Tuesday, March 23, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Tuesday, March 23, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Answer Sheet: Don’t Force Schools to Give Standardized Tests This Pandemic Year, Research Scholars Ask Education Secretary Cardona | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10818 on @NEPCtweet

Education Research Report: Report seeking to disqualify the 1619 Project curricular materials is just “ideological handwringing” - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board March 22, 2021--Confusion Over de Blasio's Hastily Made Plans - http://nyceducator.com/2021/03/uft-executive-board-march-22-2021.html

Analysis | Advocates to Education Department: Tell schools to focus relief funding on students with disabilities https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/03/23/advocates-want-schools-use-relief-funding-on-students-with-disabilities/?tid=ss_tw

Homeschooling Doubled During The Pandemic, U.S. Census Survey Finds https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/03/22/97127/homeschooling-doubled-during-the-pandemic-u-s-cens/ via @kpcc

Valerie Strauss on the NPE Report on For-Profit Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tTt via @dianeravitch

Homeroom: My Son Spends Hours Studying. Then He Forgets Everything. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAtlantic/~3/5AlGT8Mb6mU/

New York City high schools reopen https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/22/new-york-city-high-schools-reopen-477569

National Safe School Reopening Summit to Include President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, and More | U.S. Department of Education - https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/national-safe-school-reopening-summit-include-president-biden-vice-president-harris-first-lady-jill-biden-education-secretary-miguel-cardona-and-more

Let’s Urge High School Seniors to Complete the FAFSA® Form Today - ED.gov Blog - https://blog.ed.gov/?p=29667

Maryland schools report surge in failure rates for second quarter https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/maryland-schools-failing-grades/2021/03/22/fe33bc86-8b21-11eb-9423-04079921c915_story.html

STUDENT VOICE: A year later, I’m still learning in my bedroom — and really, really tired of it https://hechingerreport.org/student-voice-a-year-later-im-still-learning-in-my-bedroom-and-really-really-tired-of-it/

Elected leaders call for San Francisco school board member to resign after 2016 'racist' tweets http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/BHMZ8ay0MXE/elected-leaders-call-for-san-francisco-school-board-member-to-resign-after-2016-racist-tweets

New CDC guidelines spark debate over school reopening https://www.njspotlight.com/video/new-cdc-guidelines-spark-debate-over-school-reopening/

COMIC: How One Math Teacher Broke Through To Her Virtual Students https://www.npr.org/2021/03/23/978142942/comic-how-one-math-teacher-broke-through-to-her-virtual-students

As Districts Reopen For In-Person Learning, What Schools May Look Like Going Forward https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/980075522/as-districts-reopen-for-in-person-learning-what-schools-may-look-like-going-forw

‘I’ve Lost a Lot of Faith’: Suburban Parents Push Schools to Reopen Faster https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/nyregion/new-jersey-schools-reopening.html

Tuesday’s Must-Read Articles About School Reopenings | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=116383 on @Larryferlazzo

Montana: Charter Industry Targets Rural State | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tTV via @dianeravitch

Indianapolis schools: Failure rates up, twice as high in some cases - https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2021/03/19/ips-indianapolis-schools-failure-rates-up-2021-covid-learning/4550356001/#new_tab via @indystar

Less than a third of students likely to return to LAUSD campuses, survey shows https://news.yahoo.com/less-30-students-ready-return-154254595.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr via @YahooNews

Bills on governor’s desk encourage longer school year » Albuquerque Journal - https://www.abqjournal.com/2372348/lawmakers-push-to-extend-nm-school-year.html#new_tab on @abqjournal

Rep. Bobby Scott to Big City School Districts: Don’t Mess This Up | Education News | US News - https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-03-22/rep-bobby-scott-to-big-city-school-districts-dont-mess-this-up#new_tab on @USNews

AP-NORC poll: Learning setbacks a top concern for parents - https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-health-coronavirus-pandemic-only-on-ap-47d4047afb086c69c7a9687062f3c8f7#new_tab on @ap

How will Texas’ virtual schools work long term? Lawmakers need to decide - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/03/22/how-will-texas-virtual-schools-work-long-term-lawmakers-need-to-decide/#new_tab via @dallasnews

Indiana bill would stop state takeovers of failing schools https://www.thecentersquare.com/indiana/indiana-bill-would-stop-state-takeovers-of-failing-schools/article_76113c9e-8b4d-11eb-b844-47fdf35c9746.html

Somerville loses legal fight to fire teacher who moved out of NJ - https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/somerset-county/2021/03/22/somerville-teacher-moved-out-new-jersey-not-fired/4768703001/#new_tab via @MyCentralJersey

'It's depressing': More Mississippi students are in virtual classrooms without teachers during pandemic - https://mississippitoday.org/?p=996649 by @krroyals on @MSTODAYnews

Puerto Rico awarded $900M to help boost island's education - https://apnews.com/article/us-news-health-coronavirus-pandemic-puerto-rico-education-e46c32b58a129a9ad0a87978a35b00c4#new_tab on @ap

Teachers union "not convinced" social distancing can safely be cut to 3 feet https://www.cbsnews.com/news/school-social-distancing-3-feet-teachers-not-convinced/ via @CBSPolitics

CPS must go to trial for violating Black educators' rights in mass turnaround layoffs, terminations | Chicago Teachers Union - https://www.ctulocal1.org/?p=36757 via @ctulocal1

Students rally behind Black Tampa school cop fired for using racial slur - https://www.tampabay.com/news/hillsborough/2021/03/23/students-rally-behind-black-tampa-school-cop-fired-for-using-racial-slur/#new_tab on TB_Times

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe
Big Education Ape / now
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 THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/03/this-week-in-education-larry-f
Don’t force schools to give standardized tests this pandemic year, research scholars ask Education Secretary Cardona - The Washington Post
Big Education Ape / 7min
Don’t force schools to give standardized tests this pandemic year, research scholars ask Education Secretary Cardona More than 540 education researchers and scholars are asking Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to reconsider his department’s decision requiring school districts to administer federally mandated standardized tests this pandemic year, saying the exams will “exacerbate inequality” a
Betsy DeVos Raked In Vast Outside Income As Education Secretary | HuffPost
Big Education Ape / 13min
Betsy DeVos Raked In Vast Outside Income As Education Secretary The billionaire Trump Cabinet member reaped nine figures during her four years in office, a watchdog group revealed . Billionaire Betsy DeVos fattened her fortune considerably from various business interests during her four-year run as education secretary under former President Donald Trump . DeVos, who is reportedly worth more than
Florida Voucher School Hires Unqualified Teachers, Ex-Con, State Doesn’t Care | Diane Ravitch's blog
Big Education Ape / 25min
Florida Voucher School Hires Unqualified Teachers, Ex-Con, State Doesn’t Care The Orlando Sentinel has been covering scandal after scandal in the voucher schools of Florida, but the Legislature doesn’t care about their scandals and is planning to take even more money from public schools to fund more private voucher schools. The Sentinel published a story about one troubled voucher school that ha
8 to 3 parent newsletter about kids, school and education - Los Angeles Times
Big Education Ape / 55min
Introducing 8 to 3, a newsletter for parents about kids, school and education A new chapter is opening for families of school-age children and teenagers. Campuses throughout California are finally opening after a year of coronavirus-forced closures — and for parents who have navigated distance learning alongside their children, their connection to education has been rewired. The shared frustrati
Teacher Tom: Our Future Villages
Big Education Ape / 1h
Our Future Villages "We still had a blacksmith in our town in those days, if you can believe it." I was talking to the great grandfather of one of my students. Most of the time, the grandparents aren't much older than me, but here was a man 30 years my senior. I make a habit of talking to older people about their childhoods. I like seeing how they tend to light up. I learn about recent history t
Opening Up the Textbook (Sam Wineburg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Big Education Ape / 2h
Opening Up the Textbook (Sam Wineburg) Sam Wineburg is a professor of education and history at Stanford University, He along with Susan Ramiraz and Peter Stearns authored Human Legacy , a high school world history textbook.This appeared in Education Week , June 5, 2007 History textbooks have long merited special scorn. Thicker than a Duraflame log (and weighing more), today’s books feature pages
NYC Public School Parents: Our testimony about why NYC kids will need smaller classes next year than ever before -- & the federal funding is available to achieve this
Big Education Ape / 2h
Our testimony about why NYC kids will need smaller classes next year than ever before -- & the federal funding is available to achieve this Council education budget hearings tomorrow start at 9:30 AM; public testimony starts at about noon. You can watch and listen here , in Virtual Room 2. Our testimony advocating for a big chunk of the federal funds be used for smaller classes below for the sak
Will New York City Reimagine Education or Waste a Generational Opportunity? | Ed In The Apple
Big Education Ape / 2h
Will New York City Reimagine Education or Waste a Generational Opportunity? We’ve been told for decades we can’t do anything about poverty, we can’t change property tax-based school funding, and we have to use our teaching skills to raise achievement. Sadly states and school districts have relied on top-down edicts and standardized testing, teacher voice is absent. Suddenly, unexpectedly, two De
WHO’S ZOOMING WHO? – Dad Gone Wild
Big Education Ape / 2h
WHO’S ZOOMING WHO? “You’ll never decide what you want until you’ve decided who you are.” ― Noël Coward Who’s in charge of education policy in Tennessee? It seems like a pretty straightforward question, right? Those with a passing knowledge might answer that it’s the General Assembly who set’s policy. Those with a little deeper knowledge might elaborate more by saying that the General Assembly ex
CURMUDGUCATION: Why We Don't Need The Big Standardized Test In One Quote
Big Education Ape / 3h
Why We Don't Need The Big Standardized Test In One Quote This is taken from the reformy Jebucation ExcelInEd website: If we don't have a strong accountability system, then students from low-income families and students of color will not receive the instruction and resources needed to be successful. That's Pam Stewart, f ormer education chief of Florida, the testocrat who famously demanded that a
Segregation factories, pt 4: The dark story of "Failure Factories" and "Schools without Rules" shows how power dominates education journalism, narrative, and humanity - Public Enemy Number 1
Big Education Ape / 3h
Segregation factories, pt 4: The dark story of "Failure Factories" and "Schools without Rules" shows how power dominates education journalism, narrative, and humanity Power used the Tampa Bay Times' Pulitzer tagline to strip mine Florida's public schools. It largely ignored the Orlando Sentinel's better, further-reaching voucher reporting. Why? Part 1: Welcome to Jeb Crow Florida, 2021 Part 2: W

YESTERDAY

For-Profit Charter Schools Gone Wild—Proof That Greed and Education Don’t Mix
Ed Politics » Feed / 16h
A new report by the Network for Public Education (NPE) explains why charter schools are often nonprofit in name only when they are associated with a for-profit management group. NPE’s report, titled “Chartered for Profit: The Hidden World of Charter Schools Operated for Financial Gain,” reveals that many charter schools have contracts with for-profit management groups, commonly called education m
THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Monday, March 22, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform
Big Education Ape / 23h
Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES As students with disabilities return to school, districts are unprepared to meet their needs, report says

Big Education Ape

Don’t force schools to give standardized tests this pandemic year, research scholars ask Education Secretary Cardona - The Washington Post

Don’t force schools to give standardized tests this pandemic year, research scholars ask Education Secretary Cardona

More than 540 education researchers and scholars are asking Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to reconsider his department’s decision requiring school districts to administer federally mandated standardized tests this pandemic year, saying the exams will “exacerbate inequality” and “produce flawed data.”

A letter signed by 548 members of the academic research community was sent to the Education Department on Monday, urging that Cardona award states waivers from federal testing mandates. It also urges the department to invest in “more holistically evaluating school quality” by “developing new measures of educational opportunities.”

The Education Department announced in February — before Cardona was confirmed by the Senate — that public school districts had to administer exams in math and English Language Arts required annually by the federal 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the 2002 No Child Left Behind law.

One month in, Biden angers supporters who wanted him to curb standardized testing

And as late as last week, Cardona said at an education forum that the department was planning to go ahead with its testing decision.

The high-stakes tests are given every spring as a central part of the two-decade-old school reform movement. Testing advocates say the exams provide vital data on how all student groups are performing in school. Student test scores are used — at least in part — by some states to evaluate teachers and by states to evaluate districts and schools.

The academics’ letter notes that critics of high-stakes testing have warned for decades that “the high-stakes use of any metric will distort results,” and that documented consequences include “curriculum CONTINUE READING: Don’t force schools to give standardized tests this pandemic year, research scholars ask Education Secretary Cardona - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos Raked In Vast Outside Income As Education Secretary | HuffPost

Betsy DeVos Raked In Vast Outside Income As Education Secretary

The billionaire Trump Cabinet member reaped nine figures during her four years in office, a watchdog group revealed.

Billionaire Betsy DeVos fattened her fortune considerably from various business interests during her four-year run as education secretary under former President Donald Trump.

DeVos, who is reportedly worth more than $2 billion, reported outside earnings from dividends, interest and rents of at least $225 million and “potentially well over $414 million” during her time in the Cabinet role, according to an analysis of her financial disclosures by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

“It is impossible to know the exact amount because DeVos’s income is reported in broad ranges, but we do know for a fact that she made nine figures during her four years in office,” the group, known as CREW, said in a statement Monday.

At the most modest end of her reported income, DeVos would have raked in more than $158,000 each day of her 1,422 days in the position. That works out to more than $6,500 per hour.

DeVos, who pledged to donate her government salary to charity, resigned from her job after the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. She cited Trump’s divisive rhetoric as an “inflection point.”

Critics, however, said DeVos’ condemnation of the then-president was too little, too late.

Last month, CREW reported that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned between $172 million and $640 million in outside income during their time in the Trump administration.

Betsy DeVos Raked In Vast Outside Income As Education Secretary | HuffPost

Florida Voucher School Hires Unqualified Teachers, Ex-Con, State Doesn’t Care | Diane Ravitch's blog

Florida Voucher School Hires Unqualified Teachers, Ex-Con, State Doesn’t Care

The Orlando Sentinel has been covering scandal after scandal in the voucher schools of Florida, but the Legislature doesn’t care about their scandals and is planning to take even more money from public schools to fund more private voucher schools. The Sentinel published a story about one troubled voucher school that has received over $5 million from the state since 2015 despite the fact that it hires teachers without college degrees.

Leslie Postal and Annie Martin wrote about Winners Primary School in Orange County, which recently changed its name to Providence Christian Preparatory School:

The job applicant hoped to teach fourth grade at Winners Primary School, a small private school in west Orange County. She didn’t have a college degree and her last job was at a child care center, which fired her.

“Terminated would not rehire,” read the reference check CONTINUE READING: Florida Voucher School Hires Unqualified Teachers, Ex-Con, State Doesn’t Care | Diane Ravitch's blog

8 to 3 parent newsletter about kids, school and education - Los Angeles Times

Introducing 8 to 3, a newsletter for parents about kids, school and education

A new chapter is opening for families of school-age children and teenagers. Campuses throughout California are finally opening after a year of coronavirus-forced closures — and for parents who have navigated distance learning alongside their children, their connection to education has been rewired.

The shared frustrations, struggles, empathy and resilience between parent and child has reshaped engagement in schooling. With a new newsletter called 8 to 3, The Times aims to be a part of the back-in-school life of parents and guardians as we recover from a year like no other and move forward.

We begin this endeavor painfully aware of how the pandemic has upended education and exposed the depth of inequities families face. Our foremost mission is to help navigate new challenges with powerful storytelling, useful guides, vital data and personal stories — whether on campus in a classroom or in front of a laptop in the living room. The Times’ coverage of COVID-19-era schooling places considerable attention on systemic inequities, which we will continue to explore in depth.

The newsletter, sent every Monday evening, is written by Sonja Sharp and edited by Mitchell Landsberg, with support from Education Editor Stephanie Chavez and education reporters Nina Agrawal, Howard Blume, Paloma Esquivel, Melissa Gomez, Laura Newberry and Teresa Watanabe.

A veteran journalist, Sharp joined the education team during the pandemic to cover the crisis in early childhood education and day care. She will draw on her experience as a reporter, the mother of a 5-year-old and a kindergarten-through-UC-Berkeley graduate of California public schools to help readers navigate everything from daily struggles of parenting school-age children to coping with thorny policy issues.

The name of the newsletter refers to the traditional school day — but we know that education never really stops, and that parents, above all, are their children’s primary teachers. We are ready to answer your questions, aiming to give you insight into both emerging and ongoing issues while offering a forum for dialogue. And we will also point readers to the best stories in California education, both our own and those from other publications.

Schooling these days is already overwhelming, but we are here to help. We hope you will add 8 to 3 to your reading list. Sign up here or on our newsletters page.

8 to 3 parent newsletter about kids, school and education - Los Angeles Times

Teacher Tom: Our Future Villages

Our Future Villages

"We still had a blacksmith in our town in those days, if you can believe it."

I was talking to the great grandfather of one of my students. Most of the time, the grandparents aren't much older than me, but here was a man 30 years my senior. I make a habit of talking to older people about their childhoods. I like seeing how they tend to light up. I learn about recent history through intimate stories, and I'm especially drawn to childhood memories.

"My friends and I used to walk into town to watch him work. He opened his doors up wide to get some ventilation. They were like barn doors. There was a counter, then behind it was the fire and the anvil. We boys would stand in the doorway to watch. Sometimes he'd come out a talk to us. His arms were like this." He showed me with his hands, then chuckled, "At least one of them was. And he was always covered in soot and sweat. For a long time, I wanted to be a blacksmith when I grew up."

Another grandparent told me about how she used to go CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Our Future Villages

Opening Up the Textbook (Sam Wineburg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Opening Up the Textbook (Sam Wineburg)

Sam Wineburg is a professor of education and history at Stanford University, He along with Susan Ramiraz and Peter Stearns authored Human Legacy, a high school world history textbook.This appeared in Education Week, June 5, 2007

History textbooks have long merited special scorn. Thicker than a Duraflame log (and weighing more), today’s books feature pages that rival news Web sites (think CNN) for busyness and clutter. Artwork with multiple call-out boxes, tricolored pictures with captions of “How to Read Me,” and pointers to end-of-chapter test questions cued to state standards (with special editions produced for your state) dominate the text like the bun that smothered the patty in that famous burger ad.

Years ago, when I first started teaching future history teachers, I urged them to do what I had done as a young teacher: Ditch the book in favor of primary sources. Now, with Google, the job of finding sources is infinitely easier than in my day.

I soon found, however, that of my yearly crop of 30 future teachers, maybe one was practicing anything remotely like what I preached. The vast majority were just trying to survive. Enough desks for each student, a working computer (Apple IIs do not count), a blackboard: This was a high bar. But in 2004, things got better in California. That’s when Eliezer Williams et al. v. State of California, a CONTINUE READING: Opening Up the Textbook (Sam Wineburg) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

NYC Public School Parents: Our testimony about why NYC kids will need smaller classes next year than ever before -- & the federal funding is available to achieve this

Our testimony about why NYC kids will need smaller classes next year than ever before -- & the federal funding is available to achieve this

Council education budget hearings tomorrow start at 9:30 AM; public testimony starts at about noon. You can watch and listen here, in Virtual Room 2.

Our testimony advocating for a big chunk of the federal funds be used for smaller classes below for the sake of health, safety and to address the damage done by more than a year of remote learning.

NYC Public School Parents: Our testimony about why NYC kids will need smaller classes next year than ever before -- & the federal funding is available to achieve this

Will New York City Reimagine Education or Waste a Generational Opportunity? | Ed In The Apple

Will New York City Reimagine Education or Waste a Generational Opportunity?

We’ve been told for decades we can’t do anything about poverty, we can’t change property tax-based school funding, and we have to use our teaching skills to raise achievement. Sadly states and school districts have relied on top-down edicts and standardized testing, teacher voice is absent.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, two Democratic Senators are elected in Georgia and President Biden’s American Rescue Plan is law.

The plan attacks childhood poverty. We may be the richest country in the world, we have turned out back on children.

,For more than half a century, we have failed to address child poverty in this country. This neglect has resulted in negative outcomes on child well-being and threatens our nation’s future. A child who grows up in poverty is far less likely to perform as well as their classmates in school, more likely to have food insecurity, more vulnerable to homelessness, and more likely to be subjected to violence, abuse, and neglect. While the United States proudly leads the world in science, technology, innovation, and sports, we sadly also leader in infant mortality, violence against children, and child poverty. Despite lots of expressed concern for children, our nation’s leaders have failed make needed investments in child well-being.

The Organization for Economics, Culture and Development, (OECD) studies the forty plus industrialized nations and takes a deep dive into the question: does income poverty affect child outcomes

Childhood Poverty in the OECD?

The links between family poverty and subsequent child outcomes have been CONTINUE READING: Will New York City Reimagine Education or Waste a Generational Opportunity? | Ed In The Apple

WHO’S ZOOMING WHO? – Dad Gone Wild

WHO’S ZOOMING WHO?

“You’ll never decide what you want until you’ve decided who you are.”
― Noël Coward

Who’s in charge of education policy in Tennessee?

It seems like a pretty straightforward question, right? Those with a passing knowledge might answer that it’s the General Assembly who set’s policy.

Those with a little deeper knowledge might elaborate more by saying that the General Assembly expresses their priorities based on the desires of their populace. The State Board of Education takes the legislation created by elected officials and creates policy out of it. The TNDOE in turn implements and enforces that policy. Local districts use the boundaries created by DOE policy and mix them with local preferences to execute local governance.

While that is the way it is supposed to work, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a different story in Tennessee. A story where two private entities, funded by a third, wield more power than that of elected officials. Entities that remain cloaked from the general public while they work their magic. Magic that seemingly benefits their friends and family more than the students and families of Tennessee.

This past week I was finally able to confirm that The New Teacher Project was the recipient of an $8 million state contract(69466 TDOE_TNTP_FA_Literacy_Services_Agreement_FY21 copy) for teacher training. The contract means that the training on foundational skills for all k-5 teachers mandated by recently passed legislation will be facilitated by TNTP, close associates of both SCORE and Commissioner Schwinn. It’s a contract produced by a flawed RFP CONTINUE READING: WHO’S ZOOMING WHO? – Dad Gone Wild

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Tuesday, March 23, 2021