CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

CURMUDGUCATION

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share.

Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions  

Not about education, but this Intercept piece is another fine example of how the rich play the astro-turf game to push their policies to protect their interests.

Former Redlined Neighborhoods Have Changed 

Andre Perry and David Harshbarger at Brookings provide a more current picture of what has happened in some historically redlined areas.

Student Tracking, Secret Scores 

Apparently, at some colleges, Big Brother is looking at your admissions file. Is cyberstalking social media now part of the college application process. Washington Post.

More Loan Mess

Oh look-- the USED didn't just fumble the student loan forgiveness program, but actively thwarted it. The details from NPR.

North Carolina's Abandoned Charter Business

They set up a charter school business chain, and then they decided to move on to other things. What happens to charters when the visionary leaders vote with their feet?

Mapping America’s Teacher Evaluation Plans Under ESSA

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley and colleagues have done some useful research about the current shape of teacher evaluation-- and some of the news is good.

Maybe DeVos was a good thing

Thomas Ultican looks at some documentary evidence  of how bad a Clinton ed department might have been.

How Billionaire Charter School Funders Corrupted the School Leadership Pipeline  

Jeff Bryant continues his look at how rich guys like Eli Broad have taken over the business of producing school administrators.

About Schema

EdWeek offers a great explanation of some powerful learning ideas.

The K-12 Takeover 

Andrea Gabor has the must-read of the week over at Harpers, writing about how modern fauxlanthropists have commandeered public education with New Orleans as Exhibit A.

Why Are We Expecting Teens To Have It All Figured Out 

From Grown and Flown, a parent perspective on the kinds of decisions we expect teens to make, and how life is not always a clear straight line.

$1.3 Million Wasn't Enough 

How much did the Waltons spend to buy Louisiana education elections? Merceds Schneider knows.

Hidden Messages Your School Sends To Students

Nancy Flanagan with some thoughts about the subtext of a school.


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CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

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TODAY

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

by Peter Greene / 2h

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share. Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions Not about educat

Shame

46by Peter Greene / 2h

The most shocking and disturbing thing that I saw on line this week had nothing to do with politics. It was a post by a teacher explaining her school's disciplinary system. As with many systems, students have a color-coded behavior level monitored and adjusted throughout the day. Unlike any school I'd ever heard of before, students at this school receive a colored card for their behavior level tha

OCT 18

What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

66by Peter Greene / 1d

You remember Rebecca Friedrichs. She was the face of the union-busting lawsuit of 2014 . Supreme Court Justice Alito signaled that he was ready and willing to hear a case that would revisit the issue of union free-riders, and the Center for Individual Rights (an activist-by-way-of-lawsuits group funded by, among others, various Koch groups and the DeVos family ) delivered with Friedrichs plus nine

OCT 16

Scorched Earth Education Policy (Charters, Watch Your Flank)

65by Peter Greene / 3d

This is you should ignore the old admonition to not read the comments. I converse with plenty of folks that I disagree with, both in the ed policy world and outside of it, and those conversations are largely civil, which sometimes distracts me from the fact that there are people out there who hate, hate, hate public education ("government schools") and the teachers who work there ("union thugs").

Are State Takeovers A Useful Tool

38by Peter Greene / 3d

Earlier this month, the 74 published an unusual article from Ashley Jochim and Paul Hill, both of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Their argument is that state takeovers of school districts "remain a powerful tool." What's exceptional about the piece is that it is loaded with evidence to the contrary. I mean, ordinarily I would have had to go hunt this stuff down myself, but it's right

OCT 15

Betsy DeVos, Polly Williams, Vouchers, And Selective Facts

65by Peter Greene / 4d

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos kicked off her back to school tour at the Saint Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee a few weeks ago. This piece ran back then at Forbes, and I don't repost everything from there, but we've developed such goldfish memories under this administration, I'm going to trot this one out again here. Because we need to remember what the threat to public education is. The

OCT 14

Fake Slaughter And The Liberal Arts

33by Peter Greene / 5d

The interwebs are abuzz with a video shown in some side room by some assortment of Trumpists at the American Priority gathering held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. There are questions about who brought it, who showed it, and how it had already been kicking around the internet, but there's no question that the whole thing is pretty brutal. In the clip, a bunch of faces and logos have been cyber-past

OCT 13

ICYMI: Quiet Sunday Edition (10/13)

by Peter Greene / 6d

It's a quiet day in these parts, but there is still some reading to do from the previous week. Here are some pieces you might want to catch up on. Don't forget to share-- The Walton Takeover of Public Education Continues The Arkansas blog looks at what our favorite retail oligarchs are up to in their home state. Five Signs Your Reform Has Become Another Education Fad Rick Hess at EdWeek makes a us

OCT 12

KY: Pushing Old Charter Myths In A New Market

23by Peter Greene / 7d

Kentucky has spent a bunch of time in charter limbo --there is a charter law on the books, but the legislature wouldn't fund it and l ocal districts are (shocker) unwilling to share their aready-meager funding. So Kentucky remains a fresh 

CURMUDGUCATION

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep

I was educated in public schools by dedicated teachers in the pre-digital age.  My teachers read books to me and had me read books.  I learned math, partly by rote, but also through friendly student competitions.  Science I learned by doing, like chemistry with Bunsen burners and test tubes.  I had classes in art and music, and even though I had little talent in drawing or playing an instrument, I still learned to appreciate both subjects.  My high school was big and diverse, so I took electives in courses I really enjoyed, like science fiction, photography, even a course in aquariology, in which I built my own aquarium.  And I must say I’m glad there wasn’t the distraction of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and similar social media sites to torment me; video games, meanwhile, were in my day still crude, so I spent more time outside, playing tennis, riding my bike, hanging with friends, being in the world and nature (fishing was a favorite pursuit).

When I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a solid grounding: that I knew enough to make educated choices; that I could participate as a citizen by voting intelligently when I was eighteen.

When I was a teen, we learned a lot about history and civics and the humanities.  We spent time in the library, researching and writing.  I took a debate course and learned how to construct an argument and speak before an audience.  When I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a solid grounding: that I knew enough to make educated choices; that I could participate as a citizen by voting intelligently when I was eighteen.

Something has happened to education in America.  You can see it in the big trends that are being hyped, including STEM, vocational training, computers and online courses, and privatization (charter schools).  What suffers from these trends is the humanities, the arts, unionized teachers, critical and creative thinking skills, and, most CONTINUE READING: Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis

Karen Lewis is the inspiration for today’s teacher’s strikes.

She is one of a kind.

She is a hero, a woman of courage, character, integrity, intellect, and steel.

The Chicago Teachers Union just released this video tribute to Karen.

Karen is a product of the Chicago Public Schools. She went to elite Ivy League colleges, first to Mount Holyoke, then transferred to Dartmouth College, where she was the only African American female in the class of 1974.

Karen returned to Chicago and became a chemistry teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, where she taught for 22 years.

In 2010, an upstart group of unionists called the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) ousted the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union and elected Karen Lewis as its president. The new leadership cut its own salaries and began building relationships with community organizations and parents.

The city’s political and financial elite rewrote state law in hopes of preventing the union from striking. Assisted by Jonah Edelman of the turncoat “Stand for Children,” the city’s financial elite hired the state’s top lobbyists (so that none would be available to help the union), raised CONTINUE READING: Teacher Activism: The One, the Only, the Great Karen Lewis | Diane Ravitch's blog

teacherken: One down, three to go . . .

One down, three to go . . .

One down, three to go . . .

Friday was the final day of 1st quarter.  It was also the penultimate game for our freshman soccer team.  Both of those events are occasions for another reflection on teaching and related.  If interested in my observations, which will use those as a starting point for broader reflection, please keep reading.  If not, my feelings will not be hurt if you move on without leaving any evidence of having stopped by.

I will start with soccer.  IF my memory is correct, after our 4-2 win over the Junior Varsity of Sidwell Friends (meaning some of the opposing players were sophomores and bigger and faster than many of ours) our record is now 4 wins, 4 losses, and two ties.  That record is somewhat disappointing, and with just a few breaks could have been 7-2-1.  The two goals we gave up, one on a PK and the other on the only corner kick we conceded, were both the ultimate result of 2 of our four defensive lapses in the game.  Regardless of the score, we dominated the game because for only the 2nd time this year we got our players to do what we wanted —  play with your heads up, move the ball on one or two touch passes, move to open spaces, follow shots for rebounds, etc.  The first time we had done that, we had won 8-4, all four goals against coming as the result of defensive mistakes.  Friday we well could have scored ten and should have scored 7, but perhaps the best player on the other team was their goalie.  Four different players scored, the players showed more maturity and with one exception more team spirit that we have seen.  What was most satisfying as coaches was to see them mature —  as players, teammates, and young men.  That was something nice to have at the end of the quarter.

I have a couple of students who are allowed to turn in missing work on Monday before I post my grades.  At DeMatha we require a 65 in order to pass.  I have 130 students.  I have 3 who will fail the first quarter, in each case because of not turning in work, even CONTINUE READING: One down, three to go . . .

Founder and CEO of embattled Inspire charter schools resigns - Los Angeles Times

Founder and CEO of embattled Inspire charter schools resigns - Los Angeles Times

Founder and CEO of embattled Inspire charter schools resigns

By Kristen Taketa
SAN DIEGO — 

The founder and Chief Executive of the embattled Inspire charter school network has resigned, Inspire officials have announced.

The resignation of Herbert “Nick” Nichols on Friday comes after seven county superintendents, including those from Los Angeles and San Diego counties, officially requested a state fiscal agency to audit the Inspire network for potential fraud.

Nichols’ resignation is effective immediately, said Chris Bertelli, a spokesman for Inspire. No reason was given for his resignation.

Nichols could not be reached for comment Friday.

“We acknowledge and express our gratitude to him as one of the founders of the Inspire organization,” officials said in emails to Inspire staff and families Friday. “We at the Inspire District Office and the Inspire Family of Schools are dedicated to seeing the true Inspire model and the philosophy behind it continue to impact the children, families, and communities we serve. The schools have a strong group of leaders and teachers that are dedicated to meeting the educational and social needs of our students.”

Nichols has been on an unexplained leave of absence since late September. Inspire announced his leave of absence days after the California Charter Schools Assn., which advocates for and supports charter schools, announced that it had expelled Inspire from its membership.

Steven Lawrence, who has been serving as Inspire’s interim leader while Nichols was on leave, will continue as executive director for the rest of the school year.

Nichols was serving as the executive director of Inspire District Office, a nonprofit corporation that he helped to found that has been collecting 15% of Inspire schools’ revenue and was providing many services to Inspire schools. He was making a $380,000 annual salary, according to Inspire.

Education officials have raised questions about Inspire District Office for its various financial transactions with Inspire schools and corporations affiliated with Inspire.

Since the first Inspire school opened in 2014, the charter network has grown rapidly to include an estimated 35,000-plus students across the state, alarming education officials who question the rapid growth, the San Diego Union-Tribune found in an investigation of Inspire.

Meanwhile, Inspire schools have engaged in heavy cash borrowing with an outside charter school capital firm and with related Inspire corporations.

The superintendents said in their audit request they have reason to believe Inspire engaged in fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest, manipulation of enrollment and revenue and other improper activity.

“The concerns regarding Inspire are pervasive across the state, and require immediate attention to prevent further waste of public education dollars and profiting off state apportionment not used to provide a complete and quality education to the students enrolled in the school,” six county superintendents wrote in their letter earlier this month to the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team, the state agency that audits schools for fraud.

In addition to San Diego, El Dorado, Sutter and Kern counties have authorized Inspire schools in their area. Ventura and Placer counties said Inspire was operating unauthorized resource centers in their areas.

Los Angeles County joined in the request for the audit because Inspire is CONTINUE READING:  Founder and CEO of embattled Inspire charter schools resigns - Los Angeles Times

CURMUDGUCATION: Shame

CURMUDGUCATION: Shame

Shame

The most shocking and disturbing thing that I saw on line this week had nothing to do with politics. It was a post by a teacher explaining her school's disciplinary system. As with many systems, students have a color-coded behavior level monitored and adjusted throughout the day. Unlike any school I'd ever heard of before, students at this school receive a colored card for their behavior level that they must wear on a lanyard around their neck all day.

When it comes to accounts of disciplinary systems in school, I try to tread lightly, because the context and human touch of implementation matter. But this is patently dumb.

What is it about human beings that makes so many of us believe in the magical power of shame. Shame inflictors tend to share a common narrative-- if we shame this person, that will motivate them to do better. Shame will push them to rise above their shameful failings, somehow.

This is bunk. It is not how human beings work. It is especially not how tiny humans work.

You do not get people to stand up by knocking them down. You do not get people to be bigger by making them feel small. That is not how this work. That is not how any of this works.

People do better because they feel strong enough to do better. When you shame someone, you tell them that they are weak, that they can't stand up, that they have fallen and failed because who they are is just not good enough. Adult humans with a strong sense of self have the power to beat that back, to say, "No, I know who I am, and it's not the person you're describing." But children-- young humans who don't yet have a clear sense of who they are? That's a different matter. That is part of what they come to school to find out-- what their best self is, and how that self can best be in the world. Telling them that some large part of them sucks is just wrong.

I know the impulse. Somebody has done something stupid or wrong or bad, and you are really really CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Shame

Can algorithms really teach kids to write better? Algorithms are grading student essays are trying. - Vox

Can algorithms really teach kids to write better? Algorithms are grading student essays are trying. - Vox

Algorithms are grading student essays across the country. Can it really teach kids how to write better?
The AI algorithms grading student essays are a black box.

Algorithms are grading student essays across the country. So can artificial intelligence really teach us to write better?

Todd Feathers, who wrote about AI essay grading for Motherboard, called up every state in the country and found that at least 21 states use some form of automated scoring.

“The algorithms are prone to a couple of flaws. One is that they can be fooled by any kind of nonsense gibberish sophisticated words. It looks good from afar but it doesn’t actually mean anything. And the other problem is that some of the algorithms have been proven by the testing vendors themselves to be biased against people from certain language backgrounds.”

Feathers wasn’t able to pin down exactly how many students are affected by this. But here’s what we do know: These programs are being used to grade students of all ages and levels, from high school students to students applying to grad school, from middle school students even down to those in elementary school.

The reason it’s so hard to figure out who’s affected by AI grading is because there’s no one program that’s being used. There are a bunch of different algorithms, made by a bunch of different companies. But they’re all made in basically the same way: First, an automated scoring company looks at how human graders behave. Then, the company trains an algorithm to make predictions as to how a human grader might score an essay based on that data. Depending on the program, those predictions can be consistently wrong in the same way. In other words, they can be biased. And once those algorithms are built, explains Reset host Arielle Duhaime-Ross, they can reproduce those biases at a huge scale.

And the worst part? You can’t cross-examine an algorithm and get to the bottom of why it CONTINUE READING: Can algorithms really teach kids to write better? Algorithms are grading student essays are trying. - Vox

Rebuilding the village: A West Virginia school system strives to lift up its children by tackling poverty - The Washington Post

Rebuilding the village: A West Virginia school system strives to lift up its children by tackling poverty - The Washington Post

Rebuilding the village: A West Virginia school system strives to lift up its children by tackling poverty

WELCH, W.Va. — The ceremony had the feel of a church service.

Standing at the end of a block lined mostly with empty storefronts, officials wielded a crackly PA system, their voices carrying over the din of coal trucks that rumbled through the town. They stood in the shadow of a half-constructed building whose workers paused to take in the spectacle.

“That is our belief: that small towns can thrive again, that all children regardless of demography or geography can thrive,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a national teachers union, last month. She grew louder, her voice rising with each word: “From this day forward, we commit that not one more school, not one more hospital, not one more post office, not one more grocery store — should close on our watch!”

Dignitaries from across West Virginia — and union leaders from across the country — had arrived at the end of this block to celebrate the construction of Renaissance Village, a mixed-use complex that officials hope will spark a revitalization of this dying town. And more than that, they’re pinning their hopes on it attracting more teachers to the McDowell County school system, whose ills are exacerbated by a revolving door of novice instructors and substitutes.

Slated to be completed in the spring, the building will have 16 apartments and two floors of commercial and retail space. The $8.5 million project is being funded by the teachers union, tax credits and a capital campaign and is the first multistory building to be constructed in McDowell County in 50 years, according to the union.

Inside West Virginia’s child welfare crisis

The building represents the latest in the county’s ambitious efforts to boost academic achievement by CONTINUE READING: Rebuilding the village: A West Virginia school system strives to lift up its children by tackling poverty - The Washington Post

Education Insider for October 20, 1019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for October 20, 1019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for October 20, 1019

House rewrite of Higher Education Act fulfills key NEA goals

The College Affordability Act (H.R. 4674), introduced Oct. 15 by the House Education and Labor Committee chaired by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), fulfills key NEA goals for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) that governs federal student-aid programs, federal aid to colleges, oversight of teacher preparation programs, and more. “On behalf of our country’s educators and students, NEA is proud to strongly support Chairman Scott’s College Affordability Act and looks forward to the legislation moving swiftly through the House,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said. The bill would help ensure that teachers have the right skills and tools to prepare students for the future; substantially improve the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program; prioritize the needs and conditions of students and borrowers, as opposed to lenders; and provide permanent, mandatory funding for HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. Tell your representative to support the bill and your senators that students and educators need a comprehensive HEA reauthorization. TAKE ACTION

Vote coming on DeVos ally nominated to serve as appellate judge

The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote as soon as this week on Steven Menashi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. An architect of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ disastrous policies, Menashi could do even more harm as an appellate judge. He has failed to protect students from predatory online institutions, failed to ensure student loans are forgiven for public service, weakened protections against sexual assault and harassment, and is openly hostile to education and civil rights—to give just two examples, he lamented that our education system promotes “egalitarianism” and opposed student financial aid because it “punishes” affluent families. Menashi also worked with presidential adviser Stephen Miller on immigration policies that have terrified and traumatized our students, their families, and entire communities. Tell your senators to VOTE NO on Menashi. TAKE ACTION

Tell senators to push to repeal tax on middle class health benefits

Unless the Senate acts, working families’ health benefits will be taxed. Three months ago, the House voted 419-6 to repeal the tax on middle class health benefits scheduled to take effect in 2022. Now, it’s up to the Senate. According to an analysis published in Health Affairs, educators would be among those hit hardest. Already, employers are pushing to scale back health benefits. Over the last decade, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports, family premiums have gone up 55 percent and deductibles 212 percent—far more than the 26 percent increase in workers’ earnings over the same period. Workers can’t afford a new tax on their benefits. The Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act (S. 684) has 62 cosponsors—more than enough for passage if leadership allows a vote. Tell your senators to cosponsor S. 684, if they haven’t already, and urge Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to bring it to the floor. TAKE ACTION

Elijah Cummings will be missed

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) died this week after 23 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. The son of sharecroppers from South Carolina, he grew up in a three-room house in Baltimore with six siblings and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University after a childhood in special education classes. “When I became a lawyer, no one asked me if I had spent some time in special ed,” he said. “All they wanted was a good lawyer. The same little boys that bullied me, the same ones that beat me up, they became my clients.”

NEA President Lily Eskelsen García summed up the feelings of educators all across America in her tweet: “Deeply saddened to hear that Rep. Elijah Cummings has passed away. He was tenacious, remarkable, and kind. A champion for civil rights, for students, for public education, and for Baltimore. Rest in Peace. Rest in Power.”

Cheers and Jeers

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) held a hearing on Oct. 16, “Examining the USDA’s Proposed Cuts to Free School Meals.” The proposed cuts could endanger automatic eligibility for school meals for more than 500,000 students. At the hearing, Reps. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Barbara Lee (D-TX), David Trone (D-MD), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Marty Wilde (D-OR), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Alma Adams (D-NC) spoke out against the SNAP cuts proposed by the administration.

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) submitted NEA’s comments for the record in connection with the hearing on the administration’s proposed cuts in school meals.

Education Insider for October 20, 1019 - Education Votes