Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/31/16

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/31/16

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Push to expand California charter school enrollments provokes backlash | EdSource

Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS - NonDoc

by mike simpson / 6min

Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS - NonDoc : Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS E veryone should watch John Oliver’s latest critique of school segregation. The video is above. He makes some fantastic observations, starting with his coverage of the way New York City put resegregation on steroids. I would only add that much of the new segregation was inten

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) - Wait What?

by mike simpson / 51min

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) - Wait What? : Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) Today’s initial Wait, What? post was entitled, Relay Graduate School of Education – Illegal lobbying marks effort to undermine Connecticut’s teacher certification law . For more information about Relay School of Education, the Wait, What?

What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!

by mike simpson / 1h

What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade! : What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade! You thought I forgot Halloween because I posted earlier today? No. Here is an old post that is unfortunately still relevant today. There is no point in rewriting what is already said. Happy Halloween! Have fun and stay safe out there! ______________

CURMUDGUCATION: Welcome to Charter Cafeteria

by mike simpson / 2h

CURMUDGUCATION: Welcome to Charter Cafeteria : Welcome to Charter Cafeteria Welcome to the new Charter Choice Cafeteria! Can I help you? Wow! It's so clean and shiny here. And is that.... is that steak?? Why yes. We believe that all students should have the chance to eat steak for lunch. Well, that's great. My usual public cafeteria only has meatloaf every other day, and it's not so good. So I wo

Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan

by mike simpson / 2h

Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan : Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan As Luck Would Have it. William Shakespeare No one understands luck like a Cubs fan. And there is a lesson there for students in this era of grit. Grit involves the thinking that through perseverance and resilience you can reach your goals. To some extent the ability to overcome difficulties and hang in there when the

'Common Enrollment' - The Newest Page in School Privatizers' Playbook

by mike simpson / 2h

'Common Enrollment' - The Newest Page in School Privatizers' Playbook : ‘Common Enrollment’ – The Newest Page in School Privatizers’ Playbook In October 2015, Kim Davis, a parent of public school students in Oakland, attended a community meeting about improving the large district’s student assignment system, a process that many parents agreed was in need of some sort of repair. But Davis, co-foun

Schools Matter: The Gorilla in the Room

by mike simpson / 2h

Schools Matter: The Gorilla in the Room : The Gorilla in the Room by Susan Ohanian Note: When Lisa Sanders' book was published in 2009, I wrote a version of this essay. Now, with Achieve the Core banging the drum even more loudly for teachers to Connect classroom instruction to assessment , it's time to post it again. Lisa Sanders, M. D., author of the New York Times Magazine "Diagnosis" column,

Open Letter to MA Governor Charlie Baker: No Education Lottery for the Lucky - Living in Dialogue

by mike simpson / 2h

Open Letter to MA Governor Charlie Baker: No Education Lottery for the Lucky - Living in Dialogue : Open Letter to MA Governor Charlie Baker: No Education Lottery for the Lucky By Ruth Rodriguez-Fey. Governor Charlie Baker has intensified his campaign to lift the cap on Charter Schools with the help of his wealthy investors from New York, I am re posting this letter to remind our Governor that hi

The Truth of the Common School Movement - Bridging Differences - Education Week

by mike simpson / 2h

The Truth of the Common School Movement - Bridging Differences - Education Week : The Truth of the Common School Movement Harry Boyte continues his conversation with Deborah Meier. To read their full exchange, please visit here . Dear Harry and friends, Is there a "common school movement" of any sort today? No. We're split between basically school reform groups with a focus on teachers who have a

Federal regulations threaten civil rights – Cloaking Inequity

by mike simpson / 3h

Federal regulations threaten civil rights – Cloaking Inequity : Federal regulations threaten civil rights Do the U. S. Department of Education (USDOE) recently proposed regulations threaten the civil rights of English Learner (EL) students? The new regulation (34 C.F.R. §299.19 (c) (3)) would eliminate the use of state content assessment results and other evidence of actual classroom performance

Demand the Impossible! (excerpt # 9) | Bill Ayers

by mike simpson / 3h

Demand the Impossible! (excerpt # 9) | Bill Ayers : Demand the Impossible! (excerpt # 9) Bill Ayers -- Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto | Haymarket Books - http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Demand-the-Impossible In contemporary America, belief in the free market economy above all else is absolute. It is unarguable. And yet there is no such thing as a “free market,” despite the noisy cla

