Big Education Ape

Sunday, March 19, 2017

The Weekend Warrior Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

The Weekend Warrior Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

Germany: Trump is Wrong: We Don’t Owe NATO Anything More Than We Pay Now

7by dianeravitch / 3h

The German Defense Ministry sharply disagreed with Trump’s claim that it should pay more to NATO. Trump tweeted that he had a “great” meeting with Angela Merkel, but his famous art-of-the-deal left her unconvinced. The U.S. keeps 62,000 military personnel in the European Union, compared to 1.7 million from EU states. “On Sunday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen called the criticism “i

Webster’s Definition of “Trumpery,” 1983 Edition

28by dianeravitch / 4h

1. Deceit, fraud 2. Anything calculated to deceive by false show; anything externally splendid but of little intrinsic value; worthless finery. 3. Things worn out and of no value; useless matter; trifles; rubbish; nonsense. That’s the

This Post is About Chicken Soup, Not Education or Trump

by dianeravitch / 1min

I am not much of a cook. When I was a little girl, I hung out in the playground, played baseball, read books, or climbed trees. I never hung out in the kitchen to learn about how to cook a dish or make a meal. But now as an adult, I do know how to cook a few things. I have what you might call a very limited repertoire. I

What to Ask About Russian Hacking in the Hearings Tomorrow

3by dianeravitch / 43min

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives intelligence committee will hold hearings to investigate allegations of links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Members will also ask questions about Trump’s claim that Obama ordered the wire tapping of Trump Tower during the presidential campaign and that this alleged surveillance was carried out by the British spy service. It should be

Democratic Senator Will Introduce Neil Gorsuch at His Hearing for Supreme Court Justice

4by dianeravitch / 1h

Democratic Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado will introduce Neil Gorsuch at his Senate confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch is from Colorado. Bennett is one of the most fervent advocates for school privatization in Congress. Before entering the Senate (he was appointed to fill a vacancy, then was elected), he was superintendent of Denver, where he promoted high-stakes testi

New York: State Regents Consider Eliminating a Redundant Standardized Exam for Future Teachers: Do It!

7by dianeravitch / 2h

It is rare to report that any state has eliminated any standardized test at all, but that is exactly what may be about to happen in New York. A committee of the New York Board of Regents has proposed to eliminate the “Academic Literacy Skills Test for Teachers,” which is a useless hurdle. For now, the test has been suspended. Its future will be decided in July at a meeting of the full Board of Re

Mercedes Schneider: My Most Difficult Students End Up Loving Me the Most

4by dianeravitch / 3h

Mercedes Schneider shares her wonderful bonds with her most challenging students: https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/many-of-my-most-difficult-students-end-up-loving-me/ “Just thought I’d share one lesson I have learned from my public school students: “The ones who tend to push me the most and require the toughest discipline usually end up loving me the most. “They also learn to respect a

YESTERDAY

In Vitro Babies Born to American Mothers Are Not Americans Unless the Sperm Donor Was

38by dianeravitch / 20h

In its infinite wisdom, or lack thereof, the U.S. State Department does not grant citizenship to babies born in vitro unless the American-born mother can prove that the egg or sperm donor was an American. A child adopted by an American from another country is American. But a child born to an American via in vitro fertilization cannot claim American citizenship without proof that the donor was Ame

A New Entry in the Online Urban Dictionary: “DeVos’d It”

29by dianeravitch / 22h

Carol Burris forwarded this really cool new definition to me; it came from her adult daughter. There is a new verb. If you go for a job interview, do a truly horrible job, and get the job anyway, you say, “I DeVos’d it.”

Gail Collins at Her Best on Trump’s Madness

15by dianeravitch / 23h

Gail Collins used to be editorial page editor of the New York Times. Now she writes a column. What I never knew about her is that she has a wonderful sense of humor. Today she has a hilarious column about the madness of King Donald (she didn’t call it that, but that’s what it is). Whatever Donald Trump has, it’s spreading. We’ve got a president who makes things up, and won’t retract when he’s cor

Are You a School Board Member? Join NPE Action to Protect Public Schools!

30by dianeravitch / 1d

The Network for Public Education invites School Board members to join our new group dedicated to fighting privatization of public schools. https://npeaction.org/2017/03/03/7286/ We will keep you informed about political activity in your state and introduce you to other dedicated School Board members.

US Postal Service Honors Civil Rights Hero Dorothy Height

1by dianeravitch / 1d

Read about this great civil rights icon here: https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_006.htm President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Here is a question for you, dear readers: To whom will Trump award the Presidential Medal of Freedom? WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today kicked off this year’s Black History

Ken Previti: 80 Programs that Trump Wants to Defund

19by dianeravitch / 1d

Ken Previti lists 80 programs that will be eliminated if Trump’s budget is approved. IRTA: These 80 Programs Would Lose Federal Funding Under Trump’s Proposed Budget They are all programs that help people. Trump will invest instead in expanding the military although we have a bigger military than the next seven nations put together.

Alexandra Petri: How Trump’s Lean Mean Budget Will Make America Great Again

6by dianeravitch / 1d

Alexandra Petri writes a satirical column for the Washington Post. She explains the glories of Trump’s budget here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/03/16/trumps-

Sacramento teachers square off with district |

Sacramento teachers square off with district |:

Sacramento teachers square off with district

On March 16, the Sacramento City Teacher’s Association picketed in front of the district office. Over 350 teachers, paraprofessionals, students, parents and other members of the community came out to voice their anger over the district’s decision to reject every single one of the Union’s 12 demands for the upcoming school year. Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation joined in to show their solidarity.

The school board rejected, among others, proposals to reduce class size, extend the arts, music and physical education programs, increase the number of school nurses, psychologists and other professional support staff, and maintain a competitive pay scale for teachers; all while being in the best financial position the district has been in in years. Sacramento City Unified School district is one of the largest in the country serving 43,000 students on 73 campuses. The district is required to keep 2 percent of their annual budget on reserve which equates to about $10 million. The district currently has over $98 million on reserve. The school board is refusing to hire credentialed teachers which could reduce class size. They are refusing to invest in the students of the community.

Sacramento is the most diverse city in California. Students come from incredibly diverse racial, socio-economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Sixty-eight percent of the students in the district receive reduced cost or free lunch. It is a Safe Haven district which provides students protections against the racist immigration policies of the current and past administrations. But in order for the district to provide for these students, classrooms need to be filled with quality teachers, who have access to resources for their students. Instead the district is choosing to pay $75,000 to their negotiating lawyer every two months, while increasing administrative staff by 41 percent.

The evening started with a picket line in front of the Serna Center, the main office for the school board and a symbol for mismanaged funds which could have been spent on teachers and students. The sidewalk swelled to several hundred participants before the event was even scheduled to start at 5 pm. The SCTA handed out signs with slogans like “SCTA Great Teachers Together” and “Recruit, Retain, Respect.” Families with small children joined in on chants of “Hey, hey, ho, ho union power’s here to go!” Cars driving by on busy 47th Avenue honked their horns in solidarity with the crowds. After about an hour the picket signs were traded in (no picket signs are allowed in the building) for smaller brightly colored signs reading such things as “Students need early intervention,” “Students need lower class sizes!” and so on. The president of SCTA, Nikki Milevsky, addressed the crowd and reiterated what the union was fighting for. Then we went inside.

Milevsky stood in front of the board listing the demands the union had made. After each one was read all in attendance shouted “Rejected!” while holding their signs. It was a powerful moment with hundreds in the audience shedding light on the ludicrous actions the board had taken. One by one teachers, parents, members of the community, and students voiced their concerns about the course the district was taking. Cries of “Let him speak!” rose from the crowd as the school board president attempted to talk over a teacher who was breaking apart their flimsy budgetary argument.

As a negotiating team member of the SCTA took the stage and firmly said to the board; “If you reject these demands I am telling you, publicly, we will Sacramento teachers square off with district |:

Teachers, Teachers Unions, and the Charter School War

Teachers, Teachers Unions, and the Charter School War:

Teachers, Teachers Unions, and the Charter School War

Please join Internet radio host Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. for a close look at our teachers, our teacher unions, and the charter school war. Joining Dr. Miller is the rest of the War Team - Joan Kramer and Jo Lieb. Together we will uncover who are friends of public education and who are its enemies.

The show will take the issues and sides and discuss the merits of each. Who is right and who is wrong? Who is aware of the charter growth within our unions and who is not aware? Where does charter proliferation stand in the war to save public education and is it aiding in the death of our public schools, our public school teachers, our communities, and our democracy.

This show was birthed from commentary on the following question:

What is the difference between unions promoting new charter schools and unions unionizing existing charter schools?

Please think about your own ideas on this issue and call in on Sunday and help us explore and reveal this issue.

Knowledge is power!

RESISTANCE MATTERS
RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE
RESISTANCE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF EXPRESSION OF DEMOCRACY
RESISTANCE IS SURVIVAL
Please click on the website below to listen live:
http://bbsradio.com/thewarreport
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To call-in and interact live
Station 1 888-627-6008 toll free

Teachers, Teachers Unions, and the Charter School War:

Opt Out Reminder: It's Still a Powerful Act of Civil Disobedience + DeVos Dump. | BustED Pencils

Opt Out Reminder: It's Still a Powerful Act of Civil Disobedience. | BustED Pencils:

Opt Out Reminder: It’s Still a Powerful Act of Civil Disobedience.

Guest Post: Anne Burn Thomas, Ph.D. SUNY Cortland.

Why I’m opting out of the state assessments.

In the past few months, the idea of resisting as protest to a range of policies and ideas has populated headlines, Twitter streams, and even in-person conversations. One of the ways that I’m resisting destructive changes to a vital but much maligned institution is by “opting out” my children from the New York State ELA and Mathematics Assessments. I choose to resist the ranking and sorting of children through impersonal instruments that perpetuate an unfair and unequal system.

My decision is based on the best interests of all children in New York State, not just my own. By opting out, I am not protesting against the schools my children attend, the work that their teachers do to provide a rich and rigorous education, or even the impulse by the government to collect data on student performance. For me, this decision is not informed by concerns about my children’s performance or the impulse to protect them from the rigors of a developmentally inappropriate test; it goes beyond the personal to the political and to my understanding of the ways that acceptance of this assessment and accountability system are negatively impacting schools and teachers across New York.

As a professor in teacher education at SUNY Cortland, I study schools, teachers, and equity, and I know that teachers are the best source of information about children’s learning and growth over time. I’m protesting against the NYS assessments because the pressure to Opt Out Reminder: It's Still a Powerful Act of Civil Disobedience. | BustED Pencils:

BustED Pencils Trending News: DeVos Dump.

Here it is in the middle of March and Betsy DeVos has been on the job for about two months. Some questioned whether a woman with no real work experience let alone experience working in the education field could actually handle the responsibilities that come with being the Secretary of Education.

Question: Is Betsy DeVos really as bad as we thought?

Take a look below and decide for yourself.

BustED Pencils Trending News: DeVos Dump.

Understanding the Legal Challenges Facing Parents Post-Incarceration | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Understanding the Legal Challenges Facing Parents Post-Incarceration | NewBlackMan (in Exile):

Understanding the Legal Challenges Facing Parents Post-Incarceration

'Journalist Victoria Law examines the intersection of mass incarceration and child custody laws - from the Clinton-era law that stripped the most vulnerable parents of their custodian rights, to the class-based barriers preventing poor parents from engaging with the legal system - and explains how legal punishments extend beyond prison sentences, into children's lives. Law wrote the recent article "Double Punishment: After Prison, Moms Face Legal Battles to Reunite With Kids" for Truthout.' -- This Is Hell! Radio

Posted 2 hours ago by CADCE

Labels: child custody laws Mass Incarceration NewBlackMan Post-Incarceration This Is Hell! Radio Truthout Victoria Law

Understanding the Legal Challenges Facing Parents Post-Incarceration | NewBlackMan (in Exile):

Schools Matter: Anti-Child Advocate, Neil Gorsuch (Mr. de minimis)

Schools Matter: Anti-Child Advocate, Neil Gorsuch (Mr. de minimis):

Anti-Child Advocate, Neil Gorsuch (Mr. de minimis)

If America's special needs schoolchildren are damaged beyond measure in the near future by the judiciary, you can thank the preppy fascist now in line to become the next Supreme Court justice:

At the Supreme Court podium in January, lawyer Neal Katyal was hit with a series of questions that he wasn’t really ready for.

The justices wanted to know who came up with the legal standard “merely more than de minimis” ― a phrase that could undercut the law for students with disabilities across the country. If upheld, the standard would reduce the educational benefits those children are promised under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

“What’s the origin of this phrase, ‘More than de minimis’? Who thought this up?” asked Justice Samuel Alito. The law generally defines “de minimis” as being so small as to be legally insignificant.

“Who invented it?” asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, noting that it isn’t found in the Supreme Court’s leading precedent on states’ responsibilities under the IDEA.

While Ginsburg was setting up her question, Justice Elena Kagan jumped in to emphasize the word “merely” — as if to underscore that the standard Katyal was defending is indeed a stingy one.

The accomplished appellate attorney, who is representing a Colorado school district in the dispute, didn’t have a good answer, saying only that the standard was developed over time by the lower courts. But he would have nailed the response if he’d simply said, “Neil Gorsuch.”

Judge Gorsuch, who is now President Donald Trump’s eminently qualified Supreme Court nominee, broke new ground when he used “merely more than de minimis” in a 2008 ruling. That decision has become the touchstone for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, the case the justices heard in January and will likely decide by the end of June.

Gorsuch picked the phrase “out of the blue,” said Jack Robinson, the Colorado lawyer representing the child at the center of the current case. . . .Schools Matter: Anti-Child Advocate, Neil Gorsuch (Mr. de minimis):

The Sunday Times. | Fred Klonsky

The Sunday Times. | Fred Klonsky:

The Sunday Times.

This week’s podcast features Bill Iacullo, president the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 143 in conversation about privatization at CPS and progressive political strategists Joanna Klonsky and Brian Sleet. Next week our guests will be Diane Ravitch and Kevin Coval.

It was 1964 and we were walking home from Fairfax High School down Melrose and on a pole was a flyer for Chuck Berry performing at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Chuck Berry!

Man, we had to go. We could afford only the cheapest seats in the 3,000 seat theater, but when we got there the place was nearly empty. A few hundred at most. We all moved down to the front and Chuck Berry put on a show with as much energy as if he were playing a full house at the Hollywood Bowl.

And we danced in the aisles.

-Fred Klonsky

Is anyone left at Goldman Sachs?

President Donald Trump has selected yet another Goldman Sachs executive to fill a senior role in his administration, naming the firm’s current managing director, James Donovan, to serve as deputy Treasury secretary.

Donovan would be the sixth member of Trump’s team with ties to Goldman, The Sunday Times. | Fred Klonsky:

SKrashen: Krashen Santa Fe 3: Fiction, heritage language

SKrashen: Krashen Santa Fe 3: Fiction, heritage language:

Krashen Santa Fe 3: Fiction, heritage language

FICTION

The power of fiction: The UK study

Fiction = great vocabulary builder

Sullivan and Brown, 2014: vocabulary test

1. Reading at age 42 counts, independent of reading at 16 or younger & previous vocabulary.

2. Fiction counts (more than nonfiction), but not "low-brow"

3. Music counts a little. Reading counts more.

4. Reading counts even when you control for parent occupation and parent education.

5. Reading counts more than your own education AND is independent of your educational level

Sullivan, A. & Brown, M. 2014. Vocabulary from Adolescence to Middle Age. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University of London

Those who read more, know more. Readers (of fiction) do better on tests of literature, history, cultural literacy, but also SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES and PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE. (Stanovich and colleagues).

Fiction stretches, challenges the mind.

1. Fiction contributes to an expanded "theory of mind" = understand others' states of mind, ways of thinking, compared to nonfiction. (Kidd & Castono)

2. Fiction readers have more tolerance for vagueness, better able to deal with uncertaincy (Djikic, Oatley, and Moldoveanu, 2013). Based on survey done after reading fiction or nonfiction, eg agree/disagree with: “I don’t like situations that are uncertain," “I dislike questions that can be answered in many different ways.”

3. Ethics and insight: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, (102), 5/1995, "You think because I wear this mask I don't know what it's like to have problems?" also: Batman Returns, The Watchmen

4. Career success

Simonton (1988) "omnivorous reading in childhood and adolescence correlates positively with ultimate adult success" (p. 11).

Malcolm X: ‘What’s your alma mater?’

Michael Faraday (1791-1867): influence of working for a bookbinder for 7 years.

Heritage language development

1. Popular view: people resist English

2. The facts: The first language disappears rapidly

Language Use: Spanish-speaking high school students in Miami: Use of Spanish

Prior to elementary school: 85%

Junion High school: 37%

Sr High School: 18%

Informal use during senior year

Parents: 76%

Siblings: 32%

Friends in school: 20%

Portes and Rumbaut, 2001: age 14

Competence in HL and English, 1 = not at all, 4 = very well

Overall English = 3.77,,, HL = 2.75 (n = 4288)

China English = 3.54, HL = 2.23

Vietnam English = 3.42, HL = 2.54

Mexico English = 3.62, HL = 3.33

3. Should we be concerned? Yes. No disadvantages, only advantages to SKrashen: Krashen Santa Fe 3: Fiction, heritage language:

Krashen Santa Fe 2: some reseaerch, intermediate methods

by skrashen / 3h

APPLICATION TO LANGUAGE TEACHING Role of the class: The role of the class: DEVELOP INTERMEDIATES Class is ideal for beginners! Outside world reluctant to provide comprehensible input to beginners. A universal theory of education: Prepare you for the outside world. Beginning level: Methods TPR: Total Physical Response (Asher): Website: http://www.tpr-world.com / Natural Approach (Terrell) TPRS (Te

Krashen Santa Fe 1: fundamentals

by skrashen / 3h

THEORY: A BRIEF REVIEW S. Krashen www.sdkrashen.com ; twitter = skrashen The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis: ACQUISITION – subconscious = "picking up" a language - While it is happening, we are not aware that it is happening. -

NYC Educator: The Art of Co-Teaching

NYC Educator: The Art of Co-Teaching:

The Art of Co-Teaching

A lot of people complain about supervisors. I hate to admit it, but I tend to get along well with mine. Whenever we have a conflict, she sits me down and talks until I agree with her. I actually recognize what she's doing, but she manages to persuade me, and once I actually agree with her there isn't much left to argue about. But she also has a perverse streak.

Three years ago I said to her, "Well, I'm gonna be in the trailers forever." They'd pretty much become part of me. So what does she do? She pulls me out and puts me in a real classroom for the first time in over a decade, using some flimsy excuse about a turf was with the English department.

One of the little-known things about us trailer trash teachers is that we don't use classroom technology. This is largely because no one puts expensive equipment in some trailer. The classroom they moved me into, though, had a computer and a monitor. In the beginning I panicked, but fortunately the impressive looking computer equipment didn't actually work. I would hang my jacket on the monitor and demand credit for using the technology. (The next year, when it actually worked, I started using it, but had no place to hang my coat. You can't win.)

Last year, there was a lot of Sturm und Drang over ESL. We weren't real teachers because Part 154 said teaching a language didn't involve actual subject content, so we had to pair up with other teachers and hope for the best. I was lucky, though. While my colleagues were pairing up with English teachers, it turned out I was a licensed English teacher. Who remembered that decades ago that was how I started? I could never actually get a job as an English teacher, so I went into this ESL thing.

Co-teaching wasn't a new thing, but it was more concentrated in special ed. before this. I watched various pairs of teachers having conflicts. Once I was appointed, with another teacher, to break up a class between two teachers who simply could not function together. Later I was forced to get involved with several pairs who needed to separate but could not, with various unrewarding resolutions. I thought, "Who the hell needs this?"

But then I made an egregious error. I told my AP, "I don't ever want to co-teach with anyone." For some reason, utterances like that get my AP NYC Educator: The Art of Co-Teaching:

High Noon For The Delaware State Board of Education On Tuesday – Exceptional Delaware 2017

High Noon For The Delaware State Board of Education On Tuesday – Exceptional Delaware 2017:

High Noon For The Delaware State Board of Education On Tuesday

We can do it better ourselves but we won’t tell them that.

The Delaware State Board of Education could be shut down as of Tuesday. They face the Delaware Joint Legislative Overview and Sunset Committee. The State Board was put under review by the committee last year after some very rough years under former Governor Jack Markell. Many of the complaints circulate around their Executive Director, Donna Johnson. As well, many citizens and education organizations in the state feel the State Board has outlived their usefulness and just seem to perpetuate agendas brought forth by corporate education reform organizations such as the Rodel Foundation of Delaware and the Delaware Charter Schools Network. I wrote about their last meeting with the committee over a month ago. But I was able to be the sole attendee at a meeting yesterday where the State Board discussed their final meeting with the Sunset Committee and boy was it a doozy!

The committee issued their recommendations to the State Board last week. On Friday, the State Board met to discuss recommendations and their strategy for the meeting on Tuesday. This was a public meeting but I was the only member of the public who attended the meeting. The recommendations to the State Board can be seen below. But after you read those recommendations, you must read the lightning rod comments made during their planning session. To clarify, the name Bunting will come up a lot in what I write below. In Delaware, we have Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting and State Board member Nina Lou Bunting. They are not related. When I mention Bunting below, it is the State Board of Education member, not the Secretary of Education. Executive Director Donna Johnson and State Board of Education member Pat Heffernan did NOT attend this meeting. The recommendations from the committee are below.

View this document on Scribd

As I wrote above, I was the only person who attended this meeting. No one from the Delaware Dept. of Education attended, no legislators, no school personnel and no outside education organizations. It was an eye opener. The committee found multiple instances of State Board duties not covered in Delaware statute. One of the recommendations was to have other High Noon For The Delaware State Board of Education On Tuesday – Exceptional Delaware 2017:

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