Sunday, November 22, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/22/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED Pencils

Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED Pencils: Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Under an elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wisconsin public schools are now subject to:Act 10-Banning the human right of collective bargaining.An almost unlimited increase in the use of voucher money to fund private education.For profit

by mike simpson / 5min

Seattle Schools Community Forum: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group

Seattle Schools Community Forum: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf GroupI may have mentioned it but to clarify, this "new" group, Act for Washington Students, is an astro-turf, Gates-funded group made up of DFER, League of Education Voters and Stand for Children. You don't get more ed-form and Gates-guided than those

by mike simpson / 50min

Educators Challenge Pearson’s Corporate Take-Over | PopularResistance.Org

Educators Challenge Pearson’s Corporate Take-Over | PopularResistance.Org: Educators Challenge Pearson's Corporate Take-OverMinneapolis, MN - On Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21) as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota for their annual convention, the floor of Exhibit Hall erupted in protest. Dozens of teachers and education professors occupied the space

by mike simpson / 5h

How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational PolicyBeliefs, opinions, and politics matter more in making policy decisions than applying research findings to schools and classrooms. A recent Canadian study (1905-8719-1-PB ) confirmed what amo

by mike simpson / 7h

Implementation is part of the program | @ THE CHALKFACE

Implementation is part of the program | @ THE CHALKFACE: Implementation is part of the programIn an effort to increase test scores in math and reading in so-called “struggling” schools, numerous intervention programs are purchased on our behalf. So many programs are layered on top of each other that it becomes nearly impossible to carefully consider them all.Although relatively expensive, the chea

by mike simpson / 7h

Marie Corfield: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!

Marie Corfield: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!The first time I heard then NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf speak at the NJEA Convention he spoke about all the student data the state was collecting. He was giddy with excitement over it; frothing over how it will 'transform' education... Into what exactly? My first thoughts wer

by mike simpson / 7h

BustED Pencils Trending News: Less; Squashed; Ass Backwards | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Less; Squashed; Ass Backwards | BustED Pencils: BustED Pencils Trending News: Less; Squashed; Ass Backwards“Less school, (way) more play”5 Reasons Finland Has More Effective Schools Than The U.S.https://www.facebook.com/HuffingtonPost/videos/10153486502541130/?fref=nfFreedom and creativity in the classroom squashed by drilling and excessive state Standards testing.Bur

by mike simpson / 7h

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Raking in Consultant Money

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Raking in Consultant Money: OH: Raking in Consultant MoneyEducation reform has spawned a variety of new money-making opportunities, including a burgeoning field of education consultants.That's because one of the new steady drumbeats is that superintendents, principals, and most especially teachers-- in short, all the people who have devoted their professional lives to education

by mike simpson / 8h

Sunday posts, pics and tweets. | Fred Klonsky

Sunday posts, pics and tweets. | Fred Klonsky: Sunday posts, pics and tweets.Illinois School Board President James Meeks attempts to disrupt a press conference of parent groups, educators and public officials, protesting the expansion of charter school funding in Illinois. Meeks secretly applied for a federal grant for start-up money for 48 charter schools which would then be maintained by local f

by mike simpson / 9h

Chaz's School Daze: Why The NYU Study On The Closed Schools, When Replaced By Small Schools, Is Fatally Flawed.

Chaz's School Daze: Why The NYU Study On The Closed Schools, When Replaced By Small Schools, Is Fatally Flawed.: Why The NYU Study On The Closed Schools, When Replaced By Small Schools, Is Fatally Flawed.This week, NYU released a study showing that students fared better with the closing of the many large comprehensive high schools and replaced by the Bloomberg small schools. The basis for the stud

by mike simpson / 9h

Education Reformers and their obsession with Standardized Testing - Even the NY Times can’t get the story right! - Wait What?

Education Reformers and their obsession with Standardized Testing - Even the NY Times can’t get the story right! - Wait What?: Education Reformers and their obsession with Standardized Testing – Even the NY Times can’t get the story right!Fellow education blogger Diane Ravitch, the nation’s premier public education advocate, opened the New York Times this morning and noted that even the New York T

by mike simpson / 9h

A Not-Review of More Than A Score [Edu-Activated] | The Jose Vilson

A Not-Review of More Than A Score [Edu-Activated] | The Jose Vilson: A Not-Review of More Than A Score [Edu-Activated]In the spring of 2014, a few books dedicated to the “Education Spring” revolt came out from various publishers, one of which was mine, and the other was More Than A Score, a collection of stories edited by Jesse Hagopian from numerous dissidents from across the nation. [Full disclo

by mike simpson / 9h

Ask #SpeakerRyan and #SenatorAlexander About ‘Guardrails’ in #ESEA » Missouri Education Watchdog

Ask #SpeakerRyan and #SenatorAlexander About ‘Guardrails’ in #ESEA » Missouri Education Watchdog: Ask #SpeakerRyan and #SenatorAlexander About ‘Guardrails’ in #ESEAIf it quacks like a duck it’s still a duck. Federal involvement is still present in the rewrite from the Conference Committee and should be opposed by those concerned about Common Core State Standards. Carrots and sticks still rule th

by mike simpson / 9h

The Progressive Magazine: A School Crisis | Cloaking Inequity

The Progressive Magazine: A School Crisis | Cloaking Inequity: The Progressive Magazine: A School CrisisPoliticians in Puerto Rico are seeking to solve decades of fiscal mismanagement by adopting the same education reforms that are hurting children and starving school districts in the mainland United States. The disaster capitalism coming to the azure waters of Puerto Rico is very similar to the s

by mike simpson / 9h

Patty Murray’s ESEA Re-Write Leaves No Assessment Behind | Seattle Education

Patty Murray’s ESEA Re-Write Leaves No Assessment Behind | Seattle Education: Patty Murray’s ESEA Re-Write Leaves No Assessment BehindBeing somewhat naive, I had hoped No Child Left Behind (NCLB) would die quietly, without notice.Regrettably, a few somebodies were paying attention. After all, way too much money was on the line to let this colossal failure slip gently into the night. So, like so ma

by mike simpson / 9h

With A Brooklyn Accent: "Something's Happening Here"- Understanding Divisions Among Whites About "Race" At Fordham and Elsewhere

With A Brooklyn Accent: "Something's Happening Here"- Understanding Divisions Among Whites About "Race" At Fordham and Elsewhere: "Something's Happening Here"- Understanding Divisions Among Whites About "Race" At Fordham and ElsewhereOne of the most gratifying things about the response to the latest racial incident at Fordham- which featured students shoutin

by mike simpson / 9h

It's Way Past Time for America to Face These Ugly Truths | Marian Wright Edelman

It's Way Past Time for America to Face These Ugly Truths | Marian Wright Edelman: It's Way Past Time for America to Face These Ugly TruthsOn November 14, Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia announced the university will rename two buildings on campus named for two 19th century Georgetown University presidents: Thomas F. Mulledy, who in 1838 arranged the sale of 272 slaves from Jesuit o

by mike simpson / 9h

The Good Schools in Los Angeles Are Mostly in Totally Unaffordable Neighborhoods - Schooled - Curbed LA

The Good Schools in Los Angeles Are Mostly in Totally Unaffordable Neighborhoods - Schooled - Curbed LA: The Good Schools in Los Angeles Are Mostly in Totally Unaffordable NeighborhoodsFinding a house that's affordable in Los Angeles is already a daunting task for most people, but those with kids have a whole other layer of concern: getting those kids into a good school. Real estate site RealtyTra

by mike simpson / 9h

Students in poverty less likely to pass standardized tests than others, results show | TuscaloosaNews.com

Students in poverty less likely to pass standardized tests than others, results show | TuscaloosaNews.com: Students in poverty less likely to pass standardized tests than others, results showIn the 2013-14 school year, only 5.48 percent of Tuscaloosa City Schools 10th-graders in poverty passed the math section of the ACT test.This past year's test results, the percentage of 10th-graders living in

by mike simpson / 10h

Massachusetts’s Rejection of Common Core Test Signals Shift in U.S. - The New York Times

Massachusetts’s Rejection of Common Core Test Signals Shift in U.S. - The New York Times: Massachusetts’s Rejection of Common Core Test Signals Shift in U.S.The president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Barbara Madeloni, standing left, who has spoken out against high-stakes tests, at a campaign house party this month. She is seeking re-election.Credit Christopher Capozziello for The New

by mike simpson / 10h

YESTERDAY

Louisiana’s New Governor: Hello, John Bel; Goodbye Bobby. | deutsch29

Louisiana’s New Governor: Hello, John Bel; Goodbye Bobby. | deutsch29: Louisiana’s New Governor: Hello, John Bel; Goodbye Bobby.Recently-unknown Democrat John Bel Edwards is officially Governor-Elect of Louisiana.He beat nationally-known Republican David Vitter 56 percent to 44 percent.Vitter even lost his home of Jefferson Parish to Edwards, with 51 percent of Jefferson voting for Edwards.Years a

by mike simpson / 18h

PLEASE take a moment to review the facts about the U.S. Syrian refugee issue - Wait What?

PLEASE take a moment to review the facts about the U.S. Syrian refugee issue - Wait What?: PLEASE take a moment to review the facts about the U.S. Syrian refugee issueA Personal note: I appreciate that readers can hold very different opinions and I strive to respect the views of all my readers, including those who strongly disagree with me, even when they are delivered via a harsh email.That said,

by mike simpson / 22h

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Yes, Next Legislative Session is about McCleary (and apparently, about charter schools)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Yes, Next Legislative Session is about McCleary (and apparently, about charter schools): Yes, Next Legislative Session is about McCleary (and apparently, about charter schools)Great op-ed by Senator Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island in the Seattle Times talking about our broken state education system. At first, I was worried. I thought it would be another edit

by mike simpson / 23h

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/21/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMHouse-Senate Conference Committee Approves Framework to Improve K-12 EducationPress Releases | Press | Chairman's Newsroom | Chairman | The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: House-Senate Conference Committee Approves Framework to Improve K-12 EducationWASHINGTON, D.C. | November 19, 2015 - Today, the House-Senate conference committee reached agree

by mike simpson / 1d

Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED Pencils

Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED Pencils:

Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Under an elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wisconsin public schools are now subject to:

Act 10-Banning the human right of collective bargaining.
An almost unlimited increase in the use of voucher money to fund private education.
For profit Charter School expansion.
Accelerated Accountability to fuel the “failing Public schools” narrative.
Using student test scores to evaluate teachers (This practice has been dismissed as “junk science”).
Legalized public school take overs.
The ability to dismiss the authority of locally elected school boards in “failing” districts.
Excessive cuts to public school spending.

Anything I missed?

This is why I’m so confused over Wisconsin republicans’ desire to either eliminate the Dumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED Pencils:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group

Seattle Schools Community Forum: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group:

FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group

I may have mentioned it but to clarify, this "new" group, Act for Washington Students, is an astro-turf, Gates-funded group made up of DFER, League of Education Voters and Stand for Children. You don't get more ed-form and Gates-guided than those three.

From their Facebook page,

Act Now is a coalition of parents, students and educators who are asking the Washington State Legislature to keep our schools open.

I always have to be suspicious of any Facebook group whose "About" section is limited and vague. This particular one is also not honest because those three groups are the organizers and yet there is no mention of them. There is no website or any other information if you Google their name.

I perceive that the outcry across the state for charters is not as great as they Seattle Schools Community Forum: FYI - Act Now for Washington Students? Astroturf Group:

Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better)

Other Astroturf lobbying groups

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better)

Educators Challenge Pearson’s Corporate Take-Over | PopularResistance.Org

Educators Challenge Pearson’s Corporate Take-Over | PopularResistance.Org:

Educators Challenge Pearson's Corporate Take-Over

Minneapolis, MN - On Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21) as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota for their annual convention, the floor of Exhibit Hall erupted in protest. Dozens of teachers and education professors occupied the space for over 30 mins to protest British-based publishing giant Pearson’s influence on public education in America.

Protest for kids over profit at #ncte15 https://t.co/v5UlQ2YOjE
— Ida Olson (@IdaOlson) November 21, 2015

The protest came out of the Commission on Social Justice in Teacher Education Programs within NCTE’s Conference on English Education. Assistant Professor Dr. Noah Golden of Chapman University in California is one of the Commission’s three co-chairs.

“Companies like Pearson drive educational policy and implementation throughout the K-12 and teacher education worlds,” he said when asked to comment on the protest. “This is often harmful, inserting a profit motive instead of what is in the best interest of students, families, communities, and teachers. We need a public dialogue and greater equity in education rather than high-stakes tests inserted into public policy by for-profit entities. A focus on these tests, whether in the K-12 realm or teacher education, is a means of masking inequalities and disinvestment in particular communities. Simply put, Pearson and similar companies drive our focus from the conversations we need to be having about meaningful teaching, learning, and assessment. We on the Conference on English Education (CEE– an organization within NCTE) Commission on Social Justice in Teacher Education programs want to be part of an organization that names and works against policy that is not in the interest of our children and their teachers.”

Tweets from the protest captured the essence of what the educators were protesting.

#NCTE15 protest against Pearson & corporatization of public school: read & see! https://t.co/xt6bZ2mL5l #literacies #engchat Plse RT
— Karen LaBonté (@klbz) November 21, 2015

Lovely protest in the exhibition area against Pearson, corporatization of ed. Students not profit! #ncte15
— Karen LaBonté (@klbz) November 21, 2015

Educators Challenge Pearson’s Corporate Take-Over | PopularResistance.Org:

How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy

Beliefs, opinions, and politics matter more in making policy decisions than applying research findings to schools and classrooms. A recent Canadian study (1905-8719-1-PB ) confirmed what amounts to a fact in U.S. policymaking. Candadian researchers looked at provincial policy elites (in U.S., they would be state-level decision-makers) and district officials (school board members and superintendents) and found across Canada what is very evident in U.S. districts as well: politics and beliefs trump use of research in adopting policies aimed at improving practice (see here and here).

As one would expect in academic circles, the language of applying research findings to educational policies has expanded. Canadian researchers Gerald Galway and Bruce Sheppard note that new phrases have entered the vocabulary: “knowledge transfer, evidence-informed policy, data-driven decision-making and knowledge brokering, to name a few. Knowledge mobilization (KM) has been touted as a useful all-encompassing term because it conveys the notion of direction instead of random interaction and it ’embodies the idea that the use of knowledge is a social process, not just an intellectual task’ ” (p. 9). Whatever phrase is used in Canada or the U.S., the pattern of applying research findings to forming, adopting, and implementing policies remains similar on both sides of the border.

Galway and Sheppard studied “senior bureaucrats” in provincial ministries and How Small a Part Research Plays in Making and Implementing Educational Policy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Implementation is part of the program | @ THE CHALKFACE

Implementation is part of the program | @ THE CHALKFACE:

Implementation is part of the program

In an effort to increase test scores in math and reading in so-called “struggling” schools, numerous intervention programs are purchased on our behalf. So many programs are layered on top of each other that it becomes nearly impossible to carefully consider them all.

Although relatively expensive, the cheapest and most efficient interventions tend to be school licenses for personalized learning software. Use of these programs make leadership think they’re actually doing something. Additionally, usage and performance data, accessible from any computer, can give central office personal an easy way to track schools, and something on which to hold them accountable when they fail.

When my students’ usage for a particular software program is not up to snuff, I hear about it. Then, if my students do not meet certain benchmarks, it can be easily attributed to the low number of minutes using the software. If only I could use the program with “fidelity,” we’d be much better off.

Companies don’t understand, however, that implementation is also part of their program. Don’t always blame the teacher for infidelity. Maybe it’s also that the program sucks. Seriously. If my usage is low, what I’m typically told to do is use it more. Why can’t you use it more, what’s the problem? But my feelings about the program are not considered. Just use it more, all right?

My Kindergarten students don’t enjoy using personalized learning software, and I don’t enjoy having them Implementation is part of the program | @ THE CHALKFACE:

Marie Corfield: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!

Marie Corfield: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!:

Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!

The first time I heard then NJDOE Commissioner Chris Cerf speak at the NJEA Convention he spoke about all the student data the state was collecting. He was giddy with excitement over it; frothing over how it will 'transform' education... Into what exactly? My first thoughts were that Big Brother had indeed landed.

So, where is all this fabulousness and wonderfulness that Cerf and other 'reformers' literally drool over? Because the only 'transformations' I've seen are the vast numbers of students refusing to take the PARCC and SBAC, massive public school closings, the expansion of segregationist charter schools, and the beaucoup bucks 'reformers', for-profit education services companies and 'non-profit' charter operators are raking in as a result.

But this is how America operates. We're a capitalist society. Money—not people—runs this country. And those with a lot of it and who want more of it have finally managed to crack the code of the last hold out against corporate takeover: public education. And they've got their sites (sic) set on our kids.

Right now it's being used to evaluate students, teachers and schools. It's also an ad hominem judgment on communities of low income and color. But who knows what the future will bring and how this data will be used? It's one thing for the government to have Marie Corfield: Hey NJ! #EdReform Big Brother is watching your kids!: