Monday, April 21, 2014

April 20th, 2014 | Add a Comment |
By John Fensterwald

Parents made suggestions in the form of post-it notes at an LCAP forum in San Diego Unified. Credit: Karla Scoon Reid, EdSource.

State and county education officials are seeking to reassure school districts that might be worried that county superintendents will reject the new accountability plans they’ll submit by July 1 for the 2013-14 year. Tighter scrutiny will come, just not for the initial plan.

“The approval process is fairly objective, at least this year” and should be non-judgmental, Christine Swenson, director of the state Department of Education’s Improvement and Accountability Division, told the State Board of Education last month.

School district officials are in the process of putting together their first Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), which are required under the state’s new financing system. (County offices of education provide services for special-needs students, students in juvenile detention and students in alternative schools. Their LCAPs for those students will need approval from the Department of Education.)

Peter Birdsall, executive director of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, backed up Swenson’s perspective.

“There is the expectation of a good-faith effort (by school districts),” he said. “This is the first year, so nobody should have a budget denied for lack of legal compliance.”

He said he expects the “overwhelming majority” of districts will have their LCAPs and budgets approved by Aug. 15, with perhaps a few given a conditional approval.

All school boards must pass an LCAP by July 1 detailing how they will spend dollars from the Local Control Funding Formula over the next three years. The LCAP must respond to eight academic County offices to cut districts some slack for now on their LCAPs | EdSource Today:

Save Our Schools March – Press Release – SOS NYC Metro Rally May 17th

Save Our Schools March – Press Release – SOS NYC Metro Rally May 17th:

Press Release – SOS NYC Metro Rally May 17th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 16, 2014

For more information contact:

David Greene, (914)523-6835, Save Our Schools, dcmentor@gmail.comLisa Rudley, (917) 414-9190, NYS Allies for Public Education nys.allies@gmail.com saveourschoolsmarch.org & nysape.org

Advocacy Groups Unite to March in Support of Public Education

On Saturday, May 17^th at 2pm, thousands will gather in Manhattan’s City Hall Park and march to the NYC Department of Education to support and celebrate the efforts of parents, teachers and community members who have worked to fight to preserve and protect public education. Save Our Schools is proud to partner with New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), MORE, Change the Stakes, BATs, Lace to the Top, FairTest, NY Principals, Students United for Public Education and other advocacy groups (a complete list can be found at http://saveourschoolsmarch.org/event/nyc-metro-spring-action/) in calling for community activists, parents, educators, and lawmakers to join together and march in support of a developmentally appropriate and equitably funded public education free from the influence of corporate reform and high stakes testing.

This rally is the culmination of growing resistance to corporate reform as evidenced this spring by over 33,000 test refusals throughout New York State, resistance of high-stakes testing rallies led by NYC principals, and parents, superintendents and school board members coming together to oppose inBloom and student data sharing. Kicking off the event will be renowned education scholar and activist, Dr. Diane Ravitch. In addition to Dr. Ravitch, those attending the Rally we will hear from a diverse panel of speakers who have been actively working to resist corporate reform policies. Speakers include Carol Burris, Leonie Haimson, Brian Jones, Jeanette Deutermann, Dao Tran, Mark Naison, Joe Rella, Jose Vilson, Bianca Tanis and many more.

“This has been an incredible year,” said Jeanette Deutermann, parent and founder of Long Island Opt Out. “Parents across NYS have taken a clear stand and are letting those in power know that we will not stand by and let public education be destroyed.” According to David Greene, Treasurer of Save Our Schools and Chair of the ‘Taking Back Our School’ rally’s steering committee, “We must assure that students have access to locally developed curricula that honors local languages and cultures while addressing the unique needs of special education students, English language learners, and the poor and children of color who have been marginalized into a second tier system of education.”

Dr. Mark Naison, Co-Founder of BATS says, “BATS is thrilled to join with teacher, parent and student organizations from around the city and the state in this very important rally. It is time we showed the billionaire school reformers and the politicians they have bought that is our city, not theirs!”

“This month’s controversial NYS ELA exams and their secrecy are a prime example of the education leadership’s failure to heed the concerns of parents and educators. While we have made tremendous progress, we still have much work to do,” said Bianca Tanis, parent and co-founder of NYSAPE. Kevin Glynn an educator, parent, and co-founder of Lace to the Top says, “2014 is the year parents and teachers take back their schoolhouses. We are shutting the door on corporations and so called philanthropists that seek to profit from labeling our children as failures. We will not let test scores define us as students, teachers or parents. Together, we will protect our schools and secure our students’ love of learning’ as one.”

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NYC Educator: A Look Into the Top-Secret World of High-Stakes Testing

NYC Educator: A Look Into the Top-Secret World of High-Stakes Testing:

A Look Into the Top-Secret World of High-Stakes Testing

There is such a degree of secrecy surrounding N.Y.S. Common-Core tests that you might mistake it for the Manhattan Project. Teachers are not privy to share any of the specific questions with the public. Nonetheless, one can find many generalized criticisms of the exams on the internet (likehere and here). One can also speak with teachers who proctored the exams as well as the children who took them at the different grade levels. I haven't heard one person praise the exams. A friend noted, however, that the readings seemed reasonable, but the questions were not. I can only go on hearsay.

In case you're wondering why Common-Core tests are classified, I have absolutely no idea. But I can take some educated guesses.

The Top Ten Reasons for Keeping the Content of the N.Y.S. Common-Core Tests Secret:

10. P.A.R.C.C. or Pearson may intend to use these questions again. If they can recycle the same trash, there is no need for creativity on their account or on our account.

9. These questions may cause controversy if it is discovered that they were borrowed, in part, as in the past, from the testing company's purchasable review books.

8. If parents learn the length and content of the exams, they make seek to shelter their children before the six-day cycle of suffering has ended.

7. People with a Ph.D. really don't need to know at an advanced age that they couldn't pass a third NYC Educator: A Look Into the Top-Secret World of High-Stakes Testing:

State Testing Sees Growing Movement of Families Planning to Opt Out - NJ Spotlight

State Testing Sees Growing Movement of Families Planning to Opt Out - NJ Spotlight:

STATE TESTING SEES GROWING MOVEMENT OF FAMILIES PLANNING TO OPT OUT

JOHN MOONEY | APRIL 21, 2014

Confusion abounds about what happens next for those refusing to take standardized exams

It started with a trickle a few years ago, and it may still be only a small stream, but more and more New Jersey families appear intent on opting to have their children not take the state’s standardized tests.

Nearly 700 people have signed onto a Facebook group called “Opt-Out of State Standardized Tests -- New Jersey,” reflecting the mounting criticism to the increased reliance on standardized testing not just in New Jersey but nationwide.

Earlier this month, Newsday reported more than 5,500 Long Island students had opted out of New York State’s tests, which have been particularly controversial.

And while the New Jersey protesters still represent just a tiny fraction of the number of students taking the tests, perhaps the clearest evidence of the growing opposition came in the last few weeks as the state Department of Education started advising school districts on how to deal with students opting out of the state’s upcoming NJASK tests.

A department spokesman was mum about details of the recommendations made to school districts, maybe not wanting to encourage the practice of skipping the tests. And officials said there is no formal policy beyond an expectation that all students State Testing Sees Growing Movement of Families Planning to Opt Out - NJ Spotlight:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Jim Hightower

The grubby little secret of today's ivory tower is that it is being propped up by an ever-growing, exploited underclass of educators. "Adjunct professors," they're called, and the term itself is a measure of the disrespect they're shown. -- Hightower Lowdown

Ras Baraka

"Today, the ministers of Newark have joined me in calling for a moratorium on the destructive One Newark Plan to close our schools, a plan already being implemented against the will of the people of Newark.” -- Diane Ravitch Blog

LaGuardia Dance Teacher Michelle Mathesius

“We find it ironic and extremely worrisome that, in this era of increasing accountability, the most talented children are refused admittance to the very school where their talent could be recognized and developed, while applicants with higher grades and test scores, but less talent, are accepted instead. Such a practice is more than unjust: it is discrimination, pure and simple, a disservice to

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Wanted: districts interested in being early adopters of new science standards | EdSource Today

Wanted: districts interested in being early adopters of new science standards | EdSource Today:

Wanted: districts interested in being early adopters of new science standards

April 17th, 2014 | Add a Comment |
By John Fensterwald

The California Science Teachers Association and the nonprofit education research and development agency WestEd are seeking a half-dozen school districts to take the lead in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.

In exchange for committing to making science a core subject and participating in a new K-8 California Next Generation Science Standards Early Implementation Initiative, the districts would receive funding to train teams of teachers and administrators in the new standards over the next four years. Those interested must file apreliminary application to WestEd by April 30.

“This is an exciting opportunity for districts that are ready to move forward with the new standards,” said Laura Henriques, who chairs the science education department at California State University, Long Beach and is president of the state science teachers association. “It’s also important to the state for early adopting districts to serve as models.”

Last fall, the State Board of Education adopted the new K-12 standards, which are the science counterpart of the Common Core standards in English language arts and math; they emphasize science concepts over rote knowledge and the application of science processes to solve problems and think critically.

The Next Generation Science Standards are a states-guided initiative undertaken by the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have adopted them so far. However, many California districts have not yet begun to phase in the new standards, and the state is at least several years away from holding districts accountable for them. The State Board of Education is just starting a two-year process that will lead to the adoption of the curriculum Wanted: districts interested in being early adopters of new science standards | EdSource Today:

Peg with Pen: The Charade of Prompt Writing

Peg with Pen: The Charade of Prompt Writing:

The Charade of Prompt Writing

A quick thought I posted on FB:

Most writing in today's schools is prompt writing. This is typically worthless writing because the student had no input in the topic, etc. Prompt after prompt after prompt wears on a child's soul.

And when students aren't engaged, the student work you are looking at is WORTHLESS. Without engagement, the student work is not authentic - these writing prompts, etc. do not demonstrate what the child is truly capable of doing. When someone asks me to look at a child's piece of writing, the first thing I ask is - did this child choose the topic? If the child has no ownership in the topic, I already know that the sample is most likely not the child's best work and therefore it is a waste of time to evaluate it.

Yet, we have teachers determining teaching points based on poor writing samples. Therefore, any teaching points created as a result of these evaluations are low level and worthless. What's left? Mediocre teaching that produces mediocre learning that is not engaging and not even Peg with Pen: The Charade of Prompt Writing:

Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time | Parents United for Public Education

Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time | Parents United for Public Education:

Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time

Posted on April 20, 2014 by ROBROB2013Leave a comment

It was an honor to appear on Radio Times and speak about high-stakes standardized testing. In preparing for the show, I used a lot of information that had helped me to decide to opt out of the PSSA (Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment) test for my own children. What I realized is that 15 minutes was not enough time to fully speak to the issue. Here’s what I wanted to say if more time was permitted.

I am not against all standardized testing. I feel that there needs to be a standard that ensures that kids in the US have education equality. However, the PSSA is a poorly constructed instrument that is not reliably or validity tested. It has predetermined failure rates of 35-45% even before the test begins. The writing assessments are being scored by temporary workers who respond to newspaper classified ads and are paid per test. They are not experts and are given only one metric to grade the test. There is no way that a student will perform well if the identical metric is not written. There is no room for original thought of expression. There is no time for students to develop their message by re-writing the response. Their first draft is the final. Is this how we want our children to learn, by using only a template and learning that there’s only one way to do this? Why has Pennsylvania continued to adopt this as the sole standard to demonstrate student achievement? There are better tests that are actually reliably and validity tested – the WIAT III is one that has been highly recommended as a nationally normed test.

The PSSA do not take into account the very real challenges of poverty that as many as 80% of our students face. Students come to school with additional stress, hunger, unmet basic needs, and violence due to poverty. This test does not address the needs of English Language Learners who must take the tests in English without interpretation services. Students with special education needs may not have their IEPs followed and are expected to perform on grade level with their same age peers. The PSSAs are extraordinarily harmful to these Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time | Parents United for Public Education:

Rand Paul, Anti-Immigrant and Tea Party Advocate, to Speak at St. Anthony’s on Wednesday | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Rand Paul, Anti-Immigrant and Tea Party Advocate, to Speak at St. Anthony’s on Wednesday | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Rand Paul, Anti-Immigrant and Tea Party Advocate, to Speak at St. Anthony’s on Wednesday

Filed under: Immigration,Vouchers — millerlf @ 8:21 pm

Barnidge: Common Core is coming to public schools, whether your like it or not

By Tom Barnidge Contra Costa Times Columnist

POSTED: 04/20/2014 04:06:06 PM PDT0 COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO

Craig Cheslog can recite a litany of reasons why the Common Core standards will be good for public education.

"They teach 21st century skills," he said. "They teach the ability to communicate, to adapt, to work in teams and solve problems, to analyze and conceptualize, to manage one's self, to create, innovate and criticize."

Goodbye, teacher lectures and rote memorization. Hello, student engagement and critical thinking. What took educators so long?

Cheslog concedes, however, not everyone has embraced the new teaching platform that is sweeping through California schools. He would know. He's the principal adviser to Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public education, and spends a fair amount of time promoting -- and defending -- the new standards.

That's what he was doing last week in Walnut Creek at a meeting of the Democratic Club of Diablo Valley, where he was greeted by about two dozen nodding heads and several sets of furrowed brows.

"I suspect some of you are skeptical," he said before setting out to convert them.

He said Common Core focuses on concepts: how answers are found more than what they are. He said mastery of foundational skills will replace recitation of facts soon forgotten after tests.

He said the need for Common Core standards was best explained by education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University: Barnidge: Common Core is coming to public schools, whether your like it or not - ContraCostaTimes.com:

“Progressive Education” followed by subverting the “Standardistas” and the “Testingnazis” | Bill Ayers

“Progressive Education” followed by subverting the “Standardistas” and the “Testingnazis” | Bill Ayers:

“Progressive Education” followed by subverting the “Standardistas” and the “Testingnazis”

By my brilliant colleague Bill Schubert

The heart and soul of progressive education is much more than simple catering to the surface interests of children. It taps the desire of every human being to imagine and create meaningful lives. We all wonder what is worth needing, knowing, experiencing, doing, being, becoming, overcoming, sharing, and contributing. Children are no exception to such wondering, questioning, and constructing who they are. It is reflected in the essence of their play which is their serious and joyful work. Progressive education affords opportunity for learners and teachers to extend this wondering on journeys to become more fully human and contribute to the betterment of the world. Concepts such as more fully human and betterment of the world are not settled, always problematic, and always in the making. Thoughtful reflection on them with others builds community. To pursue such questions requires development of skills and knowledge. So the basics are surely part of a progressive education. However, they are not learned in advance and later applied; rather, they are learned because it becomes clear to learners that skills and knowledge are essential to the quest – the journey of growth.

Some say that a progressive orientation requires a separate curriculum for each student and is therefore impractical. However, when students learn that they can consider together paths to becoming better human beings, their efforts often coalesce around great human concerns: birth, love, death, success and failure, justice, prejudice, anxiety, angst, tradition, beauty, goodness, and more. In such concerns shared interest is discovered. Projects emerge and are pursued by individuals “Progressive Education” followed by subverting the “Standardistas” and the “Testingnazis” | Bill Ayers:

Some N.O. charters begin exploring teachers unions | News | The New Orleans Advocate

Some N.O. charters begin exploring teachers unions | News | The New Orleans Advocate:

Some N.O. charters begin exploring teachers unions

Advocate staff photo by John McCusker -- Tiana Nobile, co-president of the teachers' union at Morris Jeff Community School in New Orleans, hands out papers in her first grade class.

Mark Quirk is like a lot of veteran teachers in New Orleans. He thinks of his job as more of a calling than a career, has watched the growing emphasis on test scores with dismay and worries that teachers have lost important rights concerning pay and job security in the privately run charter schools that have taken over public education in New Orleans.

So he and his fellow teachers at Benjamin Franklin High School, which is both a charter and a magnet school with selective admissions, have done something that is typically thought of as anathema at charters: They formed a union.

“Our hope is that if this is done right, and we ask for reasonable, fair things, and the administration works with us, then we could be a model for other schools,” Quirk said. “We’re not out here trying to get rich. Many of us feel like this is a mission in life, to teach young people, to help society be a better place.”

For New Orleans, the debate over charter schools and teachers unions has always been an either-or proposition. The Orleans Parish School Board voided the city’s union contract after Hurricane Katrina, and charter schools began taking over rapidly thereafter, free of the constraints typically imposed by unions on pay, working hours and other policies. Many point to that kind of flexibility as one reason test scores are up and dropout rates are down.

Now, New Orleans is beginning to find out if this hard divide between charters and unions is really necessary, or if the two can somehow learn to coexist. The city already has one charter, the Morris Jeff Community School, with unionized teachers. Ben Franklin will be next if the Some N.O. charters begin exploring teachers unions | News | The New Orleans Advocate:

Brand names in NY standardized tests vex parents - Yahoo Finance

Brand names in NY standardized tests vex parents - Yahoo Finance:

By Karen Matthews, Associated Press7 hours ago

FILE- In this June 21, 2013 file photo, Nike Shox running shoes are displayed in Tampa, Fla. Nike Inc.’s copyrighted phrase “Just Do It” has shown up on standardized tests given to New York students in grades three to eight in April 2014. Some parents are wondering what it was doing on some of New York’s Common Core standardized English tests. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — "Just Do It" has been a familiar Nike slogan for years, but some parents are wondering what it was doing on some of New York's Common Core standardized English tests.

Brands including Barbie, iPod, Mug Root Beer and Life Savers showed up on the tests more than a million students in grades 3 through 8 took this month, leading to speculation it was some form of product placement advertising.

New York state education officials and the test publisher say the brand references were not paid product placement but just happened to be contained in previously published passages selected for the tests.

Some critics aren't so sure and questioned why specific brand names would be mentioned at all.

"It just seems so unnecessary," said Josh Golin, associate director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which monitors marketing directed at children.

"It would be horrible if they were getting paid for it," he said. "But even if they're not, it's taking something that should not be a commercial experience and commercializing it."

The test questions have not been made public, and teachers and principals are barred from discussing them. But teachers posting anonymously on education blogs have complained that students were confused by the brand names, which were accompanied by trademark symbols.

The Nike question was about being a risk taker and included the line, "'Just Do It' is a registered trademark of Nike," according to students who took the test.

Sam Pirozzolo, of Staten Island, whose fifth-grader encountered the Nike question, said there was apparently Brand names in NY standardized tests vex parents - Yahoo Finance:

4-20-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Seattle Schools This Week

Tuesday, April 22nd"Open Mic Night" on Special Education, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Rainier Beach High School, 8815 Seward Park S. Families of Seattle Public Schools are invited to join experts from Louisiana State University and the TIERS Group (Teams Intervening Early to Reach all Students) during two Open Microphone Nights to give feedback on Special Education services. Seattle Public Sc

by Melissa Westbrook / 2min

4-19-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumFriday Open ThreadPrinceton University has come to the conclusion that we don't really live in a democracy but that we are basically an oligarchy. No real surprise there - the rich are getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the people in-between worry about that their children won't even live at the same standard as they do. Jus

by mike simpson / 10h

empathyeducates – Do We Protect Our Children?

empathyeducates – Do We Protect Our Children?:

Do We Protect Our Children?

Introductory Essay By Betsy L. Angert | Originally Published at EmpathyEducates.

'It's spring. The weather is beautiful. Everything is blooming with life. And all I think about is death,' Sam says. ~ Columbine Survivor Heads Back to the School 15 Years Later

On this the fifteen anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting it is time to remember what became our nations mission; we must protect our children. For Sam and his fellow survivors, it happens every year; it happens daily. The wave of emotions rushes in. He will always remember, as do we, what we experienced when we were overwhelmed. That sense of disbelief and grief occurs daily. For most of us, mass carnage is not the catalyst. The sun shines brightly. It is a clear day. Spring might be in the air, or possibly it is winter. Any trigger might stir us to remember…Children playing. Couples cooing. A song. A place. A marathon race.

In the month of April we have many reminders. The Oklahoma City bombing. The Columbine High School shooting. Virginia Tech. The Boston Marathon. In April, we see much killing. But these tragic episodes barely touch on what is brewing. The magnitude of mayhem is everywhere, even in our homes. In truth, what happens where we live can leave a long and lingering memory.

Thoughts of what was and is our daily routine might not seem sensational. Surely what occurs in our homes cannot compare to countless episodes of mass killing [or does it?] Bear in mind suicides.

In January 2011, at a sidewalk event in Tucson, Arizona ten persons were shot. Six people lost their lives, Chief Judge John Roll Gabe Zimmerman, and a nine-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green are now among the dearly departed. The then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords too was critically injured. The Newtown school shooting occurred in Connecticut in a mid-December. Between 1982 and 2012 six mass killings occurred in empathyeducates – Do We Protect Our Children?:

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