Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/23/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica | Cloaking Inequity

Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica | Cloaking Inequity: Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmericaI received this open letter to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) from a Teach For America alum. She was assigned to teach special education in California for 2014. Teach For America has about 80 new TFA teachers in LAUSD. They recently re

by mike simpson / 0min 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Closing Opportunity Gaps

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Closing Opportunity Gaps: Closing Opportunity GapsI want to be sure that everyone has seen this. It's important.CLOSING OPPORTUNITY GAPS An Action Plan for Accelerating Achievementfor African American Malesand Other Students of ColorIn this document, the District commits to some very specific benchmarks:Every student will achieve proficiency in Reading and Mathemat

by mike simpson / 2h 

To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. | deutsch29

To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. | deutsch29: To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. Former NYC Chancellor and White’s Mentor, Joel Klein, and John White. Created by a supporter of traditional public education in response to a Tweet by Klein that it is “imperative that he (White) continue the work [in Louisiana].On November 23, 3015, former

by mike simpson / 2h 

NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today

NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony todayTestimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education CommitteeOn the Renewal SchoolsNovember 23, 2015Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.  My name is Leonie Haimson; I run Class Size Matters, a citywide advocacy group devoted to providing in

by mike simpson / 2h 

Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation - The Washington Post

Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation - The Washington Post: Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparationYou can say this about Bill and Melinda Gates: They are persistent. They poured a few billion dollars into various school reform efforts in the past 15 years — but when things didn’t go quite as planned,

by mike simpson / 3h 

Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA DealTesting opt-outs became one of the most high-profile topics in education over the past year. So does the pending agreement to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act require states to use test partici

by mike simpson / 4h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues

CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout ContinuesMan, just thirty little words can cause sooooo much fuss.Most charter schools – I don’t want to say every one – but most charter schools, they don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them.These have been quoted over and over and over again. Sometimes they are quoted b

by mike simpson / 4h 

How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on) | Crazy Crawfish

How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on) | Crazy Crawfish: How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on)I have been writing for years about the numerous ways John White has been lying about the “progress” his agenda has brought the state of Louisiana.  White has inflated the graduate rate,

by mike simpson / 4h 

John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana: John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading systemDemocrat John Bel Edwards and Republican David Vitter have radically different ideas on how to improve Louisiana’s publi

by mike simpson / 5h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? BostonOr rather, the Boston Globe.  I had many people send me links to this story that appeared in the Globe on Saturday, Nov. 21st.  It's part of their "Divided Nation" series and I hope to read more of the articles ( they cover a number of topics, not

by mike simpson / 5h 

Commentary: For LAUSD, maybe it's not the time to hire an outsider - LA School Report

Commentary: For LAUSD, maybe it's not the time to hire an outsider - LA School Report:Commentary: For LAUSD, maybe it’s not the time to hire an outsiderIt’s getting down to crunch time: Thanksgiving . . . Christmas . . . Last day on the job for LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines.By next week, names for his replacement will begin to flow with a list of candidates that could include such well-

by mike simpson / 6h 

3 Local Foundation Heads Try to Intervene in Broad Foundation LAUSD Plan | Nonprofit Quarterly

3 Local Foundation Heads Try to Intervene in Broad Foundation LAUSD Plan | Nonprofit Quarterly: 3 Local Foundation Heads Try to Intervene in Broad Foundation LAUSD PlanIn philanthropy, it is rare to see foundations protest each other’s work, but in Los Angeles, three foundations are speaking out about what they see as the potential undercutting of parent participation by the Broad Foundation in it

by mike simpson / 6h 

Why federal spending on disadvantaged students (Title I) doesn’t work | Brookings Institution

Why federal spending on disadvantaged students (Title I) doesn’t work | Brookings Institution: Why federal spending on disadvantaged students (Title I) doesn’t workExecutive SummaryThe Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is being reauthorized. Its largest program, Title I, provides funding to states and districts to improve education for disadvantaged students. However, its funding per s

by mike simpson / 6h 

States disagree on whether to release glitchy Common Core test results - CSMonitor.com

States disagree on whether to release glitchy Common Core test results - CSMonitor.com: States disagree on whether to release glitchy Common Core test resultsAfter a Common Core testing system overload last year forced many students to end the exams early, states are now deliberating the validity of the scores for those who were able to complete the test.The first results of new Common Core-aligne

by mike simpson / 7h 

Physical Fitness Test Results News Release - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)

Physical Fitness Test Results News Release - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Physical Fitness Test Results Show Students Mostly Holding Steady SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced that the percentage of students who met the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) performance standards in all six areas declined slightly but m

by mike simpson / 7h 

5 things to know about the financial cost of testing | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

5 things to know about the financial cost of testing | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: 5 things to know about the financial cost of testingThe Notebook is examining standardized testing this month. The topic is the focus of our upcoming edition due out this week.1. Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf has requested a total of $58.3 million for testing in the current budget.The Pennsylvania Department of Ed

by mike simpson / 7h 

Teacher to governor: This is what I take personally - The Washington Post

Teacher to governor: This is what I take personally - The Washington Post: Teacher to governor: This is what I take personallyIndiana Gov. Mike Pence recently created a mini-firestorm in his state when he was talking to teachers at an elementary school about the newly designed standardized tests called ISTEP. Noting that policymakers had expected the scores to go down because the tests were new an

by mike simpson / 7h 

Charter growth is ‘like the Wild West.’ | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

SD County sees rise in non-local charters, lawsuits | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com: Out-of-town charters spur lawsuitsCharter growth is ‘like the Wild West.’They pop up in strip malls and churches offering an alternative to the traditional classroom experience.For many students, these small charter schools — some are satellite branches of sorts — provide a new chance at an education with flexibility a

by mike simpson / 7h 

California student suspension rate drops as ‘willful defiance’ punishments decline | EdSource

California student suspension rate drops as ‘willful defiance’ punishments decline | EdSource: California student suspension rate drops as ‘willful defiance’ punishments declineSchool suspension rates have fallen in California for students of every ethnicity in the last three years, a sign that a shift in discipline practices in many school districts is starting to have an effect, according to a s

by mike simpson / 7h 

Newark’s Baraka to launch “community schools” in South Ward–with Cerf’s blessing | Bob Braun's Ledger

Newark’s Baraka to launch “community schools” in South Ward–with Cerf’s blessing | Bob Braun's Ledger: Newark’s Baraka to launch “community schools” in South Ward–with Cerf’s blessingBaraka meets with Christie. shortly after the mayor’s election.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Christopher Cerf, the state-appointed superintendent of the city schools,  are soon expected to launch a “community schools in

by mike simpson / 7h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: Which Way Will Campus Protests Go?

With A Brooklyn Accent: Which Way Will Campus Protests Go?: Which Way Will Campus Protests Go?One of my great fears with the current wave of campus protests is that Universities will respond to student protests by trying to reshape student and faculty attitudes rather than having universities change who they recruit and admit and hire. Right now, what institutions seem to be doing, in part because

by mike simpson / 7h 

La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards Wants a New State Superintendent. | deutsch29

La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards Wants a New State Superintendent. | deutsch29: La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards Wants a New State Superintendent.One of Governor-Elect John Bel Edwards’ desires is to rid Louisiana of education superintendent John White.Even though Governor Bobby Jindal promoted and endorsed White as state superintendent, technically it is the Board of Elementary and Secondary Educat

by mike simpson / 7h 

Late-Stage Draft of ESEA Reauthorization Bill | Truth in American Education

Late-Stage Draft of ESEA Reauthorization Bill | Truth in American Education: Late-Stage Draft of ESEA Reauthorization BillEducation Week shared what they thought to be a late-stage draft of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization that confirms much of what has already been leaked.  We do not know if this is final version approved by the conferees on Thursday, but it’s lik

by mike simpson / 7h 

Educational Redlining: How Zillow’s School Ratings Help Segregate Communities | janresseger

Educational Redlining: How Zillow’s School Ratings Help Segregate Communities | janresseger: Educational Redlining: How Zillow’s School Ratings Help Segregate CommunitiesHeights Community Congress has just released Educational Redlining: How Zillow and GreatSchools Profit from Suspect School Ratings and Harm Communities,  a report on the practice by Zillow, the real estate website, and GreatSchool

by mike simpson / 8h 

Schools Matter: Guest post: What could be wrong with a "community school" model?

Schools Matter: Guest post: What could be wrong with a "community school" model?: Guest post: What could be wrong with a "community school" model?Allison McDowell is a Philadelphia public school parent and a member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools. This article is an expansion of her testimony to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on November 19, 2015. Whi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Charter expansion. Where is the IEA? | Fred Klonsky

Charter expansion. Where is the IEA? | Fred Klonsky: Charter expansion. Where is the IEA?Look closely at the picture above of those attending the press conference Friday at the Thompson Center in Chicago. They were there to oppose the actions of the Illinois Board of Eduction in seeking and receiving a $43 million federal grant to open 48 more charter schools, half downstate and half in Chicago. T

by mike simpson / 8h 

Troubled Students and Inclusion: Effect on Students WITHOUT Disabilities

Troubled Students and Inclusion: Effect on Students WITHOUT Disabilities: Troubled Students and Inclusion: Effect on Students WITHOUT DisabilitiesContrary to Arne Duncan, and the latest DOE report claiming IEPs should be written the same for everyone, troubled students–students with behavioral/emotional disabilities–should have the right to services to address their problems. If their difficulties

by mike simpson / 8h 

Two things NYC can do immediately to remedy the terrible and pernicious isolation of black and Latino children - The Hechinger Report

Two things NYC can do immediately to remedy the terrible and pernicious isolation of black and Latino children - The Hechinger Report: Two things NYC can do immediately to remedy the terrible and pernicious isolation of black and Latino childrenRecently, the New York City Department of Education’s Education Panel (a structure more accustomed to advising than governing) voted to omit a footnote in

by mike simpson / 9h 

A mother’s battle exposed inequities and injustices. a question of tax cuts or education - The Boston Globe

A mother’s battle exposed inequities and injustices. A state is held in contempt of court. But corporations save their tax breaks and promised education dollars aren’t flowing. - The Boston Globe: In Northwest, a question of tax cuts or educationA small group of demonstrators stood on the steps of the Temple of Justice and in view of the Legislative Building as they advocated for more state spendi

by mike simpson / 9h 

Accountability and the ESEA Reauthorization Deal: Your Cheat Sheet - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Accountability and the ESEA Reauthorization Deal: Your Cheat Sheet - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Accountability and the ESEA Reauthorization Deal: Your Cheat SheetThe newest proposed version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act—is almost over the congressional finish line, with votes in both chambers of Congress imminent.So how would accountabilit

by mike simpson / 9h 

Sen. Murray: Revised No Child Left Behind law ‘great step forward’ | The Seattle Times

Sen. Murray: Revised No Child Left Behind law ‘great step forward’ | The Seattle Times: Sen. Murray: Revised No Child Left Behind law ‘great step forward’One day after House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement about a revised No Child Left Behind law, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray spoke about the law and its effect on Washington schools.Congressional negotiators reached an agreement earlier this

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Guest Post: Rep Gerry Pollet Meets with Charter School Parents and Students

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Guest Post: Rep Gerry Pollet Meets with Charter School Parents and Students: Guest Post: Rep Gerry Pollet Meets with Charter School Parents and StudentsBy Representative Gerry Pollet, 46th District:Thursday offered a “learning moment” for students in charter schools, parents and legislators.Blue-shirted charter school students and parents came to the state capital

by mike simpson / 21h 

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

CORPORATE ED REFORMDumb and Dumber: Killing the Superintendent of Public Instruction. | BustED PencilsDumb 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 ba

by mike simpson / 1d 

Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica | Cloaking Inequity

Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica | Cloaking Inequity:

Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica

I received this open letter to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) from a Teach For America alum. She was assigned to teach special education in California for 2014. Teach For America has about 80 new TFA teachers in LAUSD. They recently received mid-year LAUSD board approval for a 31% increase in the size of their corps specifically to “teach” special education. TFA spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on their marketing and recruitment. They have also expertly placed their alums (who are everywhere but the classroom) in positions of power to convince you that sending untrained teachers to teach our most vulnerable students is an acceptable— even brilliant idea. However, do you really want to know how unprepared Teach America’s teachers are? Read and watch the testimonials from Sonya and Rebecca about teaching special education as #TeachForAmerica corps members…

Dear LAUSD Board,

As you move forward with your plan to hire more Teach For America special Education corps members, I would like to urge you to think very critically about the effects of putting these teachers in classrooms.

As a ’14 Special Education corps member, I am well aware of the ineffective training that TFA and LMU provides, and how that deeply affects our students in the classroom. I am ashamed of my naivety in thinking that five weeks would be enough time to even remotely prepare me for my position as a special educator.  

I understand the need for teachers, especially special educators and know that this is a nationwide crisis that needs to be addressed, but Teach For America is not the answer. They are a Band-Aid fix that is quick to fall off, leaving our young people even more vulnerable and underserved. Teach For America places unprepared, untrained, and overwhelmed teachers into special education classrooms and the only thing it causes is more harm and a larger education gap.

The education we received during summer institute around actually working with and providing services for diverse learners was sub-par at best. We didn’t even see an IEP until the last week of institute, let alone receive instruction on how to write these legal documents. In a district where special education students are already underserved, what does it look like to send someone with four to five weeks of teacher “training” into the classroom? How can we truly believe that we are providing adequate support for our special education students?

On my first day in the classroom I was provided with copies of all 30 (above the legal limit) of my students’ IEPs and was expected to coordinate with their general education teaches how we would work together to provide them with all of the services they had a legal right to as per their IEPs. How was I to work on reading comprehension goals with students when I hadn’t learned proper intervention Truth For America: New alum testimonials about @TeachForAmerica | Cloaking Inequity:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Closing Opportunity Gaps

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Closing Opportunity Gaps:

Closing Opportunity Gaps

I want to be sure that everyone has seen this. It's important.

CLOSING OPPORTUNITY GAPS 
An Action Plan for Accelerating Achievement
for African American Males
and Other Students of Color

In this document, the District commits to some very specific benchmarks:

1. Every student will achieve proficiency in Reading and Mathematics by end of Grade 2.
2. Every student will have a personal learning plan and an advocate/mentor to keep him on track to high school graduation and successful post-secondary transition.
3. Every student will meet standards of performance in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Science at the end of key transition grades.
4. Every student will receive fair and equitable treatment regarding discipline and access to rigorous instructional programs.
5. Every student will graduate from high school prepared for success in college or career.

Whenever I see commitments of this kind from the School District, I always want to ask "What if it doesn't go like that?"

What if there is a student who has not achieved proficiency in Reading and Mathematics by the end of Grade 2? What then? Will the student be assigned to summer school until proficiency is achieved? Will the student be made to repeat the grade? What? The Action Plan doesn't say. Wasn't 100% passage of state proficiency tests derided as a ridiculous goal when it was part of No Child Left Behind? Why is it not ridiculous in this Action Plan?

This Plan says that EVERY student will have an advocate/mentor. Every Seattle Schools Community Forum: Closing Opportunity Gaps:

To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. | deutsch29

To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. | deutsch29:

To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP.

 

Former NYC Chancellor and White’s Mentor, Joel Klein, and John White. Created by a supporter of traditional public education in response to a Tweet by Klein that it is “imperative that he (White) continue the work [in Louisiana].

On November 23, 3015, former Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) data manager/analyst and fellow blogger, Jason France (AKA Crazy Crawfish), published a post entitled, “How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on).”

France’s post is worth a full read in its own right. However, in this post, I present excerpts, along with some commentary.

France opens his post with a listing of many of John White’s known deceptions and mismanagement. France includes the following:

• inflated graduate rate
• inflated matriculation rate
• depressed dropout counts
• flipped LEAP and EOC scores to show false improvement in the place of actual decline
• sheltered RSD and charter schools in general from investigation
• dissolved the state-level special ed department and forced LDOE employees to commit fraud on a routine basis by reporting that federal SPED money is being appropriately spent
• illegally shared student data with third-party vendors
• selectively shared data with researchers that support his agenda while withholding such data from independent researchers for years
• cost the state thousands in litigation fees from select data sharing and systematic refusal to honor public records requests

There are more issues that I could add, including White’s now-infamous “muddying To La. Gov.-Elect John Bel Edwards: John White Needs to Go ASAP. | deutsch29:

NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today

NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today:

Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today

Testimony of Leonie Haimson before the NYC Council Education Committee

On the Renewal Schools

November 23, 2015

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.  My name is Leonie Haimson; I run Class Size Matters, a citywide advocacy group devoted to providing information on the benefits of smaller classes to NYC parents and concerned citizens nationwide.

Since last year, the Department of Education has repeatedly claimed in their Contract for Excellence presentations that they would focus their state-mandated efforts to reduce class size on the 94 Renewal Schools.  This claim was made in December 2014, in their response to public comments to last year’s (2014-2015) Contract for Excellence plan,  and in two presentations, in the spring of 2015 and this fall, for this year’s (2015-2016) C4E plan, posted online and provided at borough hearings and Community Education Council meetings.

 “To better align with the Chancellor’s priorities, C4E’s class size reduction plan will now focus on the 94 schools in the School Renewal Program. For more information and for a list of Renewal Schools please visit: http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/schools/RenewalSchool. [1]

A link is provided to the School Renewal page where no mention of class size can be found.[2] 

This fall I received complaints from parents and CEC members about the increase in class sizes at their schools, including PS 111, a Renewal school in District 30 Queens where Kindergarten class sizes increased to 27 and first grade class sizes to 31.  Though the CEC co-chair communicated with the Aimee Horowitz about this, the Executive Superintendent of the Renewal Schools, Ms. Horowitz refused to express any view or to take any action to lower them. [3] On October 19, the UFT also reported that there were hundreds of classes in Renewal schools that violated the union contractual limit of 34 students per class in high schools, and 30 in Title I middle schools. [4]

This fall, Class Size Matters and parents have repeatedly asked DOE officials at CEC meetings and by email for the list of Renewal Schools in which class size has been lowered, what funds are being used to accomplish this goal, and what oversight DOE is exercising to see that this goal is accomplished.[5]

On November 12, I attended an hour long briefing at City Hall by Ms. Horowitz about the various programs the DOE was implementing in the Renewal schools.  She made no mention of class size.  When I asked her specifically which Renewal schools had reduced class size, and what funding and strategies were employed to accomplish this, she said that all 94 Renewal schools were expected to have “proper” class sizes through the use of their additional Fair Student Funding. [6] When I followed up with an email asking what the definition of “proper” class sizes was, I received no response.

After the DOE released their annual class size reports on November 15, we analyzed the average class sizes at the 94 Renewal schools this year compared to last year. We found that 36 out of 94 schools (about 38 percent) did NOT reduce average class size this year.[7]  The highest rates of non-compliance were in Queens, where 50 percent of Renewal schools failed to reduce class size, and in the Bronx, where 40 percent of schools failed to reduce class size.We further found that 56 schools (about 60 percent) had at least some classes at 30 or more, and only seven schools  (about 7 percent) capped class sizes at the C4E goals of 20 students per class in grades K-3, 23 per class in grades 4-8, and 25 in core high school classes.[8] 

In June 2003, in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, the state’s highest court wrote that “[T]ens of thousands of students are placed in NYC Public School Parents: Class size at the Renewal schools: my testimony today:

Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation - The Washington Post

Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation - The Washington Post:

Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation

You can say this about Bill and Melinda Gates: They are persistent. They poured a few billion dollars into various school reform efforts in the past 15 years — but when things didn’t go quite as planned, they didn’t give up. They always came up with something else to try. That’s just what the are doing now (again).

In the early 2000s, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation put hundreds of millions of dollars into the creation of small schools on the theory that breaking up large high schools with high dropout rates would help increase the graduation rate. When things didn’t go as well as they wanted, they switched their education philanthropy focus to teacher quality by spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help some school districts develop teacher assessment systems that, among other things, incorporated the controversial method of using student standardized tests as one of the measures. That effort did not produce the hoped-for results. Hundreds of millions of more Gates dollars went into the creation, implementation and marketing of the Common Core State Standards. Now, the foundation has found a new focus in regard to teacher quality: how to train teachers.

[That surprising thing Bill Gates said]

Toward that effort, the foundation just announced that it is awarding nearly $35 million over three years to five new centers — called Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers — that it says “will bring together higher education institutions, teacher-preparation providers and K-12 school systems to share data, knowledge and best practices” and “develop, pilot and scale effective teacher-preparation practices to help ensure that more teacher-candidates graduate ready to improve student outcomes in K-12 public schools.” It is also spending tens of millions more on related efforts.

The five Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers are:

• Elevate Preparation, Impact Children (EPIC), led by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education;
• National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR);
• Teacher2, led by the Relay Graduate School of Education;
• TeachingWorks at the University of Michigan; and
• University-School Partnerships for the Renewal of Educator Preparation (U.S.PREP) National Center, based at Texas Tech University.

Each center will “test different approaches in unique contexts to better understand which practices are most effective,” the foundation says, with EPIC perhaps being the most extensive, given that it will involve all 71 “initial Gates Foundation put millions of dollars into new education focus: Teacher preparation - The Washington Post:

Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal

Testing opt-outs became one of the most high-profile topics in education over the past year. So does the pending agreement to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act require states to use test participation rates in accountability?

The short answer: Yes, but there is some seriously wide latitude here for states. And that could spell trouble down the road, experts say, should ESSA become law.

What's more, the opt-out langauge could create further legal and regulatory ambiguity in the proposal, in which other accountability requirements are already subject to dispute.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the name of the deal to reauthorize ESEA, would require schools to test 95 percent of all students and 95 percent of students in subgroups of students like English-language learners. That's the same as in the current version of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act. And the ESSA would require test participation to be a factor in states' accountability systems. 

But here's the catch: The ESSA language allows states to set the weight of test participation in their accountability systems, relative to other factors, including academic factors (like tests and graduation rates) and other factors that get more at students opportunity to learn and post-secondary readiness. It's not a stand-alone requirement.

And there doesn't appear to be oversight power for the U.S. Department of Education on this issue—discretion over that weight would lie "solely" in the hands of individual states. So under the current ESSA draft language, a state could in theory decide to make the 95-percent test-particiation requirement just 1 percent of its accountability system. Or .01 percent. You get the idea. 

If you're guessing that accountability "hawks" are grouchy about this language, you're right.

Their argument goes like this: The ESSA draft could encourage schools to prevent low-performing students from taking the state exams and actually improve their accountability rating.

That's because in states where test participation rates would count for little or next to nothing in their accountability systems, schools might lose a few points on the test-participation measurement. But they could reap the benefits elsewhere in their state's accountability system where their artifically-inflated test scores would help. In other words, you could encourage only the smart kids to take the test, get penalized a bit for that, but end up with stellar test scores.

And there is another issue: States could go in the other direction and place a relatively large weight Opt-Out Rates Could Significantly Distort State Accountability in ESEA Deal - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues

CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues:

Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues

Man, just thirty little words can cause sooooo much fuss.

Most charter schools – I don’t want to say every one – but most charter schools, they don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them.

These have been quoted over and over and over again. Sometimes they are quoted by folks who are excited that Clinton said something supportive of public schools. But they've also been quoted by charter supporters who are absolutely freaking out.

Reformsters Robert Pondiscio and Richard Whitmire also made attempts to raise some dudgeon high over Clinton's thirty-word assault, and while I think they're wrong, they at least showed a little rhetorical and intellectual rigor. Not so some of the other defenders of the charter cause.

The Washington Post editorial board scolded her by citing bogus data from a report written by theCenter for Education Reform, a group that exists strictly to push charter schools and crush teacher unions. That's high order journalistic sloppiness, like turning to the Tobacco Institute for your "facts" about smoking. The Wall Street Journal also rushed to the defense of the hedge fundies who profit from charter schools, citing more fact-free facts.

But nobody has leaned on the Panic Button with hands any heavier than Juan Williams today on The CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout Continues:

How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on) | Crazy Crawfish

How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on) | Crazy Crawfish:

How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on)

I have been writing for years about the numerous ways John White has been lying about the “progress” his agenda has brought the state of Louisiana.  White has inflated the graduate rate, inflated the matriculation rate, depressed the dropout counts, flipped the LEAP and End of Course test scores to show Louisiana students are doing better,  while they are actually doing much worse, sheltered RSD and charter schools from investigations, wiped out the Special Education department and forced his employees to commit fraud to keep their jobs on a routine basis and violated federal laws and policies in regards to funding allocations, shared data illegally with third party vendors and researchers that only favor his agenda while withholding data from independent researchers (for years) costing the state many thousands of dollars in litigation fees.  These are just a few of the underhanded and unethical practices John White has engaged in on a regular basis.  White even has one of his former lieutenants in place on the State’s board of Elementary and Secondary Education.  All of this bodes ill for John Bel if he is not able to remove John White promptly, and properly audit, recalculate and re-report the previous years’ fraudulently prepared education data.

John White has quietly amassed an enormous power base in Louisiana.  He has legislators, superintendents, super Pacs, LABI (Louisiana Association of Business and Industry run by a Grigsby figurehead), APEL  a pseudo teachers union run by a LABI/Grigsby promoted figurehead, The Times Picayune editorial board, The Advocate editorial board and management, Teach for America (who also has a BESE member, Kira Orange Jones that will support White unquestioningly), Stand for Children (run by a former White/LDOE staffer) ,CABL, BAEO (run by a former White/LDOE staffer), DFER (Democrats for Education Reform), and Lane Grigsby in his back pocket. That’s just to name of few of his instate supporter power players and organizations.

White also has the ability to draw down millions of dollars from out of state ed reform minded billionaires to wage war on John Bel Edwards on his behalf.  Billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, Eli Broad, Jim and Alice Walton, that spent How John White Will Use His Own Failures to Sink Governor Elect John Bel Edwards (If he stays on) | Crazy Crawfish:

John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system

Democrat John Bel Edwards and Republican David Vitter have radically different ideas on how to improve Louisiana’s public schools.

Edwards is a longtime ally of state teachers unions, which have bitterly opposed most of the sweeping school changes enacted since 2012.

Vitter, a U.S. senator from Metairie, generally favors the business model for overhauling schools, with lots of options just like those enacted three years ago.

Edwards is a critic of school vouchers, long denounced by traditional public school groups.

Vitter backs them, as does state Superintendent of Education John White and his allies on the other side of the pro-Edwards divide.

Vitter supports charter schools.

Edwards is a charter school critic, and he has tried unsuccessfully to restrict their growth.

Edwards opposed letter grades for public schools in 2010, and he says they present a false picture.

In a prepared statement, Vitter said Tuesday that the state’s grading system “provides transparency and accountability for the parents and schools” but should be expanded to include more than standardized test results.

In short, few issues feature a bigger split between the two contenders for governor in the Nov. 21 runoff.

“Night and day,” said Brigitte Nieland, who tracks public school issues for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

The split was downplayed during the primary, in part because Vitter and Edwards are both critics of the topic that gets most of the attention — Common Core.

But after that, the divide on public schools is long and wide.

Traditional public school groups, including the Louisiana Association of Educators and Louisiana Federation of Teachers, have teamed up with Edwards for years in the Legislature.

The Democrat helped lead the opposition to most of the school overhaul plan that Gov. Bobby Jindal got passed in 2012, including the expansion of vouchers statewide and tougher job reviews for teachers.

“He has been a consistent champion for public education,” LAE President Debbie Meaux said.

Meaux noted that, earlier this year, Edwards played a key role in landing a $36 million education hike on the final day of a budget-dominated session.

Steve Monaghan, president of the LFT, said Vitter in Congress has voted to cut federal education aid by billions of dollars, opposed a teacher loan forgiveness measure and blasted teachers who showed up at the State Capitol to testify on a school day in 2012.

“Never has there been a simpler decision for us,” Monaghan said of his group’s choice for governor.

On the other side, self-styled school reform groups view Edwards as mostly hostile to what they see as vital changes John Bel Edwards, David Vitter are ‘night and day’ on major education issues: vouchers, charter schools, grading system | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston:

Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston

Or rather, the Boston Globe.  I had many people send me links to this story that appeared in the Globe on Saturday, Nov. 21st.  It's part of their "Divided Nation" series and I hope to read more of the articles ( they cover a number of topics, not just public education.)

Here was a self-described progressive state with a Democratic governor and House, an electorate that last year voted to improve school funding, and many cash-flush corporations famished for qualified graduates. If a solution to gridlock couldn’t be found here, how could other states — or the other Washington, the nation’s capital — break out of their political stalemates? 
The stats?

But the avalanche of data showing the impact of the state’s failure to fully fund education could not be ignored. Washington has one of the nation’s worst pupil-to-teacher ratios. It ranks 46th in percentage of high school graduates who go directly to college. (Only 48.3 percent do so, compared with 73.2 percent in Massachusetts, which ranks third.) And Washington ranks 40thin funding per pupil, at $9,436. 

I offer that Washington State ranks about 8th from the bottom (tied with Florida at 76% with the high being Iowa the high at 90%) for high school graduation despite the slow but steady ticking upward of the overall national rate.

As well, Washington state tends to rank in the middle or higher on other Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Has the Best Coverage of McCleary Decision? Boston: