6-11-14 Fred 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.:

“It’s done!” said State Representative Robyn Gabel.

State Representative and pension thief Robyn Gabel. “It’s done!” said State Representative Robyn Gabel to the two dozen or so local representatives at the IPACE endorsement hearings this morning. The words had that tone of, “Get over it. Move on.”  Like she was talking to an old lover who she had just dumped. As in, “Don’t you get it. I’m just not that into you.” Unfortunately for her she was res

by Fred Klonsky / 2h 

6-10-14 Fred 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.: Save Dyett.From Progress Illinois: Chicago education activists are ramping up their fight to save Walter H. Dyett High School from closing at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. At a news conference at City Hall on Monday, a coalition of parents, students and South Side community leaders blasted Chi

by mike simpson / 12h 

6-11-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

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

June Issue Of Harvard’s “Family Involvement Network of Educators” Available Online

The June issue of Harvard’s “Family Involvement Network of Educators” just came online. Here’s how they describe it: In this issue, M. Elena Lopez and Margaret Caspe take us on a deep dive into the research base for anywhere, anytime and challenge us to broaden our notion of family engagement and of learning beyond school. First, we join Cool Culture for a tour of New York City’s cultural institut

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h hide  //  save

Excellent New Issue Of The School Community Journal

The School Community Journal is a must-read for anyone involved in parent engagement activities, and you can access the new issue online here. I’m particularly impressed with Lee Shumow’s critique/review of the infamous Broken Compass book which leads off the issue. I’m adding it to The Best Commentaries On The “Broken Compass” Parent Involvement Book. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg — chec

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h 

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

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": “Hayward Unified to help parents attend college”Hayward Unified to help parents attend college is the headline from a Northern California newspaper about an innovative parent engagement effort. Here’s how it begins: Parents and middle school students who want to take college courses will get help from the school district, w

by mike simpson / 14h 

6-11-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

  Wait What? 

We know what limits educational achievement, Steve Perry doesn’t

Poverty, language barriers and failure to provide sufficient special education services are the primary factors the led to the educational achievement gap in this country. In any place, including Connecticut, inadequate state funding for public schools makes it virtually impossible to adequately respond to the growing challenges associated with the factors the led to this […] The post We know what

by jonpelto / 26min

Why doesn’t Connecticut have a Fair and Progressive Income Tax?

In Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy’s world of “Shared Sacrifice,” middle-income families have taken a disproportionate hit. On the state level, Malloy’s tax plan resulted in higher state income tax rates, a reduced property tax credit, more sales taxes and the largest gas tax increase in state history.  All of these taxes had a heavy impact […] The post Why doesn’t Connecticut have a Fair and Progres

11 by jonpelto / 3h 

6-10-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:   Wait What? Connecticut – Otherwise known as “Budget Gimmicks R US”Some call it “Dishonest Budgeting.” Others call it “Cooking the Books” And still others say… “Well, it’s just the way thing are done here in Connecticut.” Whatever you call it, Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and his predecessors have used one budget gimmick after another to ensure that it is virtually impossible to deter

by mike simpson / 11h 

Gates’ Common Core Money and Kentucky | Truth in American Education

Gates’ Common Core Money and Kentucky | Truth in American Education:

 Gates’ Common Core Money and Kentucky

Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core, and they did so before the final draft was even published.  I highlighted some of Lyndsey Layton’s article in the Washington Post on Bill Gates’ involvement with the Common Core earlier today on another blog.  The excerpt related to Kentucky I found fascinating and frankly outrageous as it shows education policy can be bought.The first victory

by Shane Vander Hart / 1h hide  //  save

Gates Foundation: Don’t Count Common Core Assessments for Two Years

The timing of a letter from the Gates Foundation is suspect with Oklahoma and South Carolina’s plan to rewrite their standards, and other states like Missouri and North Carolina waiting in the wings, as well as, the interview with Bill Gates that Washington Post published. Vicki Phillips, the Director of Education, College Ready at the Gates Foundation, wrote in “A Letter to our Partners” that Com

by Shane Vander Hart / 1h 

Answer Sheet 6-11-14

Answer Sheet:

A silver lining in the Vergara decision?

A decision by a California judge on Tuesday to strike down — pending appeal — five state statutes that provide job protections to teachers has deeply troubled many teachers and teacher activists concerned about the effect on the profession should the ruling stand. Here is a detailed look on what might be a silver lining […]

39 by Valerie Strauss / 3h hide  //  save

A summer reading list from college admissions counselors

Here is a rather unusual summer reading list. It was assembled by Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling at  The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire, who asked college admissions deans and high school counselors to send him recommendations of books that are great summer reads for parents, students and everybody else. The list includes books about […]

1K by Valerie Strauss / 3h 

Assessing learning without tests

In this era in which standardized tests are the be-all and end-all of accountability, it may seem impossible to imagine a teacher evaluating how well students are learning without giving them a test. Joanne Yatvin actually did it and she explains it in this post. Yatvin is a past president of the National Council of […]

62 by Valerie Strauss / 14h 

YESTERDAY

Is this the beginning of the end of teacher tenure?

Teachers’ unions just got whacked by a California judge who bought the specious argument offered in the “Vergara trial” that state laws giving tenure, seniority and other job protections to public school teachers deprive students of their constitutional right to an adequate education.  Though he stayed his Tuesday decision striking down five state statutes on teacher […]

49 by Valerie Strauss / 16h 

Answer Sheet 6-10-14

Answer Sheet: Why math fills so many of us with dreadIf you are someone who suffered from math anxiety, you may not believe that it does not have to be a permanent condition. That’s what author  Annie Murphy Paul, who concentrates on how we learn and how we can do it better, explains in the following post. Paul is a contributing writer  for Time magazine, writes a weekly […]1 by Valerie Strauss / 

by mike simpson / 14h 

6-11-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Odds and Ends on Math Adoption

The Times finally got around to writing an article on this issue.  I didn't really like their take on it but I'm not surprised that it is made to sound like the cost was the main issue.  The article said that MIF is "nearly twice as expensive" as enVision but forgot to say that was based on the staff's reading of it.  The article then waits until nearly the end to say "the exact cos

by Melissa Westbrook / 1h hide  //  save

And I Mean This Sincerely

There are a number of people who are very worked up about the School Board's recent decision to adopt Math in Focus as the instructional materials for K-5 math. A lot of the opposition has been expressed as outrage that the Board did not follow the expert recommendation of the Materials Advisory Committee. Is that really the beef? Really?I find it very difficult to accept this claim as sincere fro

1 by Charlie Mas / 1h 

6-10-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open ThreadA recap of the Curriculum and Instruction meeting to come.  I perceive this is not quite the done deal it appears to be. Got a grad?  A great story asking prominent/interesting people "If I were 22 again..." Written probably for college grads but still worth letting your own graduate read.  I was at a high school graduation party this w

by mike simpson / 11h 

6-11-14 Schools Matter: BATs in DC July 28

Schools Matter:

BATs in DC July 28

by Jim Horn / 1h 

Diane Ravitch's Mutating Common Core Positions

As the opposition to Common Core has spread and deepened, Diane Ravitch's position has undergone a strange metamorphosis.  She had this to say at Huffington Post on March 24 in a piece entitled "The Fatal Flaw of the Common Core Standards:". . . .The complaints are coming from all sides: from Tea Party activists who worry about a federal takeover of education and from educators, parents,

5 by Jim Horn / 2h 

6-10-14 Schools Matter: Is Tom Corbett the Most Hated Governor in PA's History?

Schools Matter: Is Tom Corbett the Most Hated Governor in PA's History?: Is Tom Corbett the Most Hated Governor in PA's History?ht to Ken Derstine:by Jim Horn / 0min 6-9-14 Schools MatterSchools Matter: Reporter Visits NOLA Charter Cult Where Parents Filed Civil Rights ComplaintA clip from the story, followed by part of my email to the reporter, Andrew Vanacore:. . . . Its campuses have never been

by mike simpson / 8h 

Rachel's Rants, Raves, and Recollections: Eric Cantor is a Threat to Democracy

Rachel's Rants, Raves, and Recollections: Eric Cantor is a Threat to Democracy:

Eric Cantor is a Threat to Democracy

On Monday, October 25th, a Louisa County, Virginia, voter and Democrat named Jon Taylor showed up with some members of his family to a local Louisa coffee shop, Solid Grounds, to attend an Eric Cantor campaign event (see event invite below). Eric Cantor is his congressional representative (VA-07) and he and some friends of his had RSVPed for the event.

They wanted to talk with their congressional representative about his campaign and about his policies. They ordered their coffee and sat down. The police came in once and asked Mr. Taylor to move his car, which was adorned with campaign material of Cantor's Democratic opponent Rick Waugh, from a metered public parking spot. Mr. Taylor produced his receipt. The officers left and returned later, and a combination of the police, the coffee shop owner, and Cantor's advance man asked him to leave. Jon Taylor ended up out on the street being roughly slammed against a car and then to the ground by three policeman as they arrested him and charged him with trespassing, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. The officers charged some of the other Dems there similarly.

 There are a few different versions of what happened. There'sJon's account, on the blog Blue Virginia. There's an eyewitness account, also on Blue Virginia, by Lewalta Haney. There's coverage on MSNBC's The Ed Show. There's a sad excuse for a story about it in The Richmond Times-Dispatch. The Daily Kos features a bit from all of these, including the video Jon Taylor's son took of his father's arrest. Eric Cantor's campaign declared that, "this was a clear attempt [by Taylor] to disrupt the meeting. The voters of Virginia are going to reject this thuggery." When I called Cantor's campaign office--he is also my congressional representative--to voice my discontent about this incident, I was essentially told the same thing by the woman I spoke with.

Now, I'm sure these folks weren't there to give Eric Cantor a Progressive Representative of the Year Award, but this is how the democratic process in a representative democracy works. You decide to run for office, you get some signatures to get on the ballot, you debate your opponents, and you go around and talk to the voters that you're going to represent. You talk to them, you Rachel's Rants, Raves, and Recollections: Eric Cantor is a Threat to Democracy:

6-11-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

“What Role Should Arts Education Have In A School’s Curriculum?”

What Role Should Arts Education Have In A School’s Curriculum? is the latest “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave your responses there or here in the comments….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 49min 

Videos: “Anderson Cooper Tries A Schizophrenia Simulator”

I’m adding these videos to The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

Resources For World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day takes place on June 20th. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h 

More Resources On The Value Of Attending College

Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Showing Students Why They Should Continue Their Academic Career: The Value of College: It’s Not Just Correlation is from The New York Times. Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say is also from The New York Times.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h 

6-10-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: I Explain The Picture Word Inductive Model In My Latest British Council PostI’ve often written about the Picture Word Inductive Model, my favorite teaching strategy for Beginning English Language Learners. I’ve just published a post at The British Council with a more detailed explanation on how to use it in the classroom. Y

by mike simpson / 14h