Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/17/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

LA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship | Diane Ravitch's blog

LA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship | Diane Ravitch's blog: LA Times Outdoes Its Broad WorshipThe Los Angeles Times has a love affair with the privatization of public schools; it is wild about the idea of outsourcing control of students and funding to private management. Just a few days ago, the LAUSD surprised everyone by voting 7-0 to reject billionaire Eli Broad’s plan to take control of half th

by mike simpson / 15min 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Ed Reformers (Sigh)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Ed Reformers (Sigh): More Ed Reformers (Sigh)But this time next year, we will have a new president and if it's not a Democrat, a Republican would probably flip the table on the Department of Education.  It would be hard to know how far-reaching a Republican president would go in revamping public education but you'd notice the change.  But Republicans love char

by mike simpson / 40min 

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts | deutsch29

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts | deutsch29: Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some ThoughtsThere has been a lot in the news lately regarding the Friedrichs case, which is now before the US Supreme Court. In this January 12, 2016, article inTruthdig, journalist Bill Blum offers the following background and observations:Argued before the

by mike simpson / 1h 

United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold – Save Maine Schools

United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold – Save Maine Schools: United Way to Parents: Give Us Your GoldIf you haven’t heard yet, data is the new gold, and next-gen ed reformers can’t wait to get their hands on as much of it as they can.Digital and online learning providers want this gold to “personalize” their computerized instruction; Wall Street wants it to prove that their social impact bonds a

by mike simpson / 2h 

How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers - The New York Times

How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers - The New York Times: How Measurement Fails Doctors and TeachersTWO of our most vital industries, health care and education, have become increasingly subjected to metrics and measurements. Of course, we need to hold professionals accountable. But the focus on numbers has gone too far. We’re hitting the targets, but missing the point.Through the 20th centu

by mike simpson / 2h 

BATs Legislative Team Weekly Update - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: BATs Legislative Team Weekly UpdateFEDERAL NEWSBATs testify at the USDOE on Title 1 of ESSA - Look here for their testimonyHere is the entire testimony provided to USDOE this past Monday.Jamy Brice Hyde 1:16:23Julie Borst 55:00Marla Kilfoyle 3:20:18Melissa Love Light Tomlinson 4:55:32CA BAT Sandy Goodwick is scheduled to speak in the California hearings on Tuesday, Jan

by mike simpson / 3h 

Detroit Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools

Detroit Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools: Detroit’s Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic SchoolsMushrooms, black mold, fecal matter, dead rodents, no heat. Detroit’s schools are just as toxic as Flint’s water.Detroit’s students are trying to learn while breathing in black mold and sitting in classrooms filled with buckets catching t

by mike simpson / 3h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Gentleness in the Classroom

CURMUDGUCATION: Gentleness in the Classroom: Gentleness in the ClassroomThere are three articles tabbed side-by-side on my browser this morning, and both deal in their own way with classroom management.The first is by Michael Linsin, a classroom management guru out of San Diego. He has apparently taught for twenty-five years at just about every level. His piece, which has been traveling around the

by mike simpson / 3h 

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’ - The Washington Post

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’ - The Washington Post: Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’In this July 3, 1964 photo, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson (l) shakes hands with civil rights leader Martin Luther KIng (c) after handing him a pen during the ceremonies for the signing of the civil rights bill at the White House. Martin Luther King

by mike simpson / 3h 

Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character - The Washington Post

Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character - The Washington Post: Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their characterIt has become a common refrain among school reformers that annual standardized testing equals civil rights. In the last few years, some civil rights groups have sided with those reformers  who see standardized tests as a singularly legi

by mike simpson / 3h 

Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States | PopularResistance.Org

Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States | PopularResistance.Org: Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In StatesAbove: Jessie Rothenberg, age 8, holds a sign while sitting on her father’s shoulders while protesting Gov. Cuomo’s education policies in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in March. Photo by STEPHANIE KEITH FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.Activists driving the resistance to state exams are

by mike simpson / 5h 

IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL? - Perdaily.com

IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL? - Perdaily.com: IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL?(Mensaje se repite en Español)LAUSD is a business that for generations has been more concerned with the well being of its exclusive "agreed vendors" of goods and services than it has been for the successful formation of its s

by mike simpson / 6h 

Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board - The Washington Post

Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board - The Washington Post: Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College BoardThe College Board’s new online system to deliver test scores has, to be charitable, not gone as well as planned, with delays and other complications with PSAT/NMSQT results angering counselors and students and raising questions about how well it will

by mike simpson / 6h 

Los Angeles Charter Teachers Say Their Administration Is Aggressively Trying To Bust Their Union - Working In These Times

Los Angeles Charter Teachers Say Their Administration Is Aggressively Trying To Bust Their Union - Working In These Times: Los Angeles Charter Teachers Say Their Administration Is Aggressively Trying To Bust Their UnionA formerly low-profile union organizing campaign by teachers at the largest charter school operation in Los Angeles is emerging into the public spotlight as the charter operator is

by mike simpson / 6h 

Marie Corfield: Study Commission Report Pt. 2: Big Brother and The Brainwashing of NJ

Marie Corfield: Study Commission Report Pt. 2: Big Brother and The Brainwashing of NJ: Study Commission Report Pt. 2: Big Brother and The Brainwashing of NJStanley Tucci in The Devil Wears PradaPart 1 of this as-yet-to-be-determined-part series on the final report of the Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments in New Jersey focused on the Commission's members, who the DOE should partner

by mike simpson / 7h 

Further Apart in Public Schools than Ever Before

Further Apart in Public Schools than Ever Before: Further Apart in Public Schools than Ever Before In honor of Martin Luther King, I would like to revisit a post I did about public schools and race relations after I first started blogging. A democratic public school system has great potential to bring children of all colors and from every background together. This would ultimately create a better

by mike simpson / 7h 

Local charter school king hit with felony | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

Former San Diego County superintendent charged with felony | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com: Local charter school king hit with felonyA former San Diego County superintendent who approved charter schools that later hired his consulting firm was arraigned Friday in San Diego Superior Court on one felony count of conflict of interest, according to the San Diego district attorney’s office.The allegation fa

by mike simpson / 7h 

High Stakes Testing Doesn’t Protect Civil Rights – It Violates Them | gadflyonthewallblog

High Stakes Testing Doesn’t Protect Civil Rights – It Violates Them | gadflyonthewallblog: High Stakes Testing Doesn’t Protect Civil Rights – It Violates Them“Daddy, I know who that is!”“Who is it?”“That’s Martin Luther King.”“That’s right, Baby! Who was he?”“We saw a movie about him today in school. He had a dream.”Thus began a fascinating conversation I had with my seven-year-old daughter a few

by mike simpson / 7h 

Rejecting False Claims about Education: A Primer for Journalists – the becoming radical

Rejecting False Claims about Education: A Primer for Journalists – the becoming radical: Rejecting False Claims about Education: A Primer for JournalistsOne thing (but not the only thing) I have learned about doing public work as an academic is that I am often positioned as the responder, and thus criticizing someone else’s claim. The result is that many are quick to refute my criticism as just th

by mike simpson / 8h 

EXPERIENCE MATTERS Guest Post: Bernie Keller | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

EXPERIENCE MATTERS Guest Post: Bernie Keller | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: EXPERIENCE MATTERS Guest Post: Bernie KellerIn June 2015, I had the opportunity to attend the Big Apple awards which recognizes teachers who have demonstrated excellence. In point of full disclosure, I was invited by one of the recipients of the award, Rick Ouimet. Having had the chance to teach with Mr. Ouimet at S

by mike simpson / 8h 

Poetic Justice writes “Be Careful Brethren” – A Message About Education from Martin Luther King Jr. - Wait What?

Poetic Justice writes “Be Careful Brethren” – A Message About Education from Martin Luther King Jr. - Wait What?: Poetic Justice writes “Be Careful Brethren” – A Message About Education from Martin Luther King Jr.Poetic Justice is the blog of a Connecticut educator, poet and fellow education advocate and blogger.  In honor of Martin Luther King’s birthday, she provides us with King’s words – “The

by mike simpson / 8h 

CURMUDGUCATION: AL: RAISE teachers? Raze teachers.

CURMUDGUCATION: AL: RAISE teachers? Raze teachers.: AL: RAISE teachers? Raze teachersWould you be willing to bet your entire teaching career that you will never have students who score low on the Big Standardized Test? Would you take the bet for a little bit more money?Alabama is hoping there are people who will take that bet, as their legislature rolls out theRewarding Advancement in Instruction

by mike simpson / 8h 

The article on the unions and opt out that they wouldn’t print. | Fred Klonsky

The article on the unions and opt out that they wouldn’t print. | Fred Klonsky: The article on the unions and opt out that they wouldn’t print.The balancing act between defending the Common Core State Standards and supporting their member’s concerns about the amount of standardized assessments and national testing has been a difficult trick for both the American Federation of Teachers and the larg

by mike simpson / 9h 

Russ on Reading: New Jersey Study Commission on Testing: Keep Weighing the Pig

Russ on Reading: New Jersey Study Commission on Testing: Keep Weighing the Pig: New Jersey Study Commission on Testing: Keep Weighing the Pigew Jersey's Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments issued its report this week after a year and a half of deliberations. The commission was ostensibly formed to look into over-testing in New Jersey schools, but anyone who follows New Jersey politi

by mike simpson / 9h 

Yearning to Breathe Free | Randi Weingarten

Yearning to Breathe Free | Randi Weingarten:Yearning to Breathe FreeI recently had the thrill of seeing the Broadway musical Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's brilliant mashup of history and hip-hop. Alexander Hamilton's story, of an impoverished youth immigrating to America and making his mark on his new country, is both remarkable and relatable. And it's a reminder that our country has always been,

by mike simpson / 9h 

Your guidance counselor may one day be a robot

Your guidance counselor may one day be a robot: Your guidance counselor may one day be a robotIf there’s one common enemy among students, it just might be the dreaded guidance counselor, who despite that title, often seem to provide less good advice than expected. My own, as it happens, used the wrong name in a college recommendation letter — and so maybe it’s a good thing that IBM and the Univers

by mike simpson / 10h 

3 Troubling Ways the Charter School Boom Is Like the Subprime Mortgage Crisis | Mother Jones

3 Troubling Ways the Charter School Boom Is Like the Subprime Mortgage Crisis | Mother Jones: 3 Troubling Ways the Charter School Boom Is Like the Subprime Mortgage Crisis"It's just a long-forming bubble," says the co-author of a new study.Acting US Secretary of Education John King has called charter schools "good laboratories for innovation." It's that kind of language that's

by mike simpson / 10h 

Charter-schools sponsors uneasy over Ohio’s new evaluations | The Columbus Dispatch

Charter-schools sponsors uneasy over Ohio’s new evaluations | The Columbus Dispatch:Charter-schools sponsors uneasy over Ohio’s new evaluationsSome charter-school advocates already are criticizing academic requirements and questioning how much Ohioans will learn from the results of new evaluations of charter sponsors coming this year.The sponsor evaluations were delayed last year after a top Depar

by mike simpson / 10h 

Obama Declares Emergency for Michigan City's Water

Obama Declares Emergency for Michigan City's Water: Obama Declares Emergency for Michigan City's WaterPresident Barack Obama declared a state of emergency Saturday for the northern state of Michigan, freeing up money for federal aid for the city of Flint. Residents have been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water for almost two years, and children are testing with high levels of lead in t

by mike simpson / 10h 

Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and Why States Are Fighting for Strong Public-Sector Unions - The Atlantic

Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and Why States Are Fighting for Strong Public-Sector Unions - The Atlantic:Why Some States Want Strong Public-Sector UnionsHaving a powerful partner on the other side of the bargaining table can make for happier workplaces and better public services.An estimated 15,000 teachers, parents, and other supporters encircle City Hall in New York during a mass

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/16/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMJersey Jazzman: Only You Can Prevent Charter CheerleadingJersey Jazzman: Only You Can Prevent Charter Cheerleading: Only You Can Prevent Charter CheerleadingWhen I want some shallow charter school cheerleading, I go straight to Campbell Brown's The 74 Million. With the possible exception of Education Post, you'll not find a more reliable source of credulous, unconditional charte

by mike simpson / 23h 

LA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship | Diane Ravitch's blog

LA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship | Diane Ravitch's blog:

LA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship

The Los Angeles Times has a love affair with the privatization of public schools; it is wild about the idea of outsourcing control of students and funding to private management. Just a few days ago, the LAUSD surprised everyone by voting 7-0 to reject billionaire Eli Broad’s plan to take control of half the students in the district by putting them in charters. It sounded a little fishy because even the board’s charter faction voted against Eli’s power grab.

Now we see the game is still on. Eli’s front-group called Great Schools Now is staffing up.

Today the Los Angeles Times published an editorial in support of the Broad plan that was breathtaking for its audacity. It echoed the charter lobby’s contention that any resistance to their drive for power was divisive. The editorial proposed that the district’s new superintendent should ask for a place at the charter lobby’s table so she could help shape their plans for a takeover. Say what?

What arrogance! What happened to the democratic process? Has Eli already purchased the district? Is Superintendent Michelle King his employee?

Here are some good comments by public school activists in LA.

Karen Wolfe warns King to stay away and reminds Eli that he is a citizen with one vote only. He should go to board meetings like everyone else with an idea.

She writes:

“In its ongoing effort to convince the city that a huge public entity should be handed over to a private group of titans, the LA Times now suggests inviting the public official to the table to give the effort some credibilityLA Times Outdoes Its Broad Worship | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Ed Reformers (Sigh)

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Ed Reformers (Sigh):

More Ed Reformers (Sigh)

But this time next year, we will have a new president and if it's not a Democrat, a Republican would probably flip the table on the Department of Education.  It would be hard to know how far-reaching a Republican president would go in revamping public education but you'd notice the change.  But Republicans love charters and vouchers and, naturally, the wealthy.

So in the Who's Who of billionaires who care and non-educators who think they know it all, let's add two more names.  

First up, Campbell Brown, fomer CNN anchor, who started an education group/site called The Seventy-Four (counting the 74 million U.S. children under 18.)  It is funded by "philanthropists" like Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Walton Foundation, and others of their ilk. From Huffington Post:

"We will fiercely challenge those forces within the education establishment who impede innovation in our schools and who protect and defend inequality and institutional failure,” she wrote. 

Obviously that would be as defined by her group as there is no person or group that would be defending inequality and institutional failure.

She clearly dislikes unions and, a couple of years back created the Parents' Transparency Project to examine how NYC handled teacher sexual Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Ed Reformers (Sigh):

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts | deutsch29

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts | deutsch29:

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts

There has been a lot in the news lately regarding the Friedrichs case, which is now before the US Supreme Court. In this January 12, 2016, article inTruthdig, journalist Bill Blum offers the following background and observations:

Argued before the justices Monday, Friedrichs concerns the right of unions to collect limited “fair-share” fees from nonmember employees in lieu of full formal dues to help defray the costs of collective bargaining.

