Wednesday, December 2, 2020

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDOUTBREAK #BIDENWINS #46

Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA

TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 



Master Plan for Early Learning and Care - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel97.asp



SEED + SPARK: The Expedition – Sam Chaltain - http://www.samchaltain.com/?p=2427

Elizabeth Warren presses Joe Biden to enact ‘effective economic stimulus’ with single pen stroke: Cancel student debt https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/elizabeth-warren-presses-joe-biden-to-enact-effective-economic-stimulus-with-single-pen-stroke-cancel-student-debt/#.X8ffT2jhxLk.twitter

‘Bye-bye – You won’t be missed’: Betsy DeVos gets slammed by Bernie Sanders as she attacks push for tuition-free college https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/bye-bye-you-wont-be-missed-betsy-devos-gets-slammed-by-bernie-sanders-as-she-s-push-for-tuition-free-college/#.X8ffbttDf50.twitter

Hack Education: What Happens When Ed-Tech Forgets? Some Thoughts on Rehabilitating Reputations | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10635 on @NEPCtweet

Teacher Simply Acknowledging Black Lives Matter in Lesson Prompts Prolonged, Racist Outrage in Wisconsin Town https://www.theroot.com/teacher-simply-acknowledging-black-lives-matter-in-less-1845784387?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theroot_twitter via @TheRoot

Department of Education Finally Starts Processing COVID-Related Discrimination Cases 9 Months Into Pandemic https://www.theroot.com/department-of-education-finally-starts-processing-covid-1845785825?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theroot_twitter via @TheRoot

Education Department pauses student loan bills, awaiting Congress or Trump to act - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/01/education-department-student-loans-442053

‘Every day is a challenge’: 8 lessons from the toughest school year ever - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/02/school-reopening-lessons-coronavirus-441393

Poll: Voters would support Oklahoma education reform https://nondoc.com/2020/12/02/poll-shows-support-for-education-reform/ via @nondocmedia

12 Reasons Why Sex Ed Reform Cannot Wait - In These Times - https://inthesetimes.com/article/sex-education-reform-lgbtq-rights via @InTheseTimesMag



Stress And Depression Rising Again Among Students As School Closures Drag On | St. Louis Public Radio - https://news.stlpublicradio.org/education/2020-12-01/stress-and-depression-rising-again-among-students-as-school-closures-drag-on#new_tab on @stlpublicradio

Black Education Tragedy Is New, by Walter E.Williams | Creators Syndicate - https://www.creators.com/read/walter-williams/12/20/black-education-tragedy-is-new#new_tab on @creatorsnation

Surge in D’s and F’s in San Diego County schools raises questions: How to grade during pandemic - The San Diego Union-Tribune - https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-11-28/surge-in-ds-and-fs-in-san-diego-county-schools-raises-questions-how-to-grade-during-pandemic#new_tab by @Kristen_Taketa on @sdut

Palm Beach County school board member accused of fraud - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-ne-complaint-school-board-ayala-20201202-4eajlsv6i5hp5es2wgscdd5cym-story.html#new_tab via @SunSentinel

An Impossible Choice: Teachers Resign Amid Lack Of Covid Protections | NBC News - YouTube - https://youtu.be/uq-6ozihg1o on @youtube

Bountiful High to drop ‘Braves,’ select ‘culturally sensitive’ mascot - Deseret News - https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/11/30/21726873/bountiful-braves-new-culturally-sensitive-mascot-selection-process#new_tab on deseretnews

St. Louis schools slated for permanent closure during historic enrollment decline | Education | stltoday.com - https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/st-louis-schools-slated-for-permanent-closure-during-historic-enrollment-decline/article_303b721d-d0c9-5891-9e18-8d48a04a42e6.html#new_tab by @https://twitter.com/blythebernhard on @stltoday

S.F. officials want teachers prioritized for coronavirus vaccines - SFChronicle.com - https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/S-F-officials-want-teachers-prioritized-for-15767725.php#new_tab on @sfchronicle

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos undid Obama policy. Who'll Biden pick? - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/12/02/betsy-devos-biden-education-secretary/3781931001/#new_tab via @usatoday

blueprint for early education - Los Angeles Times - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-01/california-unveiled-a-blueprint-for-the-future-of-early-education-critics-say-its-
Master Plan for Early Learning and Care - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)
by Mike Simpson / now
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Issues Statement Applauding Release of Master Plan for Early Learning and Care SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond issued the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s release of the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care: California for All Kids , a roadmap for building a more equitable, comprehensive early lea
Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests | janresseger
by Mike Simpson / now
Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests Parents, children, teachers, principals, and school superintendents are living through a time of unknowns. COVID-19 is raging across the states with many public schools operating only online. Some public schools, which have been able to open in person or on hybrid schedules, have subsequently been forced to close
Follow these #EdJustice Superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education
by Mike Simpson / now
Follow these #EdJustice Superstars It’s that time of the year again... the Schott Foundation’s third annual list of 10 Education Justice Superstars to follow on social media! Spice up your feed with knowledge and inspiration from these influential and energized advocates. They’re leading the way, pushing racial and gender equity, fair funding, community schools, grassroots organizing and other c
The telling things Barack Obama wrote -- and didn’t mention -- about his education policies in new memoir - The Washington Post
by Mike Simpson / now
The telling things Barack Obama wrote — and didn’t mention — about his education policies in new memoir In his best-selling new book , “A Promised Land,” Barack Obama writes compellingly about his road to the White House and key moments and policies of his first term as president. There’s the Affordable Care Act. The crisis he inherited in the U.S. financial system and his successful efforts to
Community schools are the schools we need now
by Mike Simpson / now
To the rescue — The schools we need now are community schools When the coronavirus struck, the community-school model showed how quickly families and schools needing extra resources could be helped W hen America’s schools shut down in mid-March as a result of Covid-19 and transitioned to some form of remote learning, the nation’s community schools responded rapidly. That’s because these schools
NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER
by Mike Simpson / now
NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/11/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile_28.html Michael Eric Dyson's Book, 'Long Time Coming,' Aims To Help 


Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School | Diane Ravitch's blog
Big Education Ape / 1h
Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School The New York Times reports that scientists are converging on a consensus that it is safe for young children to return to school. After a summer of uncertainty and fear about how schools across the globe would operate in a pandemic, a consensus has emerged in recent months that is becoming policy in more and more districts: In-pers
The “insidious” Betsy DeVos. But what will the Democrats do about student loan debt? – Fred Klonsky
Big Education Ape / 1h
THE “INSIDIOUS” BETSY DEVOS. BUT WHAT WILL THE DEMOCRATS DO ABOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT? The insidious Betsy and Dick DeVos. Departing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos blasted student debt forgiveness in what was likely her last major policy speech, calling proposals like free college and the cancellation of student loan debt “truly insidious.” “We’ve heard shrill calls to cancel, to forgive, to make
CURMUDGUCATION: Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch
Big Education Ape / 1h
Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch I've been offering updates from my own small town/rural corner of the universe for just one more data point about how various school districts are dealing with pandemic education. We don't all need to write about New York City schools. My region had a decent shot. In a county of 50,000 people, we had a total of 70 cases at t
Teacher Tom: This is What Real Learning Looks Like
Big Education Ape / 1h
This is What Real Learning Looks Like This is the problem with letting dilettantes, even well-intended dilettantes, lead when it comes to education policy. They don't have the experience to recognize what real learning looks like, and since they tend to come from the world of business, they don't trust mere "employees" (teachers), especially if they belong to a union, so they come up with arbitr
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007
Big Education Ape / 1h
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/11/this-week-i
Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis? | janresseger
Big Education Ape / 3h
Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis? Here in Ohio, during the current lame duck session, legislators are considering a new school funding formula. The Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan has been in the making for almost two years (See here and here .), but even now as the plan comes to a vote before December 31, the end of the current legis
Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Big Education Ape / 3h
Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan? When and how did the Winnetka Plan begin and grow to become a nationally known lighthouse for Progressivism? A small wealthy suburb of Chicago in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, Winnteka leaders embraced the ideas of John Dewey and the “New Education,” an off-shoot of the then spreading Progressive movement. As the authors of a history of the Winne
Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW! – I AM AN EDUCATOR
Big Education Ape / 3h
Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register Today! – I AM AN EDUCATOR Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW! Dear readers, I am writing to invite you to the book launch event for the new book I co-edited with Denisha Jones, Black Lives
Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited | Live Long and Prosper
Big Education Ape / 3h
Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited ONE SIZE FITS SOME A post on Diane Ravitch’s blog has raised the topic of grade retention. Laura Chapman: Who Is Behind the “Read by Third Grade or Be Retained” Campaign? There is a national read-by-grade three campaign. The practice of holding students back a grade is not new, but in the olden days it was never based on test scores alone and certainly not

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDOUTBREAK #BIDENWINS #46
Big Education Ape / 22h
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES DeSantis says no new lockdowns, mask mandates or any other anti-COVID-19 measure in Florida - Orlando Sentinel - 
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Master Plan for Early Learning and Care - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Master Plan for Early Learning and Care - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Issues Statement Applauding Release of Master Plan for Early Learning and Care




SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond issued the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s release of the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care: California for All KidsExternal link opens in new window or tab., a roadmap for building a more equitable, comprehensive early learning and care system in California.

“We know that bold investments early in a child’s life can pay remarkable returns throughout their education and their careers. We applaud the recommendations outlined today that we know can level the playing field and make all the difference for children, such as providing universal preschool and ending disproportionate suspensions for students of color in early care.

“My team looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Governor, the Legislature, practitioners, and members of the philanthropic sector to chart a course to implement the key actions that can support child development and propel every child into a bright future.”

Read the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care documentExternal link opens in new window or tab. (PDF) or via the California for All Kids interactive websiteExternal link opens in new window or tab..

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

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Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests | janresseger

Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests | janresseger
Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests




Parents, children, teachers, principals, and school superintendents are living through a time of unknowns. COVID-19 is raging across the states with many public schools operating only online. Some public schools, which have been able to open in person or on hybrid schedules, have subsequently been forced to close already reopened buildings or specific classrooms as COVID-19 cases arise and everybody quarantines.

In the midst of a chaotic situation with no good and stable solutions for many public schools, suddenly last week everybody started worrying about what to do about this year’s standardized tests. The Washington Post‘s Perry Stein reports that outgoing Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos postponed the winter administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the one test administered across all the states, the test that tracks school achievement over the decades and is not distorted by high stakes consequences.

Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the Democratic leaders of the House Education Committee, agreed to delay the NAEP, but said the nation needs some kind of measure of learning loss during the pandemic.  They released a statement declaring that annual state tests mandated under the Every Student Succeeds Act must surely be administered: “Existing achievement gaps are widening for our most vulnerable students, including students from families with low incomes, students with disabilities, English learners, and students of color. In order for our nation to recover and rebuild from the pandemic, we must first understand the magnitude of learning loss that has impacted students across the country. That cannot happen without assessment data.”

While I frequently agree with Representatives Scott and Murray, I think worrying about standardized testing right now ought to be a low priority, and I think the state-by-state CONTINUE READING: Nobody Should Be Wasting Time Worrying About When to Administer Standardized Tests | janresseger

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Follow these #EdJustice Superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Follow these #EdJustice Superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education
Follow these #EdJustice Superstars




It’s that time of the year again... the Schott Foundation’s third annual list of 10 Education Justice Superstars to follow on social media! Spice up your feed with knowledge and inspiration from these influential and energized advocates. They’re leading the way, pushing racial and gender equity, fair funding, community schools, grassroots organizing and other crucial issues to the fore. Be sure to give them a follow!

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The telling things Barack Obama wrote -- and didn’t mention -- about his education policies in new memoir - The Washington Post

The telling things Barack Obama wrote -- and didn’t mention -- about his education policies in new memoir - The Washington Post
The telling things Barack Obama wrote — and didn’t mention — about his education policies in new memoir



In his best-selling new book, “A Promised Land,” Barack Obama writes compellingly about his road to the White House and key moments and policies of his first term as president. There’s the Affordable Care Act. The crisis he inherited in the U.S. financial system and his successful efforts to save it. The Afghan War. The Arab-Israeli conflict and the Arab Spring. China and Iran. Climate change. The raid he ordered to kill Osama bin Laden.

But on one important issue that proved to be a flash point — education policy — he doesn’t have much to say. The memoir’s index shows references to education policies on only four of 701 narrative pages — and none are more than a few sentences. What he doesn’t address says at least as much as what he does.

Meanwhile, his vice president, Joe Biden, will become president of the United States on Jan. 20, and the Biden education agenda will be compared not only to that of President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did but also to Obama’s.

Biden has so far laid out an education overhaul agenda that does not resemble Trump’s or Obama’s, and he has promised to be a friend to public educators — but many are waiting to see what he actually does after they were disappointed by Obama.

Obama’s education agenda surprised many of his supporters, who had expected him to address inequity in public schools and to de-emphasize high-stakes standardized testing, which had become the key metric to hold schools accountable under the 2001 federal No Child Left Behind law.

But Obama did not. Instead, he allowed Education Secretary Arne Duncan to push a strident education overhaul program that made standardized testing even more important than NCLB had, and that became highly controversial across the political spectrum for different reasons. Critics called it “corporate reform” because it used methods more common in business than in civic institutions, such as using big data, closing schools that underperformed, and eliminating or weakening of teacher tenure and seniority rights. CONTINUE READING: The telling things Barack Obama wrote -- and didn’t mention -- about his education policies in new memoir - The Washington Post



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Community schools are the schools we need now

Community schools are the schools we need now
To the rescue — The schools we need now are community schools
When the coronavirus struck, the community-school model showed how quickly families and schools needing extra resources could be helped




When America’s schools shut down in mid-March as a result of Covid-19 and transitioned to some form of remote learning, the nation’s community schools responded rapidly.  That’s because these schools already had strong existing relationships with providers of community resources, both public and private.

At least 8,000 American public schools identify as community schools, meaning that they work in well-planned partnerships with local organizations that offer resources like medical, dental and mental health services; before- and after-school programs; and housing and employment assistance to parents. These partners are integrated into the life of the school, both through formal mechanisms and through informal day-to-day contact, which means they can get the right services to the right students at the right time.

City Connects, an organization that integrates student support services in more than 150 urban schools, saw the coronavirus pandemic highlight its value.  

“Having a systemic and systematic strategy for supporting every student made a huge difference when Covid closed the curtain,” said Mary Walsh, executive director of City Connects, an organization based at Boston College. “We were able to avoid ‘random acts of student support’ and to ensure that every student had their needs met and their strengths supported.” CONTINUE READING: Community schools are the schools we need now
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Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School | Diane Ravitch's blog

Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School | Diane Ravitch's blog
Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School




The New York Times reports that scientists are converging on a consensus that it is safe for young children to return to school.

After a summer of uncertainty and fear about how schools across the globe would operate in a pandemic, a consensus has emerged in recent months that is becoming policy in more and more districts: In-person teaching with young children is safer than with older ones, and particularly crucial for their development.

On Sunday, New York City, home to the country’s largest school system, became the most high-profile example of that trend, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that only elementary schools and some schools for children with complex disabilities would reopen after all city classrooms were briefly shuttered in November. There is no plan yet to bring middle and high school students back into city school buildings.

It was an abrupt about-face for the mayor, who had for months promised to welcome all of the city’s 1.1 million children — from 3-year-olds to high school seniors — back into classrooms this fall.

But the decision put New York in line with other cities around America and across the world, which have CONTINUE READING: Growing Consensus that Young Children Can Safely Return to School | Diane Ravitch's blog

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The “insidious” Betsy DeVos. But what will the Democrats do about student loan debt? – Fred Klonsky

The “insidious” Betsy DeVos. But what will the Democrats do about student loan debt? – Fred Klonsky
THE “INSIDIOUS” BETSY DEVOS. BUT WHAT WILL THE DEMOCRATS DO ABOUT STUDENT LOAN DEBT?


The insidious Betsy and Dick DeVos.

Departing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos blasted student debt forgiveness in what was likely her last major policy speech, calling proposals like free college and the cancellation of student loan debt “truly insidious.”

“We’ve heard shrill calls to cancel, to forgive, to make it all free. Any innocuous label out there can’t obfuscate what it really is: wrong.”

DeVos called it, “The truly insidious notion of government gift giving.”

Well, she would know something about government gift giving.

CNBC reported:

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her family are among the groups that have seen an income boon of millions through their own investments since Trump’s tax reform plan was signed, CONTINUE READING: 

The “insidious” Betsy DeVos. But what will the Democrats do about student loan debt? – Fred Klonsky
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CURMUDGUCATION: Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch

CURMUDGUCATION: Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch
Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch



I've been offering updates from my own small town/rural corner of the universe for just one more data point about how various school districts are dealing with pandemic education. We don't all need to write about New York City schools.

My region had a decent shot. In a county of 50,000 people, we had a total of 70 cases at the beginning of September. All schools opened for face-to-face instruction, with various precautions and protocols in place.

Things have gone south pretty rapidly. We just passed 1,000 cases. 

School districts had moved from face to face to hybrid elementary and distance high school. That lasted a few weeks, but there have been repeated multiple out breaks in schools. One district is still toggling between hybrid and distance--basically every time there's a confirmed case in the school, they go back to distance for a couple of weeks. Everyone else was in distance mode.

Last night several local boards (there are four districts in the county) met to decide what to do with the rest of December. The discussions were spirited but nuanced. Because we are so rural, there are some major issues with getting a wifi signal to some folks; there are a few hot spots set up, but (and this seems to escape some folks) a hot spot is basically a relay station, and you can't relay a signal you can't get. So folks who want to use the hot spots have to drive to them. Not everyone has vehicle access, and winter's moving in.

The local boards really struggling. Nobody thinks virtual school is best. Nobody. But now, really for the first time, people now people who have suffered or died from covid. Reliably Trumpy Facebook CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Back On The No-Longer-Trailing Pandemic Education Edge: Digging A Ditch

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Teacher Tom: This is What Real Learning Looks Like

Teacher Tom: This is What Real Learning Looks Like
This is What Real Learning Looks Like



This is the problem with letting dilettantes, even well-intended dilettantes, lead when it comes to education policy. They don't have the experience to recognize what real learning looks like, and since they tend to come from the world of business, they don't trust mere "employees" (teachers), especially if they belong to a union, so they come up with arbitrary data points that carry with them a hint of education-ness, then subject children to their amateur hour. I don't think that most of them want to be cruel to children and their parents, but in their ignorance they believe they know better because they've managed to make money off selling software or hardware or something, so they conjure up education-ish sounding ideas and, because they can, they impose them, despite the objections of those of us who do have the experience to know what real learning looks like.

Anyone who has spent any time in a classroom knows that real learning does not look like children slumped in chairs staring at iPads. Real learning looks like stepping in a puddle you've made with your friends, then sinking in until the water tops your boots.


Real learning looks like pouring water through systems of CONTINUE READING:  Teacher Tom: This is What Real Learning Looks Like

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Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis? | janresseger

Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis? | janresseger
Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis?




Here in Ohio, during the current lame duck session, legislators are considering a new school funding formula. The Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan has been in the making for almost two years (See here and here.),  but even now as the plan comes to a vote before December 31, the end of the current legislative session, it has been difficult to build a wave of political will for justice for Ohio’s children.

The Ohio Legislature appears split. There is support in the Ohio House for fairer and more generous school funding, but key members of the Ohio Senate want to protect private school voucher programs and delay help for the state’s students in public schools. Even if the Fair School Funding Plan passes, a solution may be illusory.  How will it ever be funded? After a series of state tax cuts early in the current decade and in the midst of a COVID-19 recession, even if the new plan is set in place, making it operational will require a six-year phase in while legislators look for the necessary funds to pay for it.

The mere release of the proposal for the Fair School Funding Plan helped call the public’s attention to the state’s utter failure in recent years to distribute constitutionally mandated state funding fairly across Ohio’s public schools. Eighteen months ago, when the plan was released, we learned that 503 of the state’s 610 school districts had been either capped or on hold-harmless guarantee. These categories mean that despite changes in the number of students they serve or the special needs of their student populations, 503 school districts had, for years in many cases, been receiving the same amount of state funds they got last year and the year before that. Then, because of a shortage of state funds, the biennial state budget for FY 20-21, froze formula state school aid for every one of Ohio’s school districts at the FY 2019 CONTINUE READING: Will the Biden Administration Provide Leadership to Address Long School Funding Crisis? | janresseger

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Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan?




When and how did the Winnetka Plan begin and grow to become a nationally known lighthouse for Progressivism?

A small wealthy suburb of Chicago in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, Winnteka leaders embraced the ideas of John Dewey and the “New Education,” an off-shoot of the then spreading Progressive movement. As the authors of a history of the Winnetka schools put it:.

In May, 1919, they hired Carleton W. Washburne as the superintendent of schools. It was this 29-year old educator who would bring their ambitious dreams for their schools to a reality. As the architect of “The Winnetka Plan,” Washburne’s innovations – individualized instruction, hands-on learning, attention to the development of the whole child, a focus on research and development of curriculum materials, and a thoughtful and comprehensive program of staff development – were the pillars of his philosophy of progressive education and continue to be cornerstones of today’s Winnetka Public Schools.

Variations of the Winnetka plan spread to other districts in the state and the nation eager to be viewed as Progressive. Washburne wrote in journals and authored books on the Plan. He spoke often about Winnetka schools at CONTINUE READING: Whatever Happened to the Winnetka Plan? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

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Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW! – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register Today! – I AM AN EDUCATOR
Book Launch Event on 12/2 at 5:00 pm ET for “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Register NOW!


Dear readers,

I am writing to invite you to the book launch event for the new book I co-edited with Denisha Jones, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice! 

I could hardly be any more excited to join Denisha Jones and Brian Jones, the Associate Director of Education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, for our book event on Wednesday, December 2nd at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. You can Register for the event here. There will be time for Q and A, so bring your questions.


This book was the product of a lot of amazing educators, students, and parents in the Black Lives Matter at School movement around the country and we will be holding future book events with these other authors! I’m especially grateful to the educators in Philadelphia who helped launch the BLM at School movement on a national level and tell their story beautifully in the book.

Opal Tometi (co-founder of Black Lives Matter) wrote a powerful foreword, telling the story of her own experiences in school as a student and as a teacher, linking the broader BLM movement to education, and generalizing the lessons from the Black Lives Matter at School movement. 

I’m truly humbled by the great feedback initial feedback we are getting for the book. The Washington Post just ran a great review of the book, including excerpts from two chapters of the book. Ibram X. Kendi (National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author) said of our book, “’Black Lives Matter at School’ is an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system.” You can check out the new video trailer for the book to learn more.

See you at the book launch!

-Jesse Hagopian




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Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited | Live Long and Prosper

Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited | Live Long and Prosper
Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited




ONE SIZE FITS SOME

A post on Diane Ravitch’s blog has raised the topic of grade retention.

Laura Chapman: Who Is Behind the “Read by Third Grade or Be Retained” Campaign?

There is a national read-by-grade three campaign. The practice of holding students back a grade is not new, but in the olden days it was never based on test scores alone and certainly not based on scores from national tests. I am no expert in reading, but I have learned to question how questionable policies proliferate.

Right now, The Annie E, Casey Foundation is a source of the national “Read by Grade 3” campaign. It is financed by about thirty other foundations and corporations. You can read about the investors here: http://gradelevelreading.net/about-us/campaign-investors

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is also the source of widely cited and dubious research about reading. For example, the Foundation sponsored “Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation (2010, updated 2012)” by Dr. Donald J. Hernandez, sociologist at Hunter College (more recently at the University of Albany, CONTINUE READING: Third-Grade Punishment Laws – Revisited | Live Long and Prosper

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