3-10-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Holy hell, my God almighty?!? AFT turns away Gates money? Outstanding.

Check out this article from Politico while I step outside to see if hell is frozen over. To wit: Weingarten said she didn’t believe Gates funding influenced the Innovation Fund’s direction, but still had to sever the relationship. “I got convinced by the level of distrust I was seeing — not simply on Twitter, but […]

2 by Shaun Johnson / 16min 

Common Core: Why Money Trumps Evidence

Common Core: Why Money Trumps Evidence. via Common Core: Why Money Trumps Evidence.

4 by plthomasedd / 45min 

A User-friendly Tutorial on IRS 990s

One of the panel discussions in which I participated at the first annual Network for Public Education (NPE) conference was on investigative journalism. I chose to use my twelve minutes to only touch the surface on using IRS 990s (the tax forms for nonprofit organizations) as a research tool. In this post, I would like […]

3 by deutsch29 / 8h  

3-9-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Teaching Students, Missionary Zeal, and the Cult of PersonalityTeaching Students, Missionary Zeal, and the Cult of Personality. via Teaching Students, Missionary Zeal, and the Cult of Personality.by plthomasedd / 3min All Week 3-8-14 @ THE CHALK FACE@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: All Week @ THE CHALK FACE Predatory Reform Strikes Again: Kahn Academy and College BoardKahn

1 by mike simpson / 8h

3-10-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:

On the Misuse of Statistics in Testing by the NY State Department of Education: Anonymous Posting by a Friendly Statistician

The Common Core and Departments of Education: Lies, Darn Lies, Statistics and Education StatisticsNumbers have taken center stage in the discussion of education policy in the United States. Test score metrics have become a particularly critical set of numbers. They are seen as objective measuring devices, comparable across years, that provide a reliable evaluation of how students, teachers, school

by Mark Naison / 4h hide  //  save

Some Thoughts on Randi Weingarten and BATS

I have no problem with people on our page critiquing Randi Weintarten's leadership of the AFT. I have a HUGE problem with anyone asking to remove her from BATS. We only remove people from the organization for violating our posting policies- or for being persistently divisive on our pages- not for their actions outside of BATS. To do so would set a terrible precedent and turn us into intelligence o

by Mark Naison / 9h  

3-8-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All WeekAmerica's Top Colleges and Teach for Americai wonder what future historians will say about the nation's top colleges- especially the Ivies,  Duke and Stanford,and the top public univerisites- enthusiastically welcoming a program that systematically undermines the teaching profession and provides replacement labor for cities trying to we

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

VAMboozled! in Indianapolis |:

VAMboozled! in Indianapolis

 Last week I was in Indianapolis for the annual conference of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) during which Diane Ravitch gave the keynote speech for the conference’s Welcoming Session. While the video of her live talk is not yet posted online, she talked mainly about the many hoaxes surrounding America’s public education system, all of which were framed by her main question that she revealed from underneath her jacket a t-shirt on which it was written: “Where’s the evidence?”

The key part of her speech, as most relevant here but captured by another author atEducation News, went as follows:

In a far-reaching speech in which [Diane Ravitch] lambasted a variety of players on the educational landscape — from self-styled education “reformers” to Teach for America to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan — Ravitch said American schoolchildren are being shortchanged by an inordinate emphasis on testing. She took particular aim at teacher evaluation models known as value-added models, or VAMs, that seek to measure teacher effectiveness by the test scores of the students they teach. “For nearly five years, states and districts have been trying to evaluate teachers by test scores, and it hasn’t worked anywhere,” Ravitch said. “It makes testing too important, promotes teaching to the test, and gaming of the system. “We know all know this. But the policymakers don’t. 

3-10-14 V.A.M.: Value Added Measure

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure:

It's Always Christmas When You're an Educational Deformer

It Was a Wonderful Life!Scrooge counting his plunder from yet another cyber charter.

by Adam Bergstein / 3h hide  //  save

So, Will We Be a Democracy or Not?

Now Out of Print?The educational deformers chant:  "This is not a democracy!"   As D.C. Chancellor, Rhee said, "I'm not running this district by consensus or committee.  We're not running this school district through the democratic process."  She seemed to use everything in her repertoire, short of taping mouths shut in D.C., to reinforce this principle.  In N.Y.C., Bloomberg's

by Adam Bergstein / 3h 

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure: There May Be More You Can Learn How to Do in Five Weeks than Teach for America!

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure: There May Be More You Can Learn How to Do in Five Weeks than Teach for America!: There May Be More You Can Learn How to Do in Five Weeks than Teach for America!Teach for America has two new pilot programs.  Within the new cohort of recruits, there will be a subset engaged in a year-long preparation, including more classroom experience, the study of "learning theo

1 by mike simpson / 19h 

3-10-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

Common Core: Why Money Trumps Evidence

Originally posted at Visualized – How Bill Gates Bought the Common Core and drawn from work done my Mercedes Schneider: Visualized – How Bill Gates Bought the Common Core

1 by plthomasedd / 1h   

3-8-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICALRadical ScholarshipEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical  A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by SAT Reboot 2016: “Nonsense It All Is”Photograph by Angel Franco/The New York Times By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. March 6 , 2014 In the often cited scene near the end of Notting Hill when Anna Scott stands in William Thacker’s shabby book stor

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

3-10-14 EMPATHYEDUCATES! | by P. L. Thomas, EdD

empathyeducates:

Teaching Students, Missionary Zeal, and the Cult of Personality

By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published The Becoming Radical. March 9, 2014 As a teacher educator, I now spend much of my spring visiting schools and observing my seniors who are learning to teach in extended field experiences (my university’s version of student teaching). What […]

8 by empathy / 9h  

3-8-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICALRadical ScholarshipEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical  A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by SAT Reboot 2016: “Nonsense It All Is”Photograph by Angel Franco/The New York Times By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. March 6 , 2014 In the often cited scene near the end of Notting Hill when Anna Scott stands in William Thacker’s shabby book stor

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

3-10-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Common Core Panel Suggests Increased Professional Development & Training For Members Of The Board Of Regents And NYSED

Cuomo's Common Core panel said increased professional development and training is needed for both the Regents and the functionaries at NYSED since they've managed to screw up so much of their reform agenda, both the development of that agenda and the implementation of it.So the panel suggested the Regents and SED functionaries be forced to attend ten hours of Common Core training and PD per week f

by reality-based edu... / 44min 

Cuomo's Common Core Panel Issues Report

Panel calls for continued implementation of Common Core and APPR but recommends the state cut inBloom ties: Gov. Cuomo's Common Core panel wants to restrict how much time can be used teaching to the tests, limit standardized testing to those above second grade, and end a controversial contract with a data sharing company, the Daily News has learned. The report is broken into four sections of recom

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

Andrew Cuomo Says Public Schools Are Failing

After de Blasio went on the Morning Joe clown show and got pounded by the neo-liberals over there over the charter issue, Andrew Cuomo went on the kinder, gentler Brian Lehrer Show to expound upon how much he loves charters and how much he thinks public schools suck:Not only are charter schools not a threat, Mr. Cuomo said, but they are part of the solution to failing public schools, which he call

by reality-based edu... / 0min 

Macho Andy

A slideshow of Andy Cuomo's most mach moments, courtesy of AM New York.And yet, there's no photo of him wrestling with the Common Core State Standards controversy which has tied his administration in knots.He's for it, but he's against the implementation, and he would be out there protesting with parents if he had any say in education policy and wasn't so busy trying to make sure the CCSS tests ar

by reality-based edu... / 7min 

There Will Be A Political Price For Lawmakers Who Vote To Reelect Incumbent Members Of The Board Of Regents

From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:Assembly higher education committee chair Deborah Glick said Monday's last-minute interviews of candidates for the Board of Regents are not atypical, despite the fact that the political circumstances surrounding this year's elections are much different than usual.Reached Sunday by Capital, Glick said lawmakers would see two or three late entrants at noon on Monda

by reality-based edu... / 52min hide  //  save

De Blasio Looks For Health Care Concessions From Unions

Here it is: The city is kicking off negotiations with municipal labor unions this week to find potential savings in health care costs, officials confirmed to the Daily News. “The city will commence discussions about health benefits with the unions that represent the workforce,” said Marti Adams, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio. The discussions are a key part of overall labor talks with the union

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

3-9-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: The New York State Education Department Common Core Modules - Meant To Dumb Down A Whole Generation Of ChildrenHere's a comment NYCDOEnuts left on this Perdido Street School post yesterday on the NYSED modules:At my school, I have two 9th grade classes where I am required to teach to the modules. They are so dry and tedious, that on days when I follow the curriculum (knowing

1 by mike simpson / 9h 

Chicago Children Who Opt Out Face Pressure - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Chicago Children Who Opt Out Face Pressure - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Chicago Children Who Opt Out Face Pressure

By Anthony Cody on March 9, 2014 10:34 PM

Guest post by Michelle Gunderson.

My eighth grade son is opting out of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). This is not a decision he or I made lightly.

A month ago he said, "Mom, I see what you stand for, and I want to opt out of the ISAT."

Opting out of testing is not something I pushed. My son is very sensitive and never likes being singled out. The decision was made based on deep-seated family values - our beliefs in the purpose of education and our political analysis of the harm testing creates.  And this decision was made with my son's initiative and my consent.

In Chicago, this type of thoughtful and deliberate conversation happened in thousands of homes over the past month.

We are one of the lucky families. During our required opt out conference with our son's principal my husband gave her a copy of my recent blog on the Ethical Treatment of Children Opting Out. She said that she understood and respected our position and would do her best to honor it.

I wish this had been the case everywhere in our city.

Cassandre Creswell from a grassroots parent organization, More Than a Score, is collecting parent accounts of how children opting out of testing have been treated in our schools across the city. For 

A User-friendly Tutorial on IRS 990s | deutsch29

A User-friendly Tutorial on IRS 990s | deutsch29:

A User-friendly Tutorial on IRS 990s

March 10, 2014

One of the panel discussions in which I participated at the first annual Network for Public Education (NPE) conference was on investigative journalism. I chose to use my twelve minutes to only touch the surface on using IRS 990s (the tax forms for nonprofit organizations) as a research tool.

In this post, I would like to continue my tutorial. The information I include here I learned by my own wits and through the suggestions of others. My purpose is to assist those who wish to utilize information from tax forms in order to support their arguments in fighting corporate reform.

This will be one dry read– but a useful read for those seeking to improve their knowledge of nonprofit tax form navigation.

The Nonprofit Tax Form Search Engine

First of all, let me introduce a wonderful search engine for locating those nonprofit 990s:

citizenaudit.org

One can search any term, including organization names and even names of individuals. I suggest putting quotation marks around search terms so that the search results include the exact term.

Sometimes the search engine boots out “404-not found” or a page noting “0 results.” If I am sure the org or person exists, I refresh the search and often get a result.

The search results include both the 990s for the organization itself and also a list of other orgs that connect to the search term.

Keep in mind that the common name of an organization might not be the formal name used on the tax forms. For example, “American Federation of Teachers” (AFT) is 

New teachers scarce after state funding cuts - Education - The Sacramento Bee

New teachers scarce after state funding cuts - Education - The Sacramento Bee:

New teachers scarce after state funding cuts

By Diana Lambert and Phillip Reese
dlambert@sacbee.com

Published: Friday, Mar. 7, 2014 - 12:00 am

Young teachers have become far more scarce in California classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the recession.

From 2008 to 2013, California saw a 40 percent drop in teachers with less than six years’ experience, according to a Sacramento Bee review of state data.

As the state cut funding, districts laid off teachers with the least seniority and stopped hiring new applicants. Those employment practices, in turn, discouraged college students from pursuing the profession in California, as enrollment in teaching programs fell by 41 percent between 2008 and 2012.

Students are learning from more experienced teachers, but the hiring changes have disrupted the natural flow of classroom talent that districts typically rely upon. First-time teachers bring “freshness and energy” and ensure schools have a steady pipeline ready to replace veteran instructors who retire, said Jon Snyder, executive director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.

The traditional balance may take years to restore as schools slowly rebuild their teaching ranks and college students begin to see education as a viable profession again.

With the state budget on the mend, districts hired about 13,000 K-12 teachers statewide and about

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/07/6216464/new-teachers-scarce-after-state.html#storylink=cpy

What can we learn from UESF’s contract campaign? | Classroom Struggle

What can we learn from UESF’s contract campaign? | Classroom Struggle:

What can we learn from UESF’s contract campaign?

 

There are a lot of good lessons for Oakland in this article about San Francisco teachers’ contract campaign. Unlike recent years in California in which cuts were the norm, increased taxes on the rich and a new school funding formula have given teachers the opportunity to fight for more in our contract campaigns. In particular, Portland and St.Paul were able to wage successful campaigns by building strong alliances among teachers, parents, students and community members. In this article, San Francisco public school teacher Matt Bello describes the kinds of demands that can help strengthen educators’ campaign for a fair union contract.

http://socialistworker.org/2014/03/06/a-teachers-struggle-for-justice