By any yardstick, the case packs blockbuster potential, both legally and politically. A decision against the 325,000-member teachers association could harm every government employee union in the country, draining their coffers and conceivably sending some into bankruptcy. In the process, the nation’s entire public sector would become one uniform right-to-work jurisdiction. …

The plaintiffs in Friedrichs are the Christian Educators Association International and 10 anti-union California schoolteachers, including lead litigantRebecca Friedrichs, who has taught kindergarten through fourth grade for nearly three decades in Orange County. They object to paying fair-share fees to the CTA. All were once CTA members but have since resigned. …

Collectively, the plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), a nonprofit, ultra-right-wing law firm in Washington, D.C., that has made a name for itself in suits opposing affirmative action, the Voting Rights Act, Obamacare and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. …

Carvin and the CIR contend that collective bargaining in the public sector is inherently political and that, as a result, the fair-share system violates the First Amendment rights of nonunion workers. The amendment, they note, protects not only the affirmative right to speak without governmental interference, but also the passive right to not be compelled by government to 

Friedrichs Case (First Amendment Rights and Union Fees): Some Thoughts | deutsch29:

United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold – Save Maine Schools

United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold – Save Maine Schools:

United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold

If you haven’t heard yet, data is the new gold, and next-gen ed reformers can’t wait to get their hands on as much of it as they can.

Digital and online learning providers want this gold to “personalize” their computerized instruction; Wall Street wants it to prove that their social impact bonds are “working;” testing companies want it because people are paying them big money for it; and corporations want it so they can track and influence what kinds of products the public schools churn out for them.

Unfortunately for the miners, there are a few pesky barriers preventing them from having full access to your children’s personal information, including the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which prevents third parties from accessing student information without written consent from parents.

To get around this law, United Way of Salt Lake City, which has recently partnered with an organization called “StriveTogether” – a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks Foundation that has received United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold – Save Maine Schools:

How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers - The New York Times

How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers - The New York Times:

How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers

TWO of our most vital industries, health care and education, have become increasingly subjected to metrics and measurements. Of course, we need to hold professionals accountable. But the focus on numbers has gone too far. We’re hitting the targets, but missing the point.

Through the 20th century, we adopted a hands-off approach, assuming that the pros knew best. Most experts believed that the ideal “products” — healthy patients and well-educated kids — were too strongly influenced by uncontrollable variables (the sickness of the patient, the intellectual capacity of the student) and were too complex to be judged by the measures we use for other industries.

By the early 2000s, as evidence mounted that both fields were producing mediocre outcomes at unsustainable costs, the pressure for measurement became irresistible. In health care, we saw hundreds of thousands of deaths from medical errors, poor coordination of care and backbreaking costs. In education, it became clear that our schools were lagging behind those in other countries.

So in came the consultants and out came the yardsticks. In health care, we applied metrics to outcomes and processes. Did the doctor document that she gave the patient a flu shot? That she counseled the patient about smoking? In education, of course, the preoccupation became student test scores.

All of this began innocently enough. But the measurement fad has spun out of control. There are so many different hospital ratings that more than 1,600 medical centers can now lay claim to being included on a “top 100,” “honor roll,” grade “A” or “best” hospitals list. Burnout rates for doctors top 50 percent, far higher than other professions. A 2013 study found that the electronic health record was a dominant culprit. Another 2013 study found that emergency room doctors clicked a mouse 4,000 times during a 10-hour shift. The computer systems have become the dark force behind quality measures.

Education is experiencing its own version of measurement fatigue. Educators complain that the focus on student test performance comes at the expense of learning. Art, music and physical education have withered, because, really, why bother if they’re not on the test?

At first, the pushback from doctors and teachers was dismissed as whiningHow Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers - The New York Times: 

BATs Legislative Team Weekly Update - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

BATs Legislative Team Weekly Update

FEDERAL NEWS


BATs testify at the USDOE on Title 1 of ESSA - Look here for their testimony

Here is the entire testimony provided to USDOE this past Monday.

Jamy Brice Hyde 1:16:23
Julie Borst 55:00
Marla Kilfoyle 3:20:18
Melissa Love Light Tomlinson 4:55:32

CA BAT Sandy Goodwick is scheduled to speak in the California hearings on Tuesday, Jan. 19th and will be added to this post.  

http://edstream.ed.gov/webcast/Play/7592f68fb7404eedb2b89ea72032188c1d

STATE NEWS

IDAHO
Idaho legislators were treated to a presentation sponsored by Idaho Business for Education. The speakers were Tony Bennett and Eric Hanushek who are well known to BATs as promoters of school choice and VAM. Idaho BATs were encouraged to write to their legislators to ask that Idaho's superintendent of the year and Idaho's teacher of the year by invited to share their thoughts on education. Idaho Business for Education receives funding from the Albertson Foundation and is closely aligned with the Foundation for Excellence in Education.    http://excelined.org/news/excelined-commends-id-governor-otter-for-embracing-reform-to-improve-education-system/

IEA shares priorities with Senate Education Committee
http://idahoea.org/hotline/iea-shares-priorities-with-senate-education-committee/

NEW YORK
Cuomo misrepresents reality of public education in New York State
http://www.nysut.org/news/2015/january/in-state-of-the-state-address-cuomo-misrepresents-reality-of-public-education-in-new-york-state

MASSACHUSETTS
High-stakes testing

"As it welcomed four new members Thursday [01/14/15] night, the [Northampton] School Committee also voted unanimously to support House Bill 340, a proposal before the state Legislature that outlines a three-year Badass Teachers Association:

Detroit Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools

Detroit Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools:

Detroit’s Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools

Mushrooms, black mold, fecal matter, dead rodents, no heat. Detroit’s schools are just as toxic as Flint’s water.

Detroit’s students are trying to learn while breathing in black mold and sitting in classrooms filled with buckets catching toilet water leaking through the ceiling. And that’s not even the worst part.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder is not only using the financial emergency management laws to poison children in Flint; he’s doing the same thing in Detroit via the public school system, which the state has controlled for the last seven years. Darnell Earley, the same emergency manager who oversaw the changes in Flint’s water system, is currently in charge of Detroit’s public schools.

Does your school look like this? #supportDPSteachers pic.twitter.com/jBGbkqoM4z

— Detroitteach (@teachDetroit) January 15, 2016

The people of Flint wanted the world to see the pictures detailing their horrifying conditions. But now, teachers and parents want the world to see these images from Detroit Public Schools under the direction of Gov. Snyder’s emergency management to get a better, broader idea of how Snyder ignores children for the sake of the bottom line:

Buckled floors, rodents,heating system that runs artic or sizzling hot-not conditions in which kids can learn pic.twitter.com/tStWJ0MG0f

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) January 14, 2016

I went to Cody in Detroit. Dedicated and caring staff teaching kids in appalling conditions. pic.twitter.com/2Vh0cYZ9GV

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) January 14, 2016

See More Detroit Teachers Want You to See These Disturbing Photos of Their Toxic Schools:

CURMUDGUCATION: Gentleness in the Classroom

CURMUDGUCATION: Gentleness in the Classroom:

Gentleness in the Classroom

There are three articles tabbed side-by-side on my browser this morning, and both deal in their own way with classroom management.

The first is by Michael Linsin, a classroom management guru out of San Diego. He has apparently taught for twenty-five years at just about every level. His piece, which has been traveling around the interwebs this weekend, is entitled "Why Gentleness Is A Strong Classroom Management Strategy"

In it, Linsin responds to the classic notion that to manage a classroom, you must throw your shoulders back, use a booming voice, and swagger like a first-rate Alpha Dog. But he notes "whileclassroom presence is important, it isn’t born of overconfidence, forcefulness, or aggression." It comes from gentleness. The piece is short and clear and worth your time to read, but here's his list of arguments in favor of gentleness in the classroom.

Gentleness is respected. Gentleness lowers stress. Gentleness curtails pushback. Gentleness builds rapport. Gentleness feels good. And most importantly--

Gentleness isn't weakness.

Weakness is when you lose emotional control. 

It’s when you lecture, berate, and admonish students instead of following your classroom management plan.

It’s when you take misbehavior personally.

Gentleness, on the other hand, is strong. It’s capable and confident. It says that you’re in control CURMUDGUCATION: Gentleness in the Classroom:

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’ - The Washington Post

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’ - The Washington Post:

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’

In this July 3, 1964 photo, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson (l) shakes hands with civil rights leader Martin Luther KIng (c) after handing him a pen during the ceremonies for the signing of the civil rights bill at the White House. Martin Luther King was assassinated on 04 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. (/AFP/Getty Images)

Here, as I have published before to mark the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., are some of his writings related to the purpose of education and the U.S. government’s efforts toward educating its citizens. You will see that King was prescient on a lot of things, including the dangers of education reform that fails to focus on the conditions in which children live.

—
Here’s an excerpt from “The Purpose of Education,” a piece he wrote in the February 1947 edition of the Morehouse College student newspaper, the Maroon Tiger:

…As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the “brethren” think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda.  At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think 

Martin Luther King: The problem with ‘so-called educated people’ - The Washington Post:

Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character - The Washington Post

Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character - The Washington Post:

Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character

It has become a common refrain among school reformers that annual standardized testing equals civil rights. In the last few years, some civil rights groups have sided with those reformers  who see standardized tests as a singularly legitimate way of assessing student growth, and they have criticized parents who have refused to allow their children to take such exams.

Last year, for example, a dozen civil rights group, including The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released a statement opposing Common Core testing opt-out efforts by parents and others, saying that the tests are valuable to students of color and those from low-income families who have been ignored in the past by school systems. The statement said in part:

 Data obtained through some standardized tests are particularly important to the civil rights community because they are the only available, consistent, and objective source of data about disparities in educational outcomes, even while vigilance is always required to ensure tests are not misused.

A number of organizations — including other civil rights groups — came out against the statement, noting that it is the high-stakes tests and the misuse of the results that are harmful, not parents who are opting their children out of taking these exams. They also noted that there is no evidence that high-stakes tests improve the quality of education or help close achievement gaps. Yet the notion persists that the civil rights of minority and low-income students will be violated if standardized tests are not used as one — if not the — key measure of student growth.

As the country is about to mark a national holiday to honor civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., here is a piece on this testing-equals-civil rights issue. It was written by Steven Singer, a veteran  Nationally Board Certified Teacher in Pennsylvania with a masters degree in education. He is a husband, father,  blogger and education advocate who teaches eighth-grade Language Arts at a suburban school near Pittsburgh. He gave me permission to republish this post, which first appeared on his GADFLYONTHEWALLBLOG. Singer’s classes are made up of roughly 70 percent minority students, and an even higher percentage of his students come from low socioeconomic status Teacher: Kids are judged by their test scores — not by their character - The Washington Post:

Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States | PopularResistance.Org

Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States | PopularResistance.Org:

Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States

Above: Jessie Rothenberg, age 8, holds a sign while sitting on her father’s shoulders while protesting Gov. Cuomo’s education policies in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in March. Photo by STEPHANIE KEITH FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

Activists driving the resistance to state exams are attempting to build on their state-level momentum over the past year, while also venturing into a new political landscape that will test whether the energy behind their initial victories will last.

And they say they’re forging ahead with their plans regardless of how much support they get from traditional education advocacy groups, including teachers’ unions.

Several leaders within the so-called testing opt-out movement, which has gained considerable traction in New York and also found a foothold in states like Colorado and Connecticut, say they will continue to push parents to refuse to allow their children to take standardized exams, particularly state tests, for as long as it’s necessary.

They’ll stop, they say, when states adopt accountability policies that prevent tests from being used to rank, sort, and impose what opponents consider unfair consequences on students, teachers, and schools.

Some groups also are looking to extend their influence beyond testing fights to push in states for higher and more equitable levels of school funding and changes to K-12 governance to increase what they say is more local and more democratic control.

ESSA’s Impact

Like other education-focused advocacy organizations, groups seeking to alter testing’s place in public schools say they’re looking forward to life under the Every Student Success Act, the new federal education law that returns many key policy decisions to states. That includes application of the federal policy requiring states to test 95 percent of their students for accountability purposes.

That mandate remains under ESSA. But the newly reauthorized version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act specifically lets states decide how missing the requirement will impact school ratings.

Anti-testing advocates may have new chances for success in state capitals that offer them a smaller scale than Washington, said Diane Ravitch, the president of the Network for Public Education, or NPE, a nonprofit that supports the opt-out movement and pushes for local control of schools.

“Congress doesn’t pay attention to a grassroots group that has no lobbyist,” Ravitch said, referring to her own organization. “So I think that means we can be much more effective at the state level.”

Wielding Leverage

A rough measure of the opt-out movement’s success surfaced last month, when the U.S. Department of Education released letters it had sent to 13 states about test-participation rates that were below 95 percent, either in individual districts or statewide. In New York, home of perhaps the most robust opt-out movement in the country, 1 in 5 students eligible to take the state English/language arts and math tests did not do so in the 2014-15 school Opt-Out Activists Aim To Build On Momentum In States | PopularResistance.Org:

IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL? - Perdaily.com

IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL? - Perdaily.com:

IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL?

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

LAUSD is a business that for generations has been more concerned with the well being of its exclusive "agreed vendors" of goods and services than it has been for the successful formation of its students. The uncontested reason for this behemoth to have existed in the first place as the second largest school district in the United States is what is called the economics of scale, where in theory a larger entity like LAUSD with its enormous buying power should be able to get the best price for the goods and services it needs at the lowest wholesale market price. But the opposite reality has remained for generations where you could go into any retail store and buy pretty much anything for less than LAUSD pays for it, while getting a newer more up to date model or version with better warranties.

So, given that the sole reason for this generationally dysfunctional LAUSD to exist with its incessant scandals like Belmont High School being bulit on an irremediable toxic waste dump or an Ambassador Hotel school being built with talking benches and way over budget or a $1.3 billion iPad scandal that remains unaddressed years after it was IS LAUSD'S NEW SUPERINTENDENT MICHELLE KING JUST THE LATEST VENDOR VASSAL? - Perdaily.com:

Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board - The Washington Post

Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board - The Washington Post:

Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board

The College Board’s new online system to deliver test scores has, to be charitable, not gone as well as planned, with delays and other complications with PSAT/NMSQT results angering counselors and students and raising questions about how well it will work when the new SAT is soon unveiled.

The PSAT/NMSQT is the Preliminary SAT, the test that mostly sophomores and juniors take as a practice for the SAT and that provides scores used to qualify students for the National Merit Scholarship program. In October, more than 4 million students took the PSAT. Scores were expected by the end of the year, but the College Board released them only a week ago, about a month late. Sandra Riley, vice president for communications at the College Board, said  the delay was caused by a new online system created to accommodate scoring reports for the newly designed SAT debuting in March.

[PSAT scores are finally out. What to know about them and what they mean for new SAT test]

Riley and other College Board officials say that scores are available online but that new protocols for accessing them have confused some counselors and students. But some say that scores do not seem to be available to some schools, that instructions for obtaining those that are available are confusing and that it can be difficult getting help from College Board representatives. Two routine outages on all College Board websites, one last week and one this week (from Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern through 7 a.m. Wednesday) are making it only more difficult for those still trying to get their scores.

Stacy Caldwell, vice president for the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT, said in an interview that the College Board had sent repeated emails to counselors to explain the new access rules and held many workshops as well as webinars Problems with PSAT score delivery sparks anger at College Board - The Washington Post: