LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-11-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

David B. Cohen: A Thoughtful Analysis of Vergara Decision

David B. Cohen is a teacher who is a leader in the teaching profession in California. In this post, he offers a calm, thoughtful appraisal of the Vergara decision. While not agreeing with the decision, he points out ways in which the issues can be resolved in the future. He acknowledges his outrage towards the group that brought the case, which dared to call itself “Students Matter”:: “I’m suspi

1 by dianeravitch / 9min 

The Vergara Trial Teachers Were Not “Grossly Ineffective”

I was curious to learn whether the plaintiffs in the Vergara trial actually had “grossly ineffective teachers.” The answer is “no, they did not.” Not only did none of them have a “grossly ineffective” teacher, but some of the plaintiffs attended schools where there are no tenured teachers. Two of the plaintiffs attend charter schools, where there is no tenure or seniority, and as you will read be

61 by dianeravitch / 1h 

What Was the Evidence in the Vergara Case? Who Wins? Who Loses?

Judge Rolf M. Treu, who decided the Vergara case , declared that he was shocked, shocked to learn from Professor Raj Chetty and Professor Thomas Kane of Harvard about the enormous harm that one “grossly ineffective” teacher can do to a child’s lifetime earnings or to their academic gains. How did he define “grossly ineffective” teacher? He didn’t. How did these dreadful teachers get tenure? Clear

87 by dianeravitch / 3h 

Teacher: A Victim of Connecting the Dots about Gates

Now that the Washington Post has identified how Bill Gates underwrote every aspect of the Common Core standards, everyone knows what some suspected. Readers of this blog were not surprised, because we had read Mercedes Schneider’s posts about Gates’ funding of the CCSS. But somehow, seeing it spelled out in detail in the Washington Post made it official. Here is a teacher who connected the dots. S

35 by dianeravitch / 3h 

Peter Greene Dissects the Florida Miracle: All Testing All the Time

Peter Greene here picks apart an article by Patricia Levesque defending the Common Core, testing, and accountability. Who is Patricia Levesque? She is CEO of Jeb Bush’s organization called the Foundation for Educational Excellence. It is safe to assume that she speaks for Jeb Bush in celebrating the Flrida miracle, Common Core, and the immense value of standardized testing and accountability. Le

17 by dianeravitch / 3h 

How Occupy Wall Street Changed Seattle

Peter Dreier of Occidental College explains how the Occupy Wall Street movement started a momentum that changed Seattle: Friends, An idea that only a year ago appeared both radical and impractical has become a reality. On Monday, Seattle struck a blow against rising inequality when its City Council unanimously adopted a city wide minimum wage of $15 an hour — the highest in the nation. In my new

13 by dianeravitch / 3h 

Eva Moskowitz Will Apply for Another 14 Charter Schools in New York City

Thanks to legislation recently passed in Albany with the strong support of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Eva Moskowitz announced that she will seek another 14 charter schools, expanding her network significantly. This August, according to her website, she will have “9,450 scholars at 32 schools” in the city. She is applying to the State University of New York, which is a friendly authorizer. The public s

9 by dianeravitch / 3h 

David Hursh: Governor Cuomo Supports Privatization of Public Education

A cautionary tale:: Governor Cuomo and the effort to destroy public education in New York To be published in The Australian Educators Union journal the “Professional Voice” June, 2014. Please visit their website for the current and past issues: http://www.aeuvic.asn.au/publications_index_13_53773280.html David Hursh Professor Warner Graduate School of Education, University of Rochester Rochester,

50 by dianeravitch / 3h hide  //  save

Stephanie Simon: How Parents Organized and Beat Big Data

Stephanie Simon writes in politico.com about how parents organized, lobbied, agitated, and brought down inBloom. Simon writes: “You’ve heard of Big Oil and Big Tobacco. Now get ready for Big Parent. “Moms and dads from across the political spectrum have mobilized into an unexpected political force in recent months to fight the data mining of their children. In a frenzy of activity, they’ve catapu

40 by dianeravitch / 3h 

Eric Cantor, Republican Champion of Charters, Defeated in Virginia

The report from politico.com on Eric Canto’s defeat: “HOUSE LOSES ‘CHAMPION’ OF CHARTERS AND CHOICE: Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor – crusader for immigration reform, school choice and charter schools – lost his primary race to Randolph-Macon College professor Dave Brat in an astonishing upset Tuesday night. Spectators said some of Cantor’s pet education issues aren’t necessarily at risk.

6 by dianeravitch / 4h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-10-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: In Kentucky: A School Without Standardized TestsKentucky was the first state to implement the Common Core standards, and the first state to test them. The state has another distinction: It is one of the few states that has no charter schools. Communities in Kentucky are committed to their community public schools–so far. Kentucky h

by mike simpson / 14h 

6-11-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Call for Ban on high-stakes field testing, 11 AM Rally/Press Conference Today at Tweed:

Call for Ban on high-stakes field testing, 11 AM Rally/Press Conference Today at Tweed

  PUBLIC ADVOCATE FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK Letitia JamesFor Immediate Release: June 10, 2014                                                Media AdvisoryContact: Aja Worthy-Davis, (212) 669-4813, adavis@pubadvocate.nyc.gov Public Advocate James, Education Advocates to Call for End To Stand-Alone Field TestingHigh-Stakes Field Testing Is Largely Believed To Produce Unreliable Results(New York, NY

by ed notes online / 2h 

6-10-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Today: A Rally to End the Fourth Term of Michael R. Bloomberg 4:30 at Tweed -I'm getting ready to head over to Tweed soon for the rally, which I wrote about the other day (PEP Report: Teachers, Parents Make Demands on Farina; ATRs, Etc To Hold Rally at Tweed, Tues., June 10, 4:30PM).SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL posted this poster at this link: Spring Cleaning at the NYCDOE Our pal at  Ragin

by mike simpson / 10h 

Co-Location of Schools in NYC Denies Services to Students | janresseger

Co-Location of Schools in NYC Denies Services to Students | janresseger:

Co-Location of Schools in NYC Denies Services to Students

Posted on June 11, 2014 by janresseger

In New York City, due to school “reforms” undertaken during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s three terms, all high school students now participate in school choice; there are no longer comprehensive high schools with attendance zones. Many smaller high schools and elementary schools were opened, and many are now co-located, which means that several schools share space in what were once larger public schools.  While the mass of small high schools created under Mayor Bloomberg have received largely positive press, a new study demonstrates serious problems with many of the schools.

Even academic researchers have viewed Bloomberg’s policies as a help for struggling students.  For example, Greg Duncan, professor of education at the University of California at Irvine and Richard Murnane, economist in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, endorse the creation of New York’s small high schools.  In Restoring Opportunity: The Crisis of Inequality and the Challenge for American Education, Duncan and Murnane accurately identify the educational implications of rising economic inequality in America’s metropolitan areas—accompanied by growing residential income segregation.  These authors then devote several chapters to what they consider promising educational responses.  One of the reforms they endorse is New York City’s “systemic initiative that has made it possible for tens of thousands of low-income New York City youth to obtain a higher-quality secondary education.” (p. 85)  However, despite supporting the “personalized attention, academic rigor and relevance, and abundant learning opportunities” (p. 106) available in the small high schools they examine, they note that “even the ambitious effort to create a system of effective small high schools left one in four disadvantaged New York City youth without a high school diploma.” (p, 107)

The new report released last week by the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, The Effects of Co-Location on New York City’s Ability to Provide All Students a Sound Basic Education, graphically explains why New York City’s small schoolsCo-Location of Schools in NYC Denies Services to Students | janresseger:

The Common Core Chuztpah of Bill Gates & CCSSO | Missouri Education Watchdog

The Common Core Chuztpah of Bill Gates & CCSSO | Missouri Education Watchdog:

The Common Core Chuztpah of Bill Gates & CCSSO

inShare

Having “great fortitude” does not apply to The Gates Foundation or the CCSSO in their latest statements about state accountability testing and measures.  Use your critical thinking skills and see if you agree.

During the Washington Post’s March 2014 interview with Bill Gates, reporter Lyndsey Layton asked him what he thought about being called “the unelected superintendent of the country”.  Gates did not appreciate such a question and insisted Layton was making the interview political vs substantive.  Perhaps he had second thoughts about that title.  Has he now decided being the nation’s superintendent would be an appropriate job for him since he has invested heavily in the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative?  The NY Times writes that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has decreed:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the country’s largest donors to educational causes and a strong backer of the academic guidelines known as the Common Core, has called for a two-year moratorium on states or school districts making any high-stakes decisions based on tests aligned with the new standards.

The Common Core, originally adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia and supported by the Obama administration, was devised by a group of educators and experts convened by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School The Common Core Chuztpah of Bill Gates & CCSSO | Missouri Education Watchdog:

6-11-14 The Whole Child Blog — Choice Versus Policy? — Whole Child Education

Choice Versus Policy? — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Choice Versus Policy?

June 11, 2014 by Whole Child Symposium

What are we currently doing in our schools that will affect—negatively or positively—the future?

The ASCD Whole Child Symposium addressed what the "schools of the future" will look like and how the decisions we make today will shape what and how students learn tomorrow. Over the course of three events, we asked thought leaders, authors, practitioners, and students what they think currently works in education, what we need in the future to be successful, and how this can be accomplished.

CHOICE

Choice was central to the discussion at the Whole Child Symposium Town Hall and Live events. The town hall talked about ways to promote and advance student voice and choice and the live event discussion evolved to ask whether policy impedes or assures choice. No one was clearer on this point than University of Oregon professor and author of Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization Yong Zhao who believes that any choice weighed down by mandatory policy isn't true choice:

"By imposing upon our students, our parents, our school leaders, a different way of accountability, we are also confining our people's possibility to choose. So there's nothing for you to choose—basically this is like a Hobson's Choice, right: you can pick any horse as long as it's the one I give you."

Choice Versus Policy? — Whole Child Education:

6-10-14 The Whole Child Blog — Planning Engaging Lessons Using Children's Literature — Whole Child Education

Planning Engaging Lessons Using Children's Literature — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGPlanning Engaging Lessons Using Children’s LiteratureJune 10, 2014 by Tisha ShipleyIn a world of test-driven instruction, teachers are still expected to have effective teaching strategies and teach children to love reading. It is very important that we as professionals take a look at how we introduce

by mike simpson / 10h 

6-11-14 the becoming radical | 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):

This Week in “Please Shut Up”: Arne Duncan

This Week in “Please Shut Up” should have been aimed at George Will and that he really needs to shut up about rape. But, instead, let’s look at Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who has held forth on the Vergaras ruling in California: The ruling was hailed by the nation’s top education chief as bringing to California — and possibly the nation — an opportunity to build “a new framework for the tea

16 by Paul Thomas / 1h hide  //  save

Gates Moratorium Another Scam: Beware the Roadbuilders pt. 2

The road to hell is not paved with good intentions. [1] The road to hell in the U.S. of the 21st century is paved with the appearance of good intentions fostered by billionaires. Billionaires are our roadbuilders, and in education reform the main roadbuilder is Bill Gates. Gates is a billionaire education hobbyist who started a road to small schools, only to bail, but has since shifted his roadbui

23 by Paul Thomas / 1h 

Bessie: A Tale of Two Vergaras: Of Stardom and the End of Teacher Tenure

Please read latest from Adam Bessie A Tale of Two Vergaras: Of Stardom and the End of Teacher Tenure.

1 by Paul Thomas / 1h

6-10-14 the becoming radical | 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): Twitter Truth (and The Onion Gets It Again)As I have catalogued on this blog and elsewhere, when it comes to education policy, my home state of South Carolina is A Heaping Stumbling-Bumbling Mess of Ineptitude. And while we have garnered a sort of unwanted but fully warr

by mike simpson / 14h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-11-14

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

Daily News: SOME LAUSD EMPLOYEES TO GET 9 PERCENT SALARY HIKES + smf’s 2¢

By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/UtJYAv 6/10/14, 8:54 PM PDT |Delving into several costly employee salary issues, the Los Angeles Unified school board on Tuesday approved salary increases ranging up to 9 percent for some district workers to offset higher pension costs. The district also continues negotiating with its largest employee group, teachers, whose union considers

by smf / 3h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-10-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Vergara verdict expected today: JUDGE’S DECISION ON CALIFORNIA TEACHER TENURE COULD CHANGE EDUCATORS’ JOB SECURITYBy Associated Press, from the LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1nvFXFc 6/10/14, 6:15 AM  ::  LOS ANGELES — A judge plans to announce a decision Tuesday that could be a game changer for California teachers whose job security is on the line. Atto

by mike simpson / 11h 

6-11-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

La. BESE Member Jane Smith to Governor Jindal: Drop CC and PARCC

Below is an open letter written to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal by Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) member and Jindal-appointee, Jane Smith. Smith wants to encourage Jindal to follow through on his plans to drop CCSS and PARCC in Louisiana. Let me add, it is certainly time. Using the words of the song […]

1 by deutsch29 / 9min 

Higher Education Leaders who know nothing.

OK.  Today might just be the day that I quit. If the leaders of our academic institutions have really decided to sign onto to something that has no empirical support specifically (that common core standards and high stakes tests better prepare students for college) and at the same time totally disregard tons of empirical support […]

73 by Timothy D. Slekar / 3h hide  //  save

My Book, A Chronicle of Echoes, is Now Available on Kindle

My newly-released whistle blower book detailing the expliotation of American public education, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education, is now available on Kindle. For some reason, the Kindle link is separate from the link for the paperback and hardcover. The Kindle link lacks all reviewer information that is available for people […]

2 by deutsch29 / 3h 

This Week in “Please Shut Up”: Arne Duncan

This Week in “Please Shut Up”: Arne Duncan. via This Week in “Please Shut Up”: Arne Duncan.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

3 by plthomasedd / 3h 

Gates Moratorium Another Scam: Beware the Roadbuilders pt. 2

Gates Moratorium Another Scam: Beware the Roadbuilders pt. 2. via Gates Moratorium Another Scam: Beware the Roadbuilders pt. 2.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

2 by plthomasedd / 3h 

6-10-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Duncan Dumps on Oklahoma in a June 9 Press ConferenceUS Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was asked in a June 9, 2014, press conference about Oklahoma’s decision to drop the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin– who also happens to be the chair of CCSS license co-owner National Governors Association (NGA)– signed Oklahoma HB 3399 into law on Thursday

by mike simpson / 9h