Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - The Best Web Resources About Somalia’s Drought & Famine

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - The Best Web Resources About Somalia’s Drought & Famine

More Google+ Resources Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning What Google+ Is All About: How to Migrate Your Facebook Account and Data to Google+ is from Lifehacker. Finding and Following People on Google+ has a ton of useful resources. Google ...

New 9/11 Resources Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites To Help Teach About 9/11: Ten years after 9/11: New York transformed is an Associated Press interactive. Portraits of Grief comes from The New York Times.

The Best Web Resources About Somalia’s Drought & Famine The tragedy going on in Somalia and parts of nearby countries is finally hitting the media in a big way. I thought I’d bring together accessible resources on what is going on there. Here are my choices for The Best Web Resources About Somalia’s

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Rebuild the Dream Progress Report

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Rebuild the Dream Progress Report

Rebuild the Dream Progress Report

by Paul B

Hi friend,

Thanks so much for signing up to be a part of Rebuild the Dream and the American Dream Movement—and for contributing your time, passion, and hope.

We are so glad that you are in on the ground floor of something we believe is going to be very impactful. Early adopters and pioneers like yourself tend to be among the most creative and committed in any community.

We just released the crowd-sourced Contract for the American Dream, and because 100,000 people came together to sign it so quickly, we were able to run the Contract as a full-page ad in The New

Jersey Jazzman: More Charter Awesomeness

Jersey Jazzman: More Charter Awesomeness

More Charter Awesomeness

by Duke

That's some awesome chartery goodness right there:

Kooi conveniently left out that the 15 failing charters represented nearly 50 percent of all failures. His statement shows he’s as much an advocate for charter schools and he is for Florida’s children and families. Kooi’s job title implies otherwise. Small wonder that prior to taking his current position, Kooi was executive director of Florida’s Consortium of Public Charter Schools .

Kooi cleverly attempts to misdirect with other numbers, yet it doesn’t hide the

Florida Charter School’s Man at DOE Spins Their Poor Record | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida Charter School’s Man at DOE Spins Their Poor Record | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida Charter School’s Man at DOE Spins Their Poor Record

by Bob Sikes

In a weekend interview with GRADEBOOK’s Jeffrey Solochek, Michael Kooi, the executive director of Florida’s Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice. Kooi played the interview close to the vest and effectively explained how the state’s new initiatives would work. The interview would have been innocuous had it not for the way he decided to answer the offer to make an additional comment choice at the end of the interview. Kooi chose to spin the fact that 15 of 31 failures in Florida last year were from charter schools – including the one where his boss, Governor Rick Scott signed SB736:

Since you mentioned the high performing charter school legislation, I did want to respond to

Looking Back to Look Forward | Connected Principals

Looking Back to Look Forward | Connected Principals

Looking Back to Look Forward

by Akevy Greenblatt

Picture from cartoonstock.com

This year we are focusing on 21^st Century Learning. For many myself included while this is exciting it can also be scary. What does it mean is it something new? Do I need to change the way I have taught for x years. To be honest some of the answers are Yes, but 21^st Century learning is not new. The terms may be somewhat new the focus maybe new the ideas aren’t. As Rabbi Perl our Head of School showed during in-service there are many examples of critical thinking and questioning found in the Talmud, which are key skills that we talk about

All Charges Dropped Against Catherine Ferguson Occupiers! | Dailycensored.com

All Charges Dropped Against Catherine Ferguson Occupiers! | Dailycensored.com

All Charges Dropped Against Catherine Ferguson Occupiers!

Written by Danny WeilEducationAug 14, 2011

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All charges have been dropped against all the activists who were arrested while defending Catherine Ferguson Academy, the unique school for pregnant and parenting young women in Detroit.

“The defenders of Catherine Ferguson Academy have shown the nation that if you fight you can win. These young women and their teacher never gave up, and were preparing another occupation on the last day of school, even though they were facing charges from the previous occupation. Their determination and courage is a model for the leadership we need to reverse the attacks on public education,” said Joyce Schon, attorney for the CFA defendants. “The young women are now turning their attention to defending the successful programs and collaborative atmosphere of Catherine Ferguson

Jersey Jazzman: ""A widely read teacher blogