4-10-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Just Published! 40th ELT Blog Carnival: Ideas for Teaching with Technology

Sylvia’s English Online has just published the 40th ELT Blog Carnival (formerly known as the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival) and it’s a great one on “Ideas for Teaching with Technology.” Teachers from around the world have contributed posts. I’m adding it to The Best Sources For Ideas On How To Use Technology With English Language Learners. The next blog Carnival: 41st ELT Blog Carnival hosted by Alex

by Larry Ferlazzo / 7min

“What Is This Animal Thinking or Saying (If It Could Talk)?” Is A Fun Language Development Exercise

Having English Language Learners put words in the mouth (or thoughts in the mind) of puppets, animals, or photographs of people is a common activity in the classroom. It can be fun and less-threatening when it’s something/someone else who’s talking (or, at least, it can feel that way to the student). You can learn specific strategies to use at: The Best Resources For Using Puppets In Class The Be

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h 

4-9-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: “Poverty-related Challenges Sap Instructional Time in High Schools”Poverty-related Challenges Sap Instructional Time in High Schools is the headline of an article in Education Week on a new study that finds teachers in high-poverty schools like ours end up with thirty minutes of less instructional time each day than those i

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-10-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

You Tell Them, Dr. Finn: Testing Today and Testing Forever

In a segment of a documentary some years back that assessed the Civil Rights Movement and its effects on education in America, Professor Chester Finn rightfully put into context all the unnecessary trouble that had been created for what, pray tell:I don't doubt that some things are better off and I think that not being able to discriminate kids on the basis of their skin color is progress for the

by Jim Horn / 13min 

We Need to Do More than Talk about the Goddamn Test

Some of us have been waiting a long time for mainstream educators to realize that corporate education reform is not about closing the achievement gap but, rather, closing public schools.  Since 2002, standardized tests have been used to label, demonize teachers, sort and culturally-sterilize students, and shut down schools to benefit the education technology complex and the low-life losers of the

by Jim Horn / 43min 

The Raj Chetty VAM Balloon Gets Popped

From NEPC:Contact: William J. Mathis, (802) 383-0058, wmathis@sover.netMoshe Adler, (917) 453-4921, ma820@columbia.eduURL for this press release: http://tinyurl.com/kpwt6ftBOULDER, CO (April 10, 2014) – A highly influential but non-peer-reviewed report on teacher impact suffers from a series of errors in methodology and calculations, according to a new review published today.Professor Moshe Adler

by Jim Horn / 19min 

America's Top Corporate Education Welfare Queen, Joanne Weiss

Joanne Weiss is an active exemplar for corporate welfare exploitation in education.  Just a few years ago, she moved from a tech firm to become COO for the New Schools Venture Fund, which grew to be a massive slush fund for vulture philanthropists, following Bill Clinton's undercover operation that made it possible to earn really big bucks by backing charter schools and other ed industry bad ideas

2 by Jim Horn / 1h

4-9-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Responding to Karin Klein of the LA Times' 'Why my family is opting out of the Common Core testing'"The U.S. can do a much better job evaluating children, teachers and schools. That's why protests against standardized testing misuse and overuse are exploding across the nation."—FairTest The Los Angeles Times' long time school privatization cheerleader Karin Klein penned a

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-10-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Is Charter Schools USA Using Uncertified Teachers at Failing Tampa School?

Marlene Skokol reports in the Tampa Bay Tribune: TAMPA — As if Woodmont Charter School did not have enough problems, a former teacher has lodged a discrimination complaint and says the F-rated school uses teachers who are not properly certified. Tammy Gilmore, a community activist who now lives in Atlanta, has written to Hillsborough County Schools superintendent MaryEllen Elia and charter schools

by Bob Sikes / 3h 

 

4-9-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Gutting of Florida’s Bright Futures Hurts Minority Students; A Sop to Testing IndustryFresh off the story that Florida will have to pay Utah $5.4 million for piloting the state’s new tests comes news that Florida’s tremendously successful Bright Futures scholarship progr

by mike simpson / 8h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Packed house at Wishbone to honor ISAT boycotters

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Packed house at Wishbone to honor ISAT boycotters:

Packed house at Wishbone to honor ISAT boycotters

Parents 4 Teachers

 Jambalaya...We dined at Wishbone last night, along with hundreds of others who came out to honor and support ISAT-boycotting teachers and parents. Great people, food and music.


Question for anti-taxers... Why isn't Rahm's pension "reform" bill considered a massive 29% TAX on public workers and the elderly? Also, the accompanying increase in property taxes will hit retirees and others on fixed income, doubly hard. Finally, we already know that relying on property taxes, rather than a more progressive state income tax, to fund our schools is part of the problem -- not the solution. Asking the wealthy and the state's corporations to pay their fair share would help solve the problem. But Boss Madigan won't do it.

Hammerin' Hank

Earlier this week, the Illinois House and Senate approved Emanuel’s plan to raise property taxes by $250 million and employee contributions by 29% over five years to shore up 

4-10-14 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Corporate Education Reform Industry pours money into Malloy campaign operation

Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy is the most anti-teacher, anti-public education Democratic governor in the nation…And to see how appreciative the corporate education reform industry is, one need only look at Malloy’s campaign fundraising program which has already raised more than $100,000 from the anti-public education industry. As a participant in Connecticut’s public financing system, candidate […]

by jonpelto / 1min 

“When we buy something, we should get what we pay for”

Ann Policelli Cronin is a consultant in English education for school districts and university schools of education. She has taught middle and high school English, was a district-level administrator for English, taught university courses in English education, and was assistant director of the Connecticut Writing Project. She was Connecticut Outstanding English Teacher of the Year […] The post “When

7 by jonpelto / 1h hide  //  save

Yet another example that the Common Core isn’t all it claims to be

Teacher and CT News Junkie columnist Barth Keck has written another insightful commentary piece about the Common Core.  The article is entitled, “Common Core Appears to Miss the Boat on Common Technology. “ Keck writes, …public schools are gearing up for the Common Core, national principles designed to “establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student […] The post Yet another example

10 by jonpelto / 3h 

4-9-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Hartford Courant story highlights bizarre effort to privatize Clark Elementary School.A Hartford Courant article entitled, Hartford School Board Asks Education Commissioner To ‘Impose’ Turnaround Plan reveals some of the contradictions and bizarre actions taken by the Malloy administration, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, senior Hartford board of education officials, and corporate educat

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-10-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

What does Jeb Bush call public schools? (Hint: not ‘public schools’)

Jeb Bush, as much as anybody, is the pioneer of  corporate-influenced school reform. When he was governor of Florida from 1999-2007, he introduced many of the changes in education policy that have become common across the country — including high-stakes standardized testing —  and since then he has been a leading voice in spreading his […]

by Valerie Strauss / 1h hide  //  save

The problem with evidence-based education policy: the evidence

Education policy-makers like to talk about “evidence-based” this and “evidence-based” that — but there are big questions about just how good the “evidence” actually is — and whether the people who are making big decisions in the world of education actually look at the research that we do know is solid. Looking at this issue […]

5 by Valerie Strauss / 5h 

4-9-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: It just keeps getting worseJust when you think this story can’t get any more awful, it does. Andrea Rediske’s effort to help families of children with severe disabilities has taken yet another frustrating turn. I’ve written several posts about Rediske’s long struggle with the Florida Department of Education over a requirement that her blind and severely brain-damaged son, Ethan,

by mike simpson / 8h 

4-10-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

Good Recommendations On Who To Follow On Twitter For Parent Engagement Issues

Resourceful folks to follow on twitter: #Opp4All @Joe_Mazza @CommSchools pic.twitter.com/huaDTjC9Ph — L.A. Ed Partnership (@PartnerwithLAEP) April 9, 2014

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h hide  //  save

The “Tooth Fairy” Parent Engagement Strategy

RT @Joe_Mazza: Edus who "get it"- @ChrisWejr's letter to tooth fairy for kid who lost a tooth at school #ptchat pic.twitter.com/HnsEEcTRcv — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) April 9, 2014 I’d lay odds that the parents of that child are now going to be more open to family engagement activities after receiving this note…

5 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

A Thorough Obituary Of inBloom

A couple of days ago I wrote inBloom Is On Its Deathbed & No Tears Are Shed about the parent-opposed data-gathering fiasco known as inBloom. The Hechinger Report has since written a much more thorough obituary of inBloom, The fate of big data after inBloom. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On The inBloom Data Fiasco .

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Department of Education Releases New Parent and Community Engagement Framework

Today, the Department of Education released what they call a new “Parent and Community Engagement Framework.” To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure what that means, but it can’t hurt for them to place a more public emphasis on parent engagement. You can read about it at the Department’s blog post; get a good overview of it at Education Week; and actually access it here. Of the documents they’

6 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

National Family Engagement Conference Began Today

Five hundred people are attending the National Family Engagement Conference in Cincinnati, which began today. You can read a pretty good overview of it at Education Week. Here are a few selected tweets that came out of the conference this afternoon: RT @Joe_Mazza: Anne Henderson starts by identifying new research on impact of stdnt learning tied 2 family engagement pic.twitter.com/KarxxBunVX — La

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

4-8-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": inBloom Is On Its Deathbed & No Tears Are ShedinBloom, the ill-conceived, Gates-funded effort to collect just about every piece of data on just about every K-12 student in America (and opposed by parents across the United States), lost its only remaining customer last month when New York State withdrew from it. Here’s a

by mike simpson / 4h 

Charles M. Blow: "We Should Be In a Rage"

Charles M. Blow: "We Should Be In a Rage":

Charles M. Blow: "We Should Be In a Rage"

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Voter apathy is a civic abdication. There is no other way to describe it.

That is how he begins this column for Thursday's New York Times.

Trust me, please.   This is a column that needs to be read in its entirety, that is not possible to easily summarize or from which one can draw the appropriate extracts.

Blow reminds us of the difference between a Presidentialy election and an off-year like 2010.  He puts it bluntly:

There is an astounding paradox in it: too many of those with the least economic and cultural power don’t fully avail themselves of their political power. A vote is the great equalizer, but only when it is cast.

The strategy here is simple: Break the spirit. Muddy the waters. Make voting feel onerous and outcomes ambiguous. And make it feel like a natural outgrowth of tedium and bickering, and not a well-funded, well-designed effort. Make us subsist on personality politics rather than principled ones.

The greatest trick up the sleeves of the moneyed and powerful is their diabolical ability to render themselves invisible and undetectable, to recede and operate behind a front, one relatable and common. Our politics are overrun with characters acting at the behest of shadows.

Except we now have the advantage of knowing who the shadows are, people such as the Brothers Koch.

This is powerful writing, but it is not close to being the heart of the column.

After telling us that " too many people shrug or sleep when they should seethe" Blow hits the 

Welcoming Mike Klonsky to Bridging Differences - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Welcoming Mike Klonsky to Bridging Differences - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Welcoming Mike Klonsky to Bridging Differences

By Deborah Meier on April 10, 2014 10:07 AM

Today, Deborah Meier bids farewell—for now—to Democracy Prep's Robert Pondiscio and introduces her next co-blogger, Mike Klonsky. The blog will take a short break and then return with Mr. Klonsky's first post on Tuesday, April 22.

Dear Robert,

I'll be keeping a little book about topics to argue over when we resume our conversation in the fall.  I find myself setting certain articles aside, even now, to pass on to you when we are no longer blogging.

By the way, as an educator my focus was always specifically on my colleagues and the kids in front of me, not the future of the world.  Just their specific future.  I figured I was paid to be the best advocate for their present and future as I could be—in the role I played.

But if I had chosen to be a librarian, or a lawyer, or a housing expert, or environmental activist, I'd have done the same.  Although none by themselves are an answer to the changes that need to be made to give today's children (and my grandchildren and someday great-grandchildren) what they deserve, need, and which we owe them!

And also, I'll send you stuff in coming months—but you are wrong!  Just plain wrong. The standards are a curriculum and imply a pedagogy, too.  The way they recommend teaching reading places a particular emphasis on a particular approach (close-textual reading, etc).   If I disagree?  It covers particular events, genres, historical events, scientific principles—out of many more that could be chosen.  And it asks the questions in ways that require a particular pedagogy to answer correctly.