Schools Hustle To Reach Kids Who Move With The Harvest, Not The School Year : NPR Ed : NPR

by mike simpson / 3h

Schools Hustle To Reach Kids Who Move With The Harvest, Not The School Year : NPR Ed : NPR : Schools Hustle To Reach Kids Who Move With The Harvest, Not The School Year Teacher Sarah Ross and students (from left to right) Ximena, age 4, Yareli, age 3, and Kendra, age 2 at the Indiana Migrant Preschool Center, a free preschool for migrant children ages 2 to 5. The school teaches students in Englis

EEK! elections - emails - education — PS connect

by mike simpson / 6h

EEK! elections - emails - education — PS connect : EEK! elections - emails - education It's Halloween and the fate of the Republic is in our hands. A double whammy, if you dare. There’s much talk about how little talk there has been about public education in the presidential election. I guess the Russians just aren’t interested enough in American education policy to dump emails on the topic. Quic

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Can School Districts Use Race in Enrollment Policies?

by mike simpson / 6h

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Can School Districts Use Race in Enrollment Policies? : Can School Districts Use Race in Enrollment Policies? Yes, you can. The question is - why is Seattle Schools saying, in document after document - you can't? From the majority opinion: Importantly, Justice Kennedy drew a distinction between school district plans that rely on the race of individual students and

Teaching American Literature at Mountain View High School: Technology Integration | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by mike simpson / 6h

Teaching American Literature at Mountain View High School: Technology Integration | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : Teaching American Literature at Mountain View High School: Technology Integration Mark Twain’s Huck Finn is a classic American novel, Written in 1885, it is a book that students have read year in and year out in high school literature classes. The language used

Atlanta NCTE 2016: Confronting Educator Advocacy with Pre­Service and Early Career Teachers | the becoming radical

by mike simpson / 6h

Atlanta NCTE 2016: Confronting Educator Advocacy with Pre­Service and Early Career Teachers | the becoming radical : Atlanta NCTE 2016: Confronting Educator Advocacy with Pre­Service and Early Career Teachers Atlanta NCTE 2016 The 2016 NCTE Annual Convention features a multitude of amazing authors, educators, and presenters. Here we list some of the larger events where featured speakers are sched

Struggling new teachers pose dilemma for schools - San Francisco Chronicle

by mike simpson / 7h

Struggling new teachers pose dilemma for schools - San Francisco Chronicle : Struggling new teachers pose dilemma for schools Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Cleveland Elementary school teacher Fernando Che (center) teaches English to third-graders Alan (left) and Christopher (right) in San Francisco. The choice was difficult. If she let the probationary teachers remain, it would mean leaving t

Relay Graduate School of Education - Illegal lobbying marks effort to undermine Connecticut’s teacher certification law - Wait What?

by mike simpson / 7h

Relay Graduate School of Education - Illegal lobbying marks effort to undermine Connecticut’s teacher certification law - Wait What? : Relay Graduate School of Education – Illegal lobbying marks effort to undermine Connecticut’s teacher certification law The charter school industry and their allies in the corporate education reform business are chortling over the news that the State Board of Educ

Report Reveals Illegal Admissions Policies at Charter Schools, By Molly Hunter Education Law Prof Blog

by mike simpson / 7h

Education Law Prof Blog : Report Reveals Illegal Admissions Policies at Charter Schools, By Molly Hunter Over 20 percent of all California charter schools have enrollment policies that violate state and federal law, according to the report "Unequal Access," released in August by the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) and Public Advocates of San Francisco. Charter schools in other states use

Bill Ayers Asks: What Will Happen If We Consider Education a Human Right, Not a Mere Product | janresseger

by mike simpson / 7h

Bill Ayers Asks: What Will Happen If We Consider Education a Human Right, Not a Mere Product | janresseger : Bill Ayers Asks: What Will Happen If We Consider Education a Human Right, Not a Mere Product Bill Ayers -- Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto | Haymarket Books - http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Demand-the-Impossible It was great to escape the deplorable, scary election news to sp

The Fallacy of Charter School Oversight in L.A.

by mike simpson / 7h

The Fallacy of Charter School Oversight in L.A. : The Fallacy of Charter School Oversight in L.A. The October staff recommendations represent a fundamental and drastic departure from the Charter School Division’s expressed values of consistency and transparency, and the District’s historic focus on student outcomes as an authorizer .” -California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) Both El Camino

Denver Advisory Committee Trashes Great Work Charter Application | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 7h

Denver Advisory Committee Trashes Great Work Charter Application | deutsch29 : Denver Advisory Committee Trashes Great Work Charter Application Great Work Montessori School (GWMS) has submitted this 738-page charter school application to the Jefferson County (Denver) Board of Education (Jeffco) in order to gain approval for the school. The Jeffco Board is scheduled to vote on the GWMS charter on

The proposed NSA-like national database for student data: Moneyball for kids – Missouri Education Watchdog

by mike simpson / 8h

The proposed NSA-like national database for student data: Moneyball for kids – Missouri Education Watchdog : The proposed NSA-like national database for student data: Moneyball for kids For anyone who has ever filled out a college application, or scholarship or grant application, you know the incredible amount of personal information these forms require. What if there was a massive database that

John Oliver: School segregation is rampant, even in the school districts of liberal US cities like New York — Quartz

by mike simpson / 8h

John Oliver: School segregation is rampant, even in the school districts of liberal US cities like New York — Quartz : “Of course racism exists in New York”: John Oliver confronts school segregation in liberal US cities “The hard truth is,” says John Oliver, “you don’t have to be intentionally racist to do things that have racist effects.” It’s a comment that could apply generally—but the comedia

The Debate Over Bilingual Education In California : NPR Ed : NPR

by mike simpson / 9h

The Debate Over Bilingual Education In California : NPR Ed : NPR : The Debate Over Bilingual Education In California Alice Callaghan has spent decades working with mostly Mexican and Guatemalan families out of a tiny office near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. It doubles as a school for a few dozen 4- and 5-year-olds. After the Pledge of Allegiance, children scamper to their seats to work on ph

What Have the Presidential Candidates Said About School Integration? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

by mike simpson / 9h

What Have the Presidential Candidates Said About School Integration? - Politics K-12 - Education Week : What Have the Presidential Candidates Said About School Integration? The resegregation of the nation's schools might be one of the hottest issues in education policy these days. But it's never really penetrated the presidential race. So, now that the race is almost at the finish line: What have

FedEd Still Bugs Texas - Houston Chronicle

by mike simpson / 9h

State seeks input on new eduction law, but restrictions linger - Houston Chronicle : State seeks input on new eduction law, but restrictions linger As the Texas Education Agency seeks input on how to implement a federal education law intended to give states more decision-making power, it can't actually adhere to suggestions on two of the bigger issues: backing off the weight given to standardized

Push to expand California charter school enrollments provokes backlash | EdSource

by mike simpson / 9h

Push to expand California charter school enrollments provokes backlash | EdSource : Push to expand California charter school enrollments provokes backlash After a quarter century of uninterrupted growth, aggressive efforts by charter school advocates to increase enrollments and to elect sympathetic school board members and legislators have triggered a backlash unlike anything that has occurred si

YESTERDAY

An analysis of student performance in Chicago’s charter schools | Orfield | education policy analysis archives

by mike simpson / 17h

An analysis of student performance in Chicago’s charter schools | Orfield | education policy analysis archives : An analysis of student performance in Chicago’s charter schools Abstract Charter schools have become the cornerstone of school reform in Chicago and in many other large cities. Enrollments in Chicago charters increased by more than ten times between 2000 and 2014 and, with strong suppo

Evidence that edTPA needs to be Killed! | BustED Pencils

by mike simpson / 21h

Evidence that edTPA needs to be Killed! | BustED Pencils : Evidence that edTPA needs to be Killed! The edTPA is supposed to be a performance based assessment that can help predict the effectiveness of future teachers. For one of the best analysis of edTPA and how it correlates to effectiveness please read Peter Greene’s post from May 2016 . So why kill it? Because even though Peter thoroughly dis

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/30/16

by mike simpson / 22h

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/30/16 Featured Post Herman’s Battle for Justice For Detroit's Children Part 4: Californians stand up to charter abuse and the challenges ahead - Network For Public Education by mike 

Top Posts This Week

• 

  School choice too often leads to segregation - Baltimore Sun
• 

  Bill Gates Targets Judge Who Voted Against Charter Schools - Law Blog - WSJ
• Michigan Schools: Can Bill Cobbs Fix What Snyder Broke?
• 

  Herman’s Battle for Justice For Detroit's Children
• 

  Teachers union head says Donald Trump would decimate public education - Florida Politics
• Matt Damon explains why he made this surprising new film - The Washington Post
• 

  Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/29/16
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  Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/27/16
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  Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/25/16
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  Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/28/16

Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS - NonDoc

Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS - NonDoc:

Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS

Everyone should watch John Oliver’s latest critique of school segregation. The video is above. He makes some fantastic observations, starting with his coverage of the way New York City put resegregation on steroids.

I would only add that much of the new segregation was intentional, funded by the Gates Foundation’s small-schools initiative. Like school reform in the rest of the nation, the sincere goal was to use increased segregation due to school choice to fight the educational legacy of segregation.

Sadly, many liberal families (who often oppose test-driven reform) have resisted recent efforts to reintegrate schools.

Much like the narcissistic parent Oliver includes in his piece — who launched a legal attack on a prominent and successful desegregation program in the South — even decent parents tend to be completely preoccupied with their Filter on John Oliver: Segregation failures haunt OKCPS - NonDoc:

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) - Wait What?

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) - Wait What?:

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris)

Today’s initial Wait, What? post was entitled, Relay Graduate School of Education – Illegal lobbying marks effort to undermine Connecticut’s teacher certification law.

For more information about Relay School of Education, the Wait, What? post also pointed readers to fellow education advocate Wendy Lecker’s piece entitled, Drive up education degree is an insult to every student, parent, teacher and taxpayer

The following commentary piece provides additional background about the faux education graduate program run by the corporate education reform group known as Relay School of Education.

The article first appeared in the Washington Post  in 2012.  It was written by Carol Corbett Burris who served as the principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State.  Ms. Burris is now the Executive Director of the Network for Public Education. (See http://networkforpubliceducation.org/)

Carol Burris wrote,

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” I keep this quote on my desk. No one knows who authored it — it is often misattributed to William Butler Yeats. Whoever created it was wise indeed for those whose vocation is educating students upon hearing it, recognize its truth.

An isolated shot of a bucket of sand for the childrens play time either on 

Relay Graduate School is NOT the way to train teachers (By Carol Burris) - Wait What?:

What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!

What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!:

What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!

You thought I forgot Halloween because I posted earlier today? No. Here is an old post that is unfortunately still relevant today. There is no point in rewriting what is already said.

Happy Halloween! Have fun and stay safe out there!

___________________________________________________________________

With certain states jumping on the retention bandwagon, even though we know retention doesn’t work, where do students with dyslexia fit? Students with reading difficulties should not have to flunk third grade to get the help they deserve.

Many children with reading difficulties, who do not have IEPs, are being held back. In fact, probably most students who fail the third grade, who wind up with low test scores, have reading disabilities of some kind. Children don’t intentionally flunk tests.

Many know that retention is so scary for children it rates up there with the fear of going blind and losing a parent! If the public school system is broken when it comes to serving these kids, why aren’t they fixing the system instead of worsening it?

Why are the students punished when the adults fail?

If third graders are not doing well on the tests school officials should look at the following:

• Is the test appropriate? Are students tested so much they don’t have time to What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!:

 

CURMUDGUCATION: Welcome to Charter Cafeteria

CURMUDGUCATION: Welcome to Charter Cafeteria:

Welcome to Charter Cafeteria

Welcome to the new Charter Choice Cafeteria! Can I help you?

Wow! It's so clean and shiny here. And is that.... is that steak??

Why yes. We believe that all students should have the chance to eat steak for lunch.

Well, that's great. My usual public cafeteria only has meatloaf every other day, and it's not so good. So I would really love steak for lunch. Can I just--

Just a second. Charter Choice Cafeteria is only open to a few students. You need your Lunchtime Strivers Club Card to eat in here.

Well, how do I get one of those?

Just put in your application for the CCC lottery. You fill out these six forms available between theCURMUDGUCATION: Welcome to Charter Cafeteria: 

Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan

Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan:

Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan

As Luck Would Have it. William Shakespeare

No one understands luck like a Cubs fan. And there is a lesson there for students in this era of grit.

Grit involves the thinking that through perseverance and resilience you can reach your goals.

To some extent the ability to overcome difficulties and hang in there when the going is tough is good. Helping children with resilience during difficult times, or encouraging them to work hard to accomplish their goals is important.

And a good Cubs fan sticks by the team through thick and thin.

But there are three problems with grit and today’s students.

1. It isn’t grit for children to have to overcome obstacles adults put in their way. Luck vs. Grit: Lessons from a Cubs Fan: