Re-reading Faulkner in Trumplandia: “[H]is ferocious conviction in the rightness of his own actions” | radical eyes for equity

Re-reading Faulkner in Trumplandia: “[H]is ferocious conviction in the rightness of his own actions” | radical eyes for equity

Re-reading Faulkner in Trumplandia: “[H]is ferocious conviction in the rightness of his own actions”

Season 2 of Mindhunter focuses on the Atlanta child murders; in one scene investigators interrogate a local KKK member.

June Carryl, Crystal Lee Brown, and Siovhan Christensen in Mindhunter (2017)

As a lifelong white Southern male, I found the characterization of that man—what many would call a Georgia cracker—to be unsettling. He is arrogant, self-assured, and able, as he declares, to wrangle his way out of any trouble.

What is off, I think, is that in real life this type of poor Southern white man is an odd but distinct combination of embarrassed arrogance. They are stubbornly self-assured—and completely un-self-aware. But they are also painfully laconic, and if you look carefully, they often become flushed, the blood rising in their necks and faces as they swell with both anger and embarrassment.

In the audio of the wiretap that leads to this KKK member being interrogated, there were hints that Mindhunter is softening the characterizations (that dialogue, and the verb usage, is far too formal) so CONTINUE READING: Re-reading Faulkner in Trumplandia: “[H]is ferocious conviction in the rightness of his own actions” | radical eyes for equity

Come As You Are (Part 1) | The Jose Vilson

Come As You Are (Part 1) | The Jose Vilson

COME AS YOU ARE (PART 1)

I couldn’t help it. I checked my work e-mail. A list of names with offers I’ll never accept with things I’d never buy from them. A few security checks from central offices. Oh, and an automated e-mail from our teacher rating system that calculated our rating for last year. I skipped the paragraphs and went directly to the table.

Effective. Effective. Effective. This is no brag. I’m on my own rubric. And a few years ago, the algorithms didn’t bestow their blessings so readily.

I eschewed common sense for the sixth year in a row to fix my classroom the week before we’re actively getting paid to work. It’s also the first year in those six that I’ve gotten to keep the same classroom. Every year, I’m entrusted with discarded the old, the misused, the dusty, and the murky from a given classroom and turn it into a learning space for middle schoolers. Every year with varying degrees of success, I accomplish this. Every year, it had been decided that I need to do so for the next class. Every classroom strengthens my spacial and ancestral knowledge in this work.

Oh, and every year, most of my colleagues are already 10 steps ahead of me on Day 1 even with all the pre-work I get done the week before.

That’s why it’s important for people to understand what I’m saying when I accept this as my new-ish CONTINUE READING: Come As You Are (Part 1) | The Jose Vilson

“Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages) | The Merrow Report

“Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages) | The Merrow Report

“Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages)

A number of states and districts are experiencing teacher shortages, with Illinois and Florida apparently at the top of the list.  From my perspective, teacher shortages are a case of the chickens coming home to roost. Two reasons for the shortages: 1) Not enough new blood and 2) a higher rate of departure by veterans,  and both are the result of how badly we treat teachers.

A constant drumbeat of hostile ‘news’ about schools and teaching is keeping young people from choosing the field, while the practice of mistreating teachers in the name of higher test scores is driving some very good teachers out of the classroom.  

Exhibit A for the latter might be this letter I received from an experienced teacher in an eastern state.  Below is an excerpt:

“Let me tell you what a horrific day I had at work.  OK, so yesterday I had to spend the entire morning proctoring the state science assessment for 5th graders. Today I was called to the office and told I needed to proctor yet another test for the 5th graders, whose results would be used to determine what ‘track’ they will be on in middle school. The test had four sub-tests. I was told that I had to pick up all the fifth grade ESL students and get their tests and subtest answer sheets and bring them into another room. None of the classroom teachers knew anything about this test, either.

So my ESL colleague and I took the kids to a separate room and started the test. ESL CONTINUE READING: “Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages) | The Merrow Report

CURMUDGUCATION: Third Grade Reading Retention Does Not Work (Example #6,288,347)

CURMUDGUCATION: Third Grade Reading Retention Does Not Work (Example #6,288,347)

Third Grade Reading Retention Does Not Work (Example #6,288,347)

The idea of retaining third graders who can't pass a standardized reading test has its roots in two things: 1) a bunch of research of varying degrees of trustworthiness and usefulness (see here, here, here and here for examples across the scale) and 2) dopey policy makers who don't know the difference between correlation and causation. 

What the more reliable research appears to show is that third grade is a good year for taking a student's reading temperature, and their ability to read at the third grade level seems to be a good predictor of future scholastic success. That seems to be a valid correlation but-- say it with me now, nice and loud for the folks in the back-- correlation does not equal causation. 

Nevertheless, many states have instituted a plan by which students are not allowed to exit third grade until they can show sufficient reading skills (or at least sufficient standardized read test taking skills). This is dumb.

This would be the equivalent of, say, noting that students who are more than four and a half feet tall in third grade are mostly over six feet tall when they graduate from high school. Therefor, in our desire to make graduates taller, we will not let anyone progress beyond third grade until they are at least four and a half feet tall. 

The most likely reading of the third grade reading correlation is that some factors are contributing CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Third Grade Reading Retention Does Not Work (Example #6,288,347)

Gifted and IDEA: Charter Schools Won’t Solve the Gifted Debate

Gifted and IDEA: Charter Schools Won’t Solve the Gifted Debate

Gifted and IDEA: Charter Schools Won’t Solve the Gifted Debate

Even though gifted is listed as a special education category, Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) never adequately addressed it. Intellectually advanced students are complex, not always easy to understand. They need and deserve school support.

Much debate surrounds gifted education. But charter schools will not be a sufficient answer to concerns.

Some gifted students are twice exceptional (2e), meaning they identify as gifted, but also struggle with learning disabilities. Most charter schools do not effectively serve students with disabilities, so 2e students might be left out.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has a panel considering eliminating New York City schools for the gifted. They claim this will desegregate schools.

NYC’s gifted programs have been different than most school districts. They’ve aggressively screened four-year-old children, mostly Asian and white. This raises concerns about fairness and elitism. NYC is said to have more segregated schools than any city.

The Mayor’s suggestion for magnet schools might be worthwhile. But one hopes there’s CONTINUE READING: Gifted and IDEA: Charter Schools Won’t Solve the Gifted Debate

Ohio: State Takeover Law Targets Districts That Enroll Poor Children of Color | Diane Ravitch's blog

Ohio: State Takeover Law Targets Districts That Enroll Poor Children of Color | Diane Ravitch's blog

Ohio: State Takeover Law Targets Districts That Enroll Poor Children of Color

Bill Phillis writes that Ohio’s State Takeover law punishes districts that serve children of color who are poor. The Republicans who run the state do not believe in local control, except in their own districts. Beware! They may come for your district next!

School districts that the state has seized and others it plans to takeover have two things in common: extremely high percentage of disadvantaged students and very low median income

Beware of the state’s motivation for plans to rescue poverty kids. The current statewide, near universal voucher programs were initiated by the “noble” effort of the state to rescue children from the poverty-stricken Cleveland school district. (The State Attorney General argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that vouchers were an escape route for Cleveland children.) Charter schools were initiated as another means to rescue children from urban districts. The state’s “beneficent” effort is now an $11 billion boondoggle that is rife with fraud and failure.

HB 70 is a “virtuous” strategy of the state to rescue CONTINUE READING: Ohio: State Takeover Law Targets Districts That Enroll Poor Children of Color | Diane Ravitch's blog

Seattle Schools Community Forum: 15 Apps Parents Should Look Out for on Their Kids' Phones

Seattle Schools Community Forum: 15 Apps Parents Should Look Out for on Their Kids' Phones

15 Apps Parents Should Look Out for on Their Kids' Phones

Important story via KING-5 for all parents whose children have cell phones:

The recent arrests of 25 men in Florida for allegedly trying to have sex with children has prompted a sheriff there to issue another 'app warning' for parents, reports CBS Miami.

During his press conference last week, the sheriff listed 15 apps as ones that parents need to know about. (Six of them were used by suspected predators who were recently arrested.)

• The first is 'MeetMe,' an app where teens can easily be in contact with users much older than them, with an emphasis on dating.
• 'WhatsApp' and 'SnapChat' are for messaging, but what you should know is teens can send unlimited messages, have video chats and even share their live location with other users, people they may not even know. 
• 'Skout' is a flirting app that's used to meet and chat with new people. Teens and adults are in different groups, but ages aren’t verified. 
• 'TikTok' is used for sharing user created videos that can contain bad words, even adult content.
• 'Badoo' and 'Bumble' are dating apps for adults, but CONTINUE READING: Seattle Schools Community Forum: 15 Apps Parents Should Look Out for on Their Kids' Phones

A LABOR DAY SALUTE TO THE #REDFORED HEROES SOLIDARITY ACROSS AMERICA- #AFTunion #NEA #UNION #LABORDAY #CTA #UFT

Big Education Ape

A SALUTE TO THE #REDFORED HEROES
SOLIDARITY ACROSS AMERICA

Big Education Ape