Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/11/15 #FightForDyett

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

California legislation would prohibit for-profit charter schools like those run by K-12 Inc. - Sacramento Business Journal

California legislation would prohibit for-profit charter schools like those run by K-12 Inc. - Sacramento Business Journal: Brown to consider axing for-profit charter schoolsCalifornia would abolish all for-profit charter schools under legislation now pending before the governor.The bill would only affect a handful of schools in California, according to an aide to Assemblyman Roger Hernández, the

by mike simpson / 1h 

Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education

Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education: Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strikeFrom the Teacher Tom website:Where The Real Blame BelongsOn Wednesday, I made a bicycle “solidarity tour” of the picket lines of striking Seattle teachers in front of an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. At ea

by mike simpson / 2h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT

CURMUDGUCATION: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTTAt the Stanford SOCIAL INNOVATION Review (I don't know why the yell the middle of their name), Joanne Weiss has unleashed an astonishing stack of deep-fried baloney that attempts to retro-actively legitimize the destructive power-and-money test-and-punish legacy of Race to the Top."Comp

by mike simpson / 2h 

Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda - The Washington Post

Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda - The Washington Post: Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agendaMost Likely to Succeed Trailer from One Potato Productions on Vimeo.If you have paid attention to education reform at all in recent years, you know what Bill Gates, Eli Broad, various Waltons and ot

by mike simpson / 2h 

Saving the art of teaching from the science of education | The Lens

Saving the art of teaching from the science of education | The Lens: Saving the art of teaching from the science of education“Carpe diem,” the character played by Robin Williams whispers to his impressionable young students in “Dead Poets Society.”“Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” Later, he jumps up on a desk and implores them to see the world from a different vantage. And they

by mike simpson / 2h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: SPS Updates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: SPS Updates: SPS UpdatesBoth President Carr's community meeting and the Board Retreat (scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12th) have been cancelled.  What a surprise.  Don't know when Carr will be available again; the Retreat is rescheduled for Sept. 26th.There is another district press conference with updates on the strike at 3 pm.  I may not be able to make it but aga

by mike simpson / 3h 

After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming | Nonprofit Quarterly

After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming | Nonprofit Quarterly: After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently UnderwhelmingAmerica has a love-hate relationship with Teach for America. What began as the dream of one idealistic undergraduate in the late 80s is now, some 26 years later, an internationally recognized behemoth in the education reform movemen

by mike simpson / 3h 

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs: PA: Sub Privatizing BombsPhiladelphia schools joined the ranks of school districts that figured they could save a buck by sub-contracting their substitute teaching work to a private company. Then, Philadelphia schools joined the ranks of school districts that found out they'd made a mistake.Philly gave the contractor a $34 million contract, and then-- wel

by mike simpson / 3h 

Civility. | Fred Klonsky

Civility. | Fred Klonsky: Civility.Hunger strikers Cesar Chavez (left) with Jesse Jackson and Jitu Brown (right).Hunger strikers Cesar Chavez (left) with Jesse Jackson and Jitu Brown (right).While a lot in this world makes me angry I try not to yell and scream. I try and remain civil.This was not always true. Back when I was teaching and representing teachers I would get pretty mad and I was known

by mike simpson / 3h 

A busy second day of the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education

A busy second day of the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education: A busy second day of the Seattle teachers’ strikeTeachers, parents and students were out on the picket line on day 2 of the Seattle Teachers Association (SEA) teachers’ strikeOne parent told me that yesterday morning when she was with the teachers at her daughter’s elementary school, three parents came by in the course of three

by mike simpson / 3h 

The misuse of research to support deregulation and privatization of teacher education - The Washington Post

The misuse of research to support deregulation and privatization of teacher education - The Washington Post: The misuse of research to support deregulation and privatization of teacher educationFor years now we’ve been hearing from school reformers that traditional teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities are awful and that what we need is deregulation and market competition. In t

by mike simpson / 9h 

The New History Wars Part 3: The College Board is the Real Problem - Living in Dialogue

The New History Wars Part 3: The College Board is the Real Problem - Living in Dialogue: The New History Wars Part 3: The College Board is the Real Problem By Paul Horton.The Advanced Placement United States History course recently revised by the College Board has recently undergone a second major revision in response to critics from the right who argue that the first revision did not emphasize sp

by mike simpson / 9h 

Shock Waves Reverberate From Wash. State Charter Ruling - Education Week

Shock Waves Reverberate From Wash. State Charter Ruling - Education Week: Shock Waves Reverberate From Wash. State Charter RulingThe Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month holding the state’s charter school law unconstitutional has sent shock waves through Washington’s educational establishment, handed charter critics a high-profile victory, and left the schools’ supporters scr

by mike simpson / 10h 

Ed Notes Online: Why Seattle Teacher Strike Matters - MORE and Port Jefferson Station Express Support

Ed Notes Online: Why Seattle Teacher Strike Matters - MORE and Port Jefferson Station Express Support: Why Seattle Teacher Strike Matters - MORE and Port Jefferson Station Express SupportThere's no little irony that social justice oriented teacher unions are leading the way in militancy and a willingness to strike while UFT/Unity type unions are passive. That's why I love it when so-called action

by mike simpson / 10h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Study: Area Union Membership Can Predict Children’s Advancement

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Study: Area Union Membership Can Predict Children’s Advancement: Study: Area Union Membership Can Predict Children’s AdvancementN.Y. TimesLow-income children rise higher in the income rankings when they grow up in areas with high-union membership.As unions in this country continue to come under assault, a new study coming out of Harvard, Wellesley (of all places) and

by mike simpson / 10h 

Why borrowing from the ‘best’ school systems sounds good — but isn’t - The Washington Post

Why borrowing from the ‘best’ school systems sounds good — but isn’t - The Washington Post: Why borrowing from the ‘best’ school systems sounds good — but isn’tFor years now policymakers have looked at school systems in countries where students excel on international standardized tests, and have attempted to “borrow” what they believe are the practices that result in test-score success. Borrowing

by mike simpson / 10h 

Proceed with caution when comparing California tests scores with other states | EdSource

Proceed with caution when comparing California tests scores with other states | EdSource: Proceed with caution when comparing California tests scores with other statesCREDIT: BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTStudents in California took the Smarter Balanced field test in 2014.Comparing California scores on tests aligned with the Common Core standards to those in other states isn’t a straightforward

by mike simpson / 10h 

Mark Weber: Gov. Christie Missing in Inaction for 2015-2016 School Year - NJ Spotlight

Opinion: Gov. Christie Missing in Inaction for 2015-2016 School Year - NJ Spotlight: OPINION: GOV. CHRISTIE MISSING IN INACTION FOR 2015-2016 SCHOOL YEARGovernor’s pursuit of GOP nomination leaves little time for his home state, and has pushed his political agenda more and more to the rightMark WeberIt’s time to start another school year in New Jersey! Let’s take roll and see who’s here:Students?

by mike simpson / 10h 

Striking teachers say pay gap makes Seattle tough to afford

Striking teachers say pay gap makes Seattle tough to afford: Striking teachers say pay gap makes Seattle tough to affordStriking Seattle School District teachers and other educators wave to motorists as they walk a picket line, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in front of Franklin High School in Seattle. The strike was called when Seattle Public SEATTLE (AP) — Teachers in Seattle say they have walked off

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Enrollment up at rescued Pittsburgh Woolslair school | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Enrollment up at rescued Pittsburgh Woolslair school | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Enrollment up at rescued Pittsburgh Woolslair schoolRandi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, read to second-grade students at Pittsburgh Woolstair PreK-5 in Bloomfield.The second-grade classroom at Pittsburgh Woolslair PreK-5 was filled Thursday with children eager to hear American Federation

by mike simpson / 18h 

Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier is stepping down. | abc13.com

Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier is stepping down. | abc13.com: HISD SUPERINTENDENT TERRY GRIER STEPPING DOWNHOUSTON (KTRK) --Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier is stepping down, effective March 1."You can't be superintendent in Houston forever, even though you might want to. You just simply can't," Grier said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. "Quite frankly it's j

by mike simpson / 19h 

Pedro Noguera Leaves To LA and We're The Remainder | The Jose Vilson

Pedro Noguera Leaves To LA and We're The Remainder | The Jose Vilson: Pedro Noguera Leaves To LA and We’re The RemainderThe first time I got to meet Pedro was November 24, 2009 at around 9am. My principal took a colleague and I to one of the bigger policy conferences I’ve ever been to. By then, I gained a notorious voice for speaking up within connected education circles, but I didn’t see myself m

by mike simpson / 21h hide  //  save

#FightForDyett Michael Elliot Interview with Jitu Brown – The Network For Public Education

Michael Elliot Interview with Jitu Brown – The Network For Public Education: Michael Elliot Interview with Jitu Brown Please take three minutes to watch this short video made by filmmaker Michael Elliot. Elliot interviewed NPE Board Member and #FightForDyett hunger striker Jitu Brown at the NPE Conference in Chicago. Brown spoke about the disruption and chaos Chicago Public Schools unleashed on tw

by mike simpson / 21h 

California’s Smarter Balanced Results Capture Poverty | deutsch29

California’s Smarter Balanced Results Capture Poverty | deutsch29: California’s Smarter Balanced Results Capture PovertyOn September 09, 2015, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson released California’s Smarter Balanced results, which comprise the largest component of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASPP).As San Jose University professo

by mike simpson / 22h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/10/15 #FightForDyett

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMThanks, Congress, for ESEA changes – but listen to parents! | Parents Across AmericaThanks, Congress, for ESEA changes – but listen to parents! | Parents Across America: Thanks, Congress, for ESEA changes – but listen to parents! PAA just sent the following via fax to every member of Congress:Parents call for an ESEA with less focus on testing and charter school

by mike simpson / 1d 

California legislation would prohibit for-profit charter schools like those run by K-12 Inc. - Sacramento Business Journal

California legislation would prohibit for-profit charter schools like those run by K-12 Inc. - Sacramento Business Journal:

Brown to consider axing for-profit charter schools

California would abolish all for-profit charter schools under legislation now pending before the governor.

The bill would only affect a handful of schools in California, according to an aide to Assemblyman Roger Hernández, the bill's author. The aide said the majority of those charter schools belong to K-12 Inc., an online homeschool headquartered in Virginia. K-12 Inc reported revenue of $948 million in the last fiscal year, and an operating income of $18.4 million.



“Charter schools are funded with public dollars and deserve to be held to the same standards as traditional schools,” said Hernández, a West Covina Democrat. "We do not put profits before students."

Assembly Bill 787 is sponsored by the California Teachers Association and two other school employee unions. Trade groups for charter schools have called for its veto.

K-12 Inc. provides course materials and educational programs to California Virtual Academies, a network of 11 online schools across the state. Jeff Kwitowski, a spokesman for K-12 Inc., characterized the company as a vendor to California Virtual Academies, which he said operates as a nonprofit.

It's unknown what affect the bill would have on the organization, if any, he said.

"This legislation is vague and it's unclear what is trying to be accomplished here," said Kwitowski. He promoted California Virtual Academies as a strong alternative for children with special needs or those who have been bullied.

"If the attempt of the bill is to displace thousands of children from charter schools — that's bad policy," he said.

The California Association of Charter Schools said it applauded the idea of eliminating for-profit charter schools, but it pulled back its support of the legislation this year after initially agreeing to support it.

The association is worried that the bill could hurt a charter school's ability to enter into a contract with any private company, said Myrna Castrejón, the association’s acting CEO.

It is normal practice for charters to contract out food services, special education services or other ancillary needs, Castrejón said. She fears the legislation could spark lawsuits between charters and their authorizing school districts.

“Clearly this would put us at a tremendous disadvantage,” she said.



The Hernández aide said the bill would not affect contracting out. The Assemblyman's office had received such assurances from lawyers for the California Teachers Association and other bill sponsors.

California is home to over 1,200 charter schools, said Castrejón from the charter school association. She said she believes California Virtual Academies was the bill’s primary target. On its website, California Virtual Academies advertises itself as a “tuition-free” public K-12 school accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges.California legislation would prohibit for-profit charter schools like those run by K-12 Inc. - Sacramento Business Journal:

Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education

Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education:

Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike

From the Teacher Tom website:

Where The Real Blame Belongs

On Wednesday, I made a bicycle “solidarity tour” of the picket lines of striking Seattle teachers in front of an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. At each stop, I found teachers I know as well as former students who were out with their parents in support of the strike. No one wants this strike. The teachers sure don’t, the parents sure don’t, the district sure doesn’t, and the children definitely don’t: every one of them with whom I have spoken is eager for school to start.

From where I sit, there seems to be widespread support for this strike, although I’ve learned to avoid the comments sections of the articles I read. Whatever is going on in my world, there are still some very vocal knee-jerk teacher haters out there. I don’t know if there are lot of them because, when polled, Americans tend to think highly of public school teachers, at least compared to members of other professions, but the haters are loud, mean, and dismally uninformed. Of course, much of the bile is directed at the idea of a union more than the teachers themselves, which shouldn’t be surprising given the relentless campaign against working Americans that has been waged by economic elites for the past three decades, an effort that has even succeeded in convincing many working people to oppose unions. (Yes, economic elites have always been engaged in class warfare against the rest of us, but it has really ramped up since the 1970’s, culminating in the election of Ronald Reagan whose first order to business was to bust the air traffic Teacher Tom on who is ultimately to blame for the Seattle teachers’ strike | Seattle Education:

CURMUDGUCATION: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT

CURMUDGUCATION: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT:

Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT

At the Stanford SOCIAL INNOVATION Review (I don't know why the yell the middle of their name), Joanne Weiss has unleashed an astonishing stack of deep-fried baloney that attempts to retro-actively legitimize the destructive power-and-money test-and-punish legacy of Race to the Top."Competing Principles" is truly audacious.

Joanne Who??

Weiss has a powerful pedigree. She put in years as an ed tech honcho before going to work for NewSchools Venture Fund, an investment firm for hedge fundies to get their paws in the education biz and that sweet, sweet mountain of public tax dollars. In conjunction with that gig, she served on the boards of Aspire, Green Dot, Rocketship and Leadership charter outfits, to name just a few.

All of this made her perfectly positioned to become Arne Duncan's Chief of Staff and the lead dog for Race to the Top. Are you starting to understand why that program was such a mess?

But when Weiss looks at RttT, she does not see mess, and in this article, she paints with rosy hues the many fine lessons to be learned from the administration's signature education program.

She opens with a brief fantasy-filled recap of RttT's impact (43 states now have super-magical tests that can measure critical thinking), and then moves on to the Eight Big Design Lessons of Race to the Trough.

Create a Real Competition

The administration was not sure that the initiative would be "compelling." But golly gee, 46 states ponied up to give it a try. Weiss believes that the secret was "our decision to leverage the spirit of competition." How, one may ask, does one harness this mysterious and mystical force?

First, they set a very high bar, allowed for very few winners, and offered very big rewards. She forgets to mention another important step-- launch your competition when states have just been CURMUDGUCATION: Competitive Baloney & Rehabilitating RTTT:

Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda - The Washington Post

Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda - The Washington Post:

Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda

Most Likely to Succeed Trailer from One Potato Productions on Vimeo.

If you have paid attention to education reform at all in recent years, you know what Bill Gates, Eli Broad, various Waltons and other very wealthy philanthropists have done with their education grants: support charter schools, and/or Teach For America, and/or standardized test-based teacher evaluations, and/or school voucher programs, and/or other elements of corporate school reform. But now meet Ted Dintersmith, a different kind of education philanthropist with a different school reform agenda.

Ted Dintersmith (Used with permission)

Dintersmith is a highly successful venture capitalist and father of two who is devoting most of his time, energy and millions of his personal fortune to education-related initiatives that call for a radical remaking of what and how students learn. Instead of classrooms in which kids passively take in facts and figures, he said the U.S. education system should be re-imagined into cross-disciplinary programs that allow kids the freedom to develop core competencies through cross-disciplinary, project-based learning.

He discussed his vision in a book he co-authored, titled, “Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Age,” and he funded and produced a compelling documentary called “Most Likely to Succeed,” which goes into a California school, High Tech High in San Diego, where the project-based educational future he wants to see is already here. You could call it the antithesis of “Waiting for Superman,” the Davis Guggenheim-directeddocumentary which presented an often misleading account of public education and how to improve it. In fact, Dintersmith said, “Waiting for Superman” inspired him to do something very different.

The documentary has already been met with enthusiasm at numerous film festivals and audiences around the country (you can see a schedule of screenings here), and some educators, including Pam Moran, the superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia, are paying attention. At Albemarle High School, for example, Moran has started an interdisciplinary project-based program based on what she saw in the the film. Last month, at the private Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Va., faculty and administrators from private as well as public schools came to a screening of the film and a discussion about education reform.

Dintersmith, who was also executive producer of “The Hunting Ground” film about sexual assault on college campuses, is partner emeritus with Charles River Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. He earned a PhD in engineering from Stanford University, and in 2012, was appointed by President Obama as an alternate representative of the United States to the Sixty-seventh Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, where Dintersmith focused on global education and  entrepreneurship. 

He is now on a 50-state tour with “Most Likely to Succeed” to encourage Not Bill Gates: Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda - The Washington Post:

Saving the art of teaching from the science of education | The Lens

Saving the art of teaching from the science of education | The Lens:

Saving the art of teaching from the science of education

“Carpe diem,” the character played by Robin Williams whispers to his impressionable young students in “Dead Poets Society.”

“Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” Later, he jumps up on a desk and implores them to see the world from a different vantage. And they do.

My high school years were spent at a place not all that different from the imaginary realm in which Mr. Keating, the Robin Williams character, held forth.

Mr. Poirot, my Latin teacher, football and wrestling coach and college counselor was one of them. He was an expert on early Christian manuscripts, a Volvo enthusiast, and a Bob Dylan devotee. His enthusiasm for teaching and learning was contagious and his success with both was enviable. He was a rock star.

Then there was Rev (short for Reverend), a pipe smoking, cape-wearing, fire-and-brimstone preacher. He would lead druid services, recite Kierkegaard, and, for dramatic affect, take the Lord’s name in vain. Doc, who wrote our Latin textbook, and Mr. Burgess, a charismatic historian and avid birder, were among teachers who inspired me to join their profession.

And, it must be confessed, I have been known to jump up on tables and desks, play obscure songs and design ridiculous projects in my own bid to make students’ lives extraordinary. I once took my seventh-graders to a sausage factory in Opelousas. I had hoped to teach them about business practices. Instead, I converted many of them to vegetarianism.

My goal was to get them fired up about learning. Whatever it took, I was willing to try. Every class was an opportunity to “carpe diem!”

Killing the sage

As the founding leader of a local public school, I once had a group of teachers evaluate Keating’s classroom technique. True to our profession, they sat silently watching clips and frantically jotting down notes. Using a state-mandated rubric developed by Pearson Publishing Corp., a goliath in the field of standardized testing, they analyzed and critiqued Keating’s every move and every word.

So, how did my fictitious mentor fare? Not so well. He was deemed “effective: emerging” by most and “ineffective” by some. “He lectured too much,” they griped. “He didn’t start with standards-aligned assessments,” others complained. “He handed out papers Saving the art of teaching from the science of education | The Lens:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: SPS Updates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: SPS Updates:

SPS Updates

Both President Carr's community meeting and the Board Retreat (scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12th) have been cancelled.  What a surprise.  Don't know when Carr will be available again; the Retreat is rescheduled for Sept. 26th.

There is another district press conference with updates on the strike at 3 pm.  I may not be able to make it but again, will track -via Twitter- any new information.

Listened to both the KUOW Week in Review and their noon show as both talked about the strike (and charter schools, remember them?). 

First, I actually like the people at Washington Policy Center as people but man, there is NOTHING they won't say to promote ed reform.  Paul Guppy was on the Week in Review and he had some whoppers:

- He said the strike was the "nuclear option." 

- He says that Aviation High and the Tri-Cities Delta High may be improperly funded with state funds because they aren't overseen by an elected board (as charters are not).  I may be wrong but I thought both those had oversight by Superintendent Dorn; I'll ask his office.

- He echoed something a charter parent had tweeted to me which was that parents don't care how the money gets into the schools.  Well, I can only say that taxpayers do and frankly, I think that is the lens that the Supreme Court should be looking thru.

- He said there are charters in 41 other states and "no controversy" with them.  He said that as the 300th charter school failed in Florida and Ohio and Arizona are overrun with poorly-run charters. Unfortunately it was radio so I could not see if he made that statement with a straight face.

- Eric Barnett made the point that charters are limited and not every can access Seattle Schools Community Forum: SPS Updates:

After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming | Nonprofit Quarterly

After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming | Nonprofit Quarterly:

After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming

America has a love-hate relationship with Teach for America. What began as the dream of one idealistic undergraduate in the late 80s is now, some 26 years later, an internationally recognized behemoth in the education reform movement, with more than $200 million (yes, you read that correctly) in investments as of last year.

A recent book, edited by T. Jameson Brewer and Kathleen deMarrais, titled Teach for America Counter-Narratives is the latest to put the organization under scrutiny. In anarticle this week in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Washington Post columnist Esther J. Cepeda writes about the “explosive and jaw-dropping” stories written by 20 of TFA’s alumni, which she says “eviscerate the myth of TFA’s unmitigated success.” Her takeaway is that the book should be a cautionary tale to those studying the education reform movement. The stories reveal the smoke and mirrors (“money and great marketing,” in her words) that TFA uses to recruit the best and brightest while convincing their donors and other partners that they are moving the needle on outcomes.

According to its most recent tax return, TFA has total assets of close to half a billion dollars and revenues of more than $330 million, of which about 90 percent comes from government grants and contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. An organization of this size and stature has an obligation to its constituents to demonstrate its success, and TFA has accumulated years of research findings about its programming, expansion and scale-up efforts. Marty Levine and Ruth McCambridge asked on this site several weeks ago whether Teach for America’s results justify its pillar status.

In 2013, Mathematica Policy Research concluded a federally-funded controlled study of TFA. Comparing TFA secondary math teachers across eight states with a control group of math teachers in the same schools, the study found that, on average, students in TFA classrooms gained the equivalent of an additional 2.6 months of school, as evidenced by end-of-year math assessments. However, two years later, a subsequent Mathematica evaluation was unable to replicate those results.

While the later study concluded that TFA teachers in early primary grades produced roughly 1.3 months of extra reading gains, that good news was overshadowed by the more troubling evidence that an overwhelming majority of TFA staff (87 percent) reported that they did not plan to spend the rest of their career as a classroom teacher or, for that matter, in any education-related career.

TFA takes great pride in how well it prepares its corps members for the classroom (in a smidgen of the time it takes a teacher to train through traditional avenues). Studies published on its website find that TFA corps members are “as effective” as other teachers in the same schools and that they promote achievement in measures “equal or sometimes greater.” Two state-wide studies in North Carolina and Tennessee demonstrating TFA’s relatively higher effectiveness in teaching STEM content corroborate these findings, although the Tennessee Higher Education Commission report doesn’t go much further than stating that TFA teachers “tend to be” more effective than other beginning teachers.

As NPR correspondents Eric Westervelt and Anya Kamenetz point out, this can be read as either evidence of TFA’s superior pedagogy or an “indictment” of traditional teacher preparation programs. But it should also be noted that some question the reliability of After 25 Years, Teach for America Results are Consistently Underwhelming | Nonprofit Quarterly:

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs:

PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs

Philadelphia schools joined the ranks of school districts that figured they could save a buck by sub-contracting their substitute teaching work to a private company. Then, Philadelphia schools joined the ranks of school districts that found out they'd made a mistake.

Philly gave the contractor a $34 million contract, and then-- well, back before school started, they had barely 10% of the bodies they needed. I didn't run the story at the time because it was before the start of school, and sub rosters always grow once people decide they really aren't getting a job this fall. But now the school year is started, and Philly still has a measly 300 subs on the roster. The company says it has maybe 500 in the pipeline. The school district says once the year gets going, the demand is in the neighborhood of 1,000 per day.

The district hired the company after only being able to get a "fill rate" of about 66%. The company is not even close to that-- and if they don't hit 90% by January, it will start costing them money. They are mystified. Reporter Kristen A Graham quotes one of the honchos

"We've hired a good number of district originals, and many of them are just not accepting jobs," Murphy said. "Frankly, we're a little unsure why."

Source4Teachers is the outfit, and they already handle about 200 districts. Operating out of Cherry Hill, NJ, their chirpy website includes some darkly ironic rotating headlines.

We need tomorrow's teachers today. 

We need them today because we didn't find out about the absence till today. The company has complained that they don't get enough lead time on what needs to be filled, though they've certainly got plenty of lead time on the 99 unfilled teaching jobs, or the maternity leaves, or the long-term illnesses. If all other Philly teachers could plan their illnesses ahead of time, that would be very helpful.

They also need tomorrow's teachers because if they get more people who aren't actually teachers today, it will help fill the ranks with people who don't mind that this outsourcing has pushed sub CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Sub Privatizing Bombs:

Civility. | Fred Klonsky

Civility. | Fred Klonsky:

Civility.

Hunger strikers Cesar Chavez (left) with Jesse Jackson and Jitu Brown (right).

Hunger strikers Cesar Chavez (left) with Jesse Jackson and Jitu Brown (right).

While a lot in this world makes me angry I try not to yell and scream. I try and remain civil.

This was not always true. Back when I was teaching and representing teachers I would get pretty mad and I was known to lose it once in a while.

Sometimes this was more of a tactic than real. Sometimes it was real.

Dear Mrs. Douglass would get so worried about me. I would walk past her room after a meeting with administration and the color in my face was slowly moving from red to pink. “Be careful,” she would say. “We don’t want you getting another heart attack.”

She knew I already had one.

Age and retirement have calmed me down. I am better for it.

Last year’s buzz word was “grit.” It didn’t matter if there were adequate resources for poor kids and kids of color. All you needed was grit to succeed.

What nonsense.

This year we are all about “civility.”

I’m for civil conversations even among those with who we disagree. Of course, why would you worry about having a civil conversation with Civility. | Fred Klonsky: