The Daily 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 Daily Diane Ravitch's blog 

A site to discuss better education for all

Paul Ryan Will Visit Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Charter Schools Tomorrow

by dianeravitch / 35min

Eva Moskowitz has become a favorite of the Trump White House and the Republican Party. Speaker Paul Ryan will visit her schools tomorrow. “House Speaker Paul Ryan is planning to visit a Success Academy charter school in New York City on Tuesday, sources with knowledge of the visit told POLITICO New York. Ryan’s visit will be the latest in a series of high-profile visits by Republicans to the city

Update on Phyllis Bush’s Fight with Cancer

50by dianeravitch / 2h

Phyllis Bush, retired teacher, active member of the board of the Network for Public Education, learned last month that she has cancer. She decided to blog about it because writing about it helps her cope. Her blog also displays her wit, her wisdom, and her courage. Her blog is called “Kind of a Big Dill.” In this installment, she reports the latest news from her oncologist. She plans to take her

Purdue Buys Online, For-Profit Kaplan, Over Faculty Objections University

22by dianeravitch / 2h

Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana, is now president of Purdue, a soft landing for a politician with no academic bona fides. He has continued his assault on the academic integrity of the university by arranging the purchase of 

Steve Nelson on the Fallacies of the New York Times’ Story on School Choice: He Nails It!

4by dianeravitch / 17min

Steve Nelson writes here about the erroneous assumptions behind the New York Times’ article on the “broken promise of school choice,” posted earlier today . I was especially happy to see this article, because I sensed something awry about 

The Broken Promise of Choice in New York City

3by dianeravitch / 49min

The New York Times published a lengthy article about New York City’s complicated and byzantine high school admissions process, which was launched 14 years ago to give choice to every student. With few (if any) exceptions, 

Adam Bessie and EriK Thurman: A Graphic Essay on School Choice, DeVos, and Segregation

by dianeravitch / 35min

Adam Bessie (writer) and Erik Thurman (artist) have created a graphic essay that explains in a series of drawings the consequences of school choice and how it affected students with disabilities in New Orleans. Their graphic essay is especially pertinent at a time when the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is an evangelist for school choice and indifferent to the consequences. I recommend t

NAPLAN and the Ruination of Education in Australia

1by dianeravitch / 57min

NAPLAN is Australia’s national system of tests. The acronym stands for “National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy,” a series of tests focused on basic skills administered annually to Australian students. It was introduced in 2008, in large part because of American influence and the pressure of international tests like PISA and TIMSS. But since the adoption of NAPLAN, Australia has decli

Australia: A Brief History of How America’s Bad Ideas Undermined Education Down Under

4by dianeravitch / 1h

This posting comes from Phil Cullen in Australia, whose blog is The Treehorn Express. You will see some familiar names, like Rupert Murdoch, who is a media baron in Australia, and Joel Klein, who was Murdoch’s favorite education expert. As Phil Cullen explains on his blog: Treehorn is the hero of an easy-to-read children’s book: “The Shrinking of Treehorn” by Florence Heidi Parry. It clearly illu

A Trillion Dollars of Student Debt, and DeVos Wants to Protect Lenders, Not Students

9by dianeravitch / 2h

Susan Dynarski of University of Michigan wrote an article in The New York Times about the trillion dollars of outstanding debt for college loans, and the Trump administration’s regulatory decisions that will help and protect the lending industry, not the students. As the saying goes, elections have consequences. Hillary Clinton adopted Bernie Sanders’ pledge to make higher education free for stud

Dallas: Kirkpatrick Missed an Outright Win in School Board Race by 14 Votes

1by dianeravitch / 3h

I just heard from Lori Kirkpatrick, the school board candidate in Dallas who pledged to oppose privatization and end the insulting programs that rate, rank, reward and punish teachers. She is a parent of a child in the DISD. The election was last Saturday. Last night, she sent a blast email to supporters saying that the final tally showed her 14 votes shy of reaching the 50% mark that she needed

YESTERDAY

EPA Dismisses 5 Members of Scientific Review Board, Plans to Replace Them with Industry Representativ

21by dianeravitch / 11h

Well, we knew this was coming. Scott Pruitt, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency, has dismissed at least five members of a major scientific review board. The Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed at least five members of a major scientific review board, the latest signal of what critics call a campaign by the Trump administration to shrink the agency’s regulatory reach by red

Florida: The Great Hijacking of Taxpayer Money Escalates!

38by dianeravitch / 20h

From Sandy Stenoff of Opt Out Florida: We are “all hands on deck” in Florida and would greatly appreciate all the help we can get. Please feel free to share this e-mail. Dear Public Education allies, Florida’s 2.8 million public school children need your help now. Both the Budget and HB 7069, the Conforming bill, which contains an inappropriate number of policies and barely vetted concepts, will

Trump Questions Whether a Funding Source for HBCUs is Constitutional

6by dianeravitch / 21h

The Washington Post reports that Trump questioned whether an important funding source for Historically Black Colleges and Universities is constitutional . “In February, President Trump invited leaders from historically black colleges and universities to the White House, a move they hoped signaled his support for the institutions and showed an effort to give them more clout in his administration.

Florida: Get Ready for Another Jeb Bush Charter Hoax

52by dianeravitch / 22h

In the 2012 and 2013 legislative sessions, Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee and allies in the privatization movement tried to get a parent trigger law through the Florida legislature but met a solid wall of parent resistance. Now the same forces are gathering for another run at privatizing the Sunshine State’s public schools. The method is to declare not just F schools eligible for charter takeover, but D

Laura Chapman: Computer-Based Education as a Depersonalized and Profitable Industry

42by dianeravitch / 23h

Laura Chapman writes here about “computer-based education” and who profits from it. “Frankly, the scariest for-profit ventures are the tech companies that hope to replace teachers and schools with their “scalable” models.” Diane Ravitch. Yes. Computer-based Education (CBE) is being marketed as personalized when it is exactly the opposite. Legislators in Ohio and elsewhere are counting on CBE to p

California: How the Charter School Association Bought Power and Democrats with $$$

40by dianeravitch / 1d

Ten percent of the children in California attend privately-managed charter schools. But that small number of students has the most powerful and richest lobby in the state, funded by billionaires. The overwhelming majority of charters are non-union, which appeals to the Walton family, the richest family in America, with a net worth of $130 billion or more, produced by their non-union Walmart store

Sen. Bernie Sanders Endorses Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla for L.A. School Board!!

25by dianeravitch / 1d

Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla for the Los Angeles school board. The election will be held May 16. ““Billionaires should not make a profit off of public school children. That’s why I’m supporting Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla for the Los Angeles School Board. They will fight against the Trump/DeVos agenda to destabilize and undermine public schools,” said Sen. B

William J. Mathis: Fake News from Florida About Charter “Success”

30by dianeravitch / 1d

William J. Mathis is the the Vice-Chair of the State Board of Education in Vermont, currently managing director of the National Education Policy Center Fake News and Politicized Prevarications: The Florida State Department of 

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

Relay Graduate School, Librarians, and the effort to make our public schools “Future Ready” | Seattle Education

Relay Graduate School, Librarians, and the effort to make our public schools “Future Ready” | Seattle Education:

Relay Graduate School, Librarians, and the effort to make our public schools “Future Ready”

One of the biggest obstacles to the “charterization from within”* is getting teachers to welcome ed-tech into their classrooms – and even more critically – incorporate devices and software into their daily teaching.

What’s the ed-reform solution to this tricky problem?

Lots of professional development in personalized learning for teachers. If a superintendent wants to put their district on the fast track to digital learning, they couple teacher professional development with the strategic use of their school librarians as the onsite ed-tech adoption leaders.

Colorado, which rated a D from the Network of Public Education for the extent of privatization of K-12 education in the state, has dedicated money for statewide teacher professional development courses in personalized learning.  From State funding available for teacher training in personalized, blended student learning:

“iLC was so excited to see the governor recently increase our state’s investment in the one thing that makes the biggest difference to every students’ success — a teacher,” said iLC founder and CEO Judy Perez. “We can help districts around Colorado create equity in K-12 education by advancing the practice of personalized, blended learning. Our partnership with Colorado allows us to expand low-cost training from an expert staff.”

Perez said teachers are changing instruction to meet every student’s needs using a combination of technology, one-on-one coaching, and class instruction. “It’s all about the student; technology and training from our qualified staff supports teachers to improve, personalize, and blend their instruction,” she said.

Even Relay Graduate School of Education is teaming up with The Learning Accelerator to offer online classes “to help teachers make the shift to blended learning”.

“Figuring out how to use technology to reach every student is a tough task, for novice and veteran teachers alike. Educators need access to really high-quality, on-demand training that will help them learn about and translate ideas into actionable strategies for their classrooms,” said Beth Rabbitt, 

Relay Graduate School, Librarians, and the effort to make our public schools “Future Ready” | Seattle Education: