success in academics and extracurriculars. It's my teachers that have FOSTERED a sense of creativity, inquisitiveness, and individuality that inspires me to learn.

However, as our schools take another step to becoming the next big bureaucracy in America, I would like to call for a conference of concern. With the new Common Core system, I see us shifting even further into a "one size fits all" factory of education, where we churn out students seen as 

How to Use Technology in Education (Frederick Hess and Bror Saxberg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How to Use Technology in Education (Frederick Hess and Bror Saxberg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

How to Use Technology in Education (Frederick Hess and Bror Saxberg)

 Frederick M. Hess is director of educational-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Bror Saxberg is chief learning officer at Kaplan, Inc. They are the authors of  Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age: Using Learning Science to Reboot Schooling. This appeared in National Review Online, December 16, 2013

The book provides an invaluable template for how to best think about digital learning. Promising education technologies won’t “fix” schools or replace terrific teachers. Instead, they make it possible to reshape the teacher’s job, so that teachers and students have more opportunity for personalized, dynamic learning.

How can we expand on the book’s transformation of education? Well, the book has real limitations. Students learn best when eye and ear work in tandem — but books are a silent medium. Books are fixed, providing the same experience to every reader, every time. The material and language will inevitably be too difficult for some readers and too easy for others. Books can’t offer a live 

12-22-13 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: In The ‘Silent Prison’ Of Autism, Ido Speaks Out

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

(Various CCTP Documents)

VARIOUS BOC/CCTP MEETING MATERIALS DOCUMENT Date Pages Original BOC RESOLUTION 2013-33 Nov 20, 2013 1 - 4 BOC IT TASK FORCE REPORT Nov 18, 2013 5 - 15 The District’s Common Core Technology Project (“CCTP”) Phase 2 Proposal : APPENDIX FROM THE CCTP AD-HOC COMMITTEE - BOARD OF

by smf / 3min 

In The ‘Silent Prison’ Of Autism, Ido Speaks Out

The high school student's 'Ido in Autismland' is part memoir and part protest, a compelling message to educators on how to teach people such as him. By Thomas Curwen/ Photography and video by Genaro Molina |Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1fy6f4x Ido Kedar takes a breather while working out at a local high school. Kedar doesn't play sports, but his parents try to keep him in shape by

by smf / 9min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 12-21-13

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT  IT’S TIME TO INVESTIGATE PEARSON IN TEXAS, TOO …but why stop there? California’s nice this time of year!In New York the Pearson Foundation  illegally helped develop products for its corporate parent, including course materials and software.  That’s just as illegal in California  and violates the federal tax co

by mike simpson / 1d 

12-22-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Sunday reads. Think globally. Give locally.

  Retired teacher and blogger John Dillon has a great post on the impact of corporate giving during the holidays and the rest of the year. Here’s a partial list of the 24 corporate Samaritans, and I’ll just highlight the companies with membership in the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago:  Northern Trust, Illinois Tool Works, AT&T, UPS, Deloitte, Exelon, Bank of America, Ernst

by Fred Klonsky / 7min   

12-21-13 Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher The Stream is showing the Nekritz/Klonsky episode again on Sunday, December 22nd.  The Stream, Al Jazeera’s social media based show, which featured a hot debate between me and Illinois State Senator Elaine Nekritz, will be shown

by mike simpson / 1d 

12-22-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

North Carolina scholars protest move against activist professor

Hundreds of  scholars from 24 colleges and universities have sent a letter to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and State Budget Director Art Pope asking them to repudiate what the academics claim is an effort by a Pope-funded organization to retaliate against a professor who was critical of the McCrory administration. NC Policy Watch, a […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 4min 

Where education technology will — and won’t — take us by 2024

What’s the future of education technology? Venturing an educated guess is Larry Cuban, a high school social studies teacher for 14 years and a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), is professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “Inside the Black Box […]    

5 by Valerie Strauss / 26min 

All Week @ The Answer Sheet 12-21-13

The Answer Sheet:All Week @ The Answer Sheet‘Duck Dynasty’s’ Phil Robertson: A former teacher with a master’s degree“Duck Dynasty’s” Phil Robertson, now  famously suspended from his family’s popular cable reality television show for making shockingly offensive remarks about blacks and gays in a GQ interview, once taught in Louisiana schools, has a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a mast

by mike simpson / 1d 

12-22-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

New York Times Doesn't Just Bury the Lead, They Bury the Story

The Sunday New York Times has a front page story about ballooning class sizes with this headline:  Subtract Teachers, Add Pupils: Math of Today’s Jammed SchoolsCOATESVILLE, Pa. — The recession may have ended, but many of the nation’s school districts that laid off teachers and other employees to cut payrolls in leaner times have not yet replenished their ranks. Now, despite the recovery, many scho

by freetoteach / 18min 

The Memphis Hopson Hustle

Unless the public stops the corrupt capitulation by Memphis politicians to the Gates agenda for privatizing American schools, the children of Memphis will soon become the educational property of corporate charter schools that receive public money to subject the poorest children to their cultural and behavioral neutering programs.  Here is a telling chunk of a piece on the developments in New Orlea

by Jim Horn / 14min 

12-21-13 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All WeekPearson's $300 Toll Road to TeachingIf you need some extra holiday cash, you might consider working part-time from home to help Pearson decide who will become teachers and who won't. It's easy--just complete a few online tutorials, and Pearson will send you a bunch of student teaching portfolios, complete with video clips of student teachers and classes with

by mike simpson / 1h