LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-2-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Salon: Why Left and Right and Center Turned Against the Common Core

Gabriel Arana, a writer for Salon, shows how Common Core became toxic, but he misses a few crucial points. He notes that there were few actual classroom teachers on the committee that wrote the standards, but in fact there were none. A few members had taught in high school, but in the past. None had ever taught in elementary school or middle school. He notes that Bill Gates paid for most of the

by dianeravitch / 1min

A New Argument for Vouchers

Voucher advocates used to claim that vouchers would dramatically raise test scores. They don’t. Then they said they raise graduation rates, which they do as long as you overlook high attrition rates. Now, the new siren song is that they save money! Politico reports “the fiscal case for vouchers:” “The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice touts vouchers as an ideal way to shake up the “gover

1 by dianeravitch / 25min 

Peter Greene Wonders Why Thomas Kane Doesn’t Trust Teachers

Fearless Peter Greene criticizes economist Thomas Kane for his latest paper, called “Never Diet Without a Bathroom Scale and Mirror: The Case for Combining Teacher Evaluation and the Common Core.” Kane directed the study called Measures of Effective Teaching for the Gates Foundation. Greene calls the new study “grade A baloney.” Kane calls for “a massive adult behavior change exercise,” not an e

by dianeravitch / 3min 

Great News for Supporters of Public Education

The new organization called Democrats for Public Education commissioned a poll, and it brought good news, reported here by Politico.com: NEW POLL DATA BUOYS PUBLIC ED ADVOCATES: With a month to go before midterms, the activists at Democrats for Public Education are urging candidates to speak up – loudly – about their support for neighborhood schools. DPE gave Morning Education a sneak peek at new

2 by dianeravitch / 27min

Help Colorado Opt-out Coalition Buy Billboards

This is an appeal from a group of concerned educators and parents in Colorado who want to let parents know that they have a right to opt their children out of high-stakes state testing. They want to rent two big highway billboards. Can you help them? (Sorry I don’t have the graphic for the billboard. I bet if you email them, they will send you the graphic of the billboard.) I sent them a check. I

7 by dianeravitch / 57min 

Forward Institute: Wisconsin Shortchanges Neediest Children

The Forward Institute completed a study of school finance in Wisconsin and concluded that the state does not provide equality of opportunity to the neediest children. The study is called “Segregation of Opportunity.” “The study concluded the following: 1. The school funding system is depriving many Wisconsin children and communities the resources they need to provide equal educational opportunit

14 by dianeravitch / 45min hide  //  save

Adrienne Hill: A Day in the Life of a Data-Mined Kid

Did you know that your child is constantly data mined? Adrienne Hill writes about how extensively most children are now tracked, usually without their parent’s knowledge or consent. The federal government has given states hundreds of millions of dollars to help build a giant database, called a “statewide longitudinal data system.” Hill writes: “The government isn’t the only one trying to figure ou

8 by dianeravitch / 1h 

Test Prep University for “No Excuses” Teachers

You too can learn to be a “no excuses” teacher in a charter school that gets high test scores. There are a few changes required in your attitude; you too can earn a new graduate degree from a new graduate school that will remold your personality and teach you not to accept any excuses. Paternalistic? Yes. Colonialist? Call it that if you wish. Results are what matters. All you need to do is enrol

5 by dianeravitch / 2h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-1-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: STOP Online Testing in K-2: Florida Parents Demand SanityFranziska Raeber describes how parents in Florida are organizing resistance to online testing of children in K-2. Please be aware that the purpose of online testing is to enrich the testing industry and tech corporations. The best tests are written and evaluated by teachers,

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

Columbus Day & the Question of Native American Genocide - Musical Media For Education

Columbus Day & the Question of Native American Genocide - Musical Media For Education:

Columbus Day & the Question of Native American Genocide

posted 31 minutes ago

Excerpts from Alex Alvarez (professor of Criminology, Northern Arizona Univ., Founding Director, Martin Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust), Native America & the Question of Genocide, 2014, Rowman & Littlefield 

"One of the things my experience in studying genocide has taught me is that ‘genocide’ is a word and concept that is often uses and misused. The term has a tremendous amount of power, and because of that it has sometimes been applied to highway deaths, abortions, AIDS, slavery, urban planning and family planning among other rhetorical excesses. Unfortunately, many of these assertions seem to be based more on general sense of outrage and horror than on any clear and rigorous understand about what is and is not genocide."

"…it has become somewhat fashionable to assert that American Indians were the victims of genocide, but all too often those comments appear to be more about political activism or attempts to generate a sense of moral outrage than they are about engaging in scholarly discussion. Genocide refer to a specific concept that is itself subject ot various definitions and debates, Scholars and others who study this phenomenon, in other words, interpret the term in multiple ways.”

“… it is important that claims of genocide be examined rigorously and critically. This is not to suggest that Native people in the Americas did not suffer from genocide, but rather that care needs to be taken when applying this label to specific historical events, these assertions are all too often made with sweeping generalizations that seem to suggest the Native experience, and by inference Native peoples, were all the same. This is far from the truth. As we will see, the Americas were and are home to a great many different nations and tribes who have often had dissimilar experiences depending upon their location, the period of contact, who they had contact with, and the various strategies of confrontation and/or accommodation each group adopted.”

"An examination of genocide, therefore, in the context of the Native American experience can reveal much of the complexity of contact and conflict in America after the arrival of the Europeans. Although we often tend to see it as such, it is not as simple as it has often been portrayed. It is more than just a simple morality tale about good and evil, right and wrong, whites versus Natives. The problem with this depiction, aside from being plain wrong, is that it treats all Native people as passive objects who were simple acted upon by those they came into contact with. That is far from the truth. Instead, a closer look reveals that it is a very human story of tragedy and error, missed opportunities and cross-purposes, good intentions and bad, and cruel injustice and violence. Natives sometimes sided with Europeans against other Native tribes,Columbus Day & the Question of Native American Genocide - Musical Media For Education:

10-2-14 Schools Matter - Paul Toner's Future as Gates Waterboy

Schools Matter:

Paul Toner's Future as Gates Waterboy

TURNcoat Paul Toner has moved on the greener pastures, you might say, to become the President of New Voices Strategies, a corporate outfit funded by Gates and NEA to create positive PR spin for CorpEd initiatives in a community near you. Here is an example of the New Voice Strategies spin from June of this year, when the American Statistical Association delivered what will prove to be the death bl

1 by Jim Horn / 1h 

9-30-14 Schools Matter - Comments on Naomi Klein's New Book

Schools Matter: Comments on Naomi Klein's New BookA clip from comments on Naomi Klein's new book at Nation of Change:Klein starts with a blunt statement of the problem: “[O]ur economic system and our planetary system are now at war. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life.” (21) Human survival requires a new economics, which explains why cl

by mike simpson / 7h

10-2-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

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

Many More Resources On Race & Racism

© 2012 Michael Fleshman, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio Here are new additions to A Collection Of Useful Posts, Articles & Videos On Race & Racism – Help Me Find More: Florida Man Is Convicted of Murdering Teenager in Dispute Over Loud Music is from The New York Times. I’m also adding this to The Best Posts, Articles & Lesson Plans On The Jordan Davis Tragedy & Verdict: Our “Classro

8 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

10-1-14 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 Is Your Advice For Student Teachers & Their Supervisors?”What Is Your Advice For Student Teachers & Their Supervisors? is the latest “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave your responses there or in the comments section of this post…7 by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  sav

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

10-2-14 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.:

Waukegan strike. 1,200 teachers. 14,000 students.

- NBC Chicago Teachers in far north suburban Waukegan on Thursday announced they were moving ahead with a strike. All Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 were closed, giving nearly 17,000 students the day off. “Seven o’clock in the morning we will be on strike. We will strike all of the 25 or so campuses in Waukegan with picketers at each,” Lake County Federation of Teachers president Mik

10 by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  save

Family friendly.

The first Olive Garden Restaurant has opened in the City of Chicago. I have never eaten at an Olive Garden, although I might eat at this one. It is on Addison off of 94 in a K-Mart parking lot.  That’s not far from me. And I am intrigued by the concept of a never-ending pasta bowl and unlimited breadsticks. Unlimited breadsticks. Avondale, the neighborhood that gets the benefit of the Olive Garde

6 by Fred Klonsky / 2h 

10-1-14 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.: John Dillon. Looking for a “fortiori,” a better reason to vote for Quinn.- John Dillon is a retired teacher, pension activist and a member of the IEA Retired S.O.R.E chapter. He blogs at Pension Vocabulary. In education, ironically, Rauner and at least one of the Democratics on the gubernatorial ticke

2 by mike simpson / 8h 

10-2-14 Wait What? - Look out Malloy and Foley – you are both on the wrong side on education

Wait What?:

Look out Malloy and Foley – you are both on the wrong side on education

A new National Poll on Public Education was released today.  The poll was paid for by a Democratic leaning advocacy group and conducted by Harstad Strategic Research – a Colorado-based firm which worked on President Barack Obama’s 2008 election and 2012 re-election. The poll reports…. Solid majorities back more funding for public schools and teacher pay, […] The post Look out Malloy and Foley – yo

6 by jonpelto / 58min

Important candidate question for tonight’s Hartford Courant and FOX CT gubernatorial debate

The Hartford Courant and FOX CT, along with the University of Connecticut, will be hosting a gubernatorial debate at 7 p.m. with Democratic Dannel “Dan’ Malloy and Republican Tom Foley. The debate will be televised on Fox61 and live-streamed at www.courant.com. In a disturbing statement about the health of our democracy, the debate press release […] The post Important candidate question for tonigh

6 by jonpelto / 1h

10-1-14 Wait What? - Forgive them, for they know not what they do – Not!

Wait What?: Forgive them, for they know not what they do – Not!Read my lips…No New Taxes! “Both Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his Republican challenger Tom Foley said they will not increase taxes… (CT NewsJunkie) When Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy took office he faced a $3.6 billion dollar deficit. As result of budget gimmicks, the use of one-time revenue and his failure to require the […] T

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

10-2-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet:

How much data is being ‘mined’ from our kids? More than you know.

If you think that people are constantly collecting data about your and your kids but you aren’t exactly sure, here’s some information that can help you figure it out. Below is an infographic from Marketplace.org showing just how data-mined our kids are every day. The graphic accompanies a story titled, “A day in the life […]

2 by Valerie Strauss / 9min 

‘Schools of Opportunity’ — a new project to recognize schools that give all students a chance to succeed

  We all know about the many efforts to rate and/or rank schools by student standardized test scores and other data points — but without any of the out-of-school factors that play an enormous role in how well young people fare academically. Now two veteran educators are spearheading a new pilot initiative to identify and […]

6 by Valerie Strauss / 4h 

10-1-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: How teachers sometimes fool themselvesHere is a post about what goes on in classrooms and how teachers sometimes fool themselves into thinking that they are allowing students to direct their own learning when, in fact, they aren’t. This was written by Alfie Kohn (www.alfiekohn.org), who is the author of 13 books, including, most recently, “The Myth of the Spoiled […]21 by Valerie Str

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 10-2-14

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

REPORT RANKS CALIFORNIA CHARTER SCHOOLS 8th BEST IN U.S. - Bad news: low minority, poor, special ed, ELL participation + low math scores

by Craig Clough, LA School Report | Posted on http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ October 1, 2014 1:52 pm  ::  In it’s first ever state-by-state rankings, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked California’s charters No. 8 on its list of best in the nation. Using 11 measures, the study ranked 26 states that met the criteria for the study and judged their overall health based on how they are

2 by smf / 1h hide  //  save

25 LAUSD SCHOOLS HAVE BELOW-RECOMMENDED VACCINATION RATES: “some schools in LA have a vaccination rate on par with South Sudan”

by Craig Clough in LA School Report | http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ October 1, 2014 1:19 pm  ::  Celebrities are often the trendsetters around the country and LA, as health and spiritual movements like yoga, Kabbalah and diet fads get widespread media attention due to their famous adherents. But there is one celebrity-led health trend that has state and LA officials alarmed, and that is the plunging

3 by smf / 1h 

L.A. School Board Authorizes Talks On Departure Agreement With Deasy

L.A. school board authorizes its attorneys to discuss a possible departure agreement with Supt. John Deasy Vote to begin talks on Supt. John Deasy's possible departure wasn't disclosed publicly Action stops short of signaling the end of the John Deasy superintendency By Howard Blume, Stephen Ceasar | L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1vxhKRC John Deasy, the superintendent of the Los Angeles

2 by smf / 2h 

MESSAGE FROM MICHELLE KING, Senior Deputy Superintendent - School Operations

Los Angeles Unified School District October 1, 2014 Colleagues, I would like to address concerns raised recently in news reports about my communication to the LA School Board. My commitment to Superintendent John E. Deasy is resolute. I am 100 percent proud of the achievement, innovation and lives we have changed under his leadership. As discussions started to surface about a post-Deasy

4 by smf / 2h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 10-1-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: “WE HAVEN’T DECIDED ANTHING” …as names are floated for interim leader to replace L.A. Supt. John DeasySchool board starts weighing Supt. Deasy's evaluation 'We haven't decided anything,' school board president says of deliberations over Supt. Deasy's performance Names have been quietly floated for possible interim leaders to replace L.A. Supt. John Deas

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

10-2-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

About the radio show

Join Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar 

LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST 

on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. 

Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. 

You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursday at 7PM EST.

Visit the @ the Chalk Face radio main page for more information on the show and syndication.

Dana Goldstein’s The Teacher Wars Explains How Education Became So Embattled

Every generation must rewrite history from its own perspective. It has been a joy to look at the history of recurring education battles from the perspective of Dana Goldstein, and her The Teacher Wars, as well as Elizabeth Green’s Building a Better Teacher. I’ve have long blamed Reaganism and Supply Side Economics for much of […]

2 by John Thompson / 1h 

10-1-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

10-2-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: An Education Policy That Presumes Family Failure and Collapse

With A Brooklyn Accent:

An Education Policy That Presumes Family Failure and Collapse

As teachers and parents look, in amazement, at policies emanating from the US Department of Education that mandate the meticulous scripting of "student learning" beginning as early as age 3, and which require testing of "student outcomes" to evaluate their classroom performance, it is important to highlight the underlying logic behind such a program.It is not that proponents of

4 by Mark Naison / 2h 

10-1-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Why You Can't Reason With School Reformers- You Have to Bring the Machine to a Halt

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why You Can't Reason With School Reformers- You Have to Bring the Machine to a HaltYesterday, during some fierce twitter debates I was having with Charter School Advocates one of them replied " the majority of American teachers graduated in the bottom 1/3 of their college class." To them, this provided the justification for erasing teacher voices from education de

1 by mike simpson / 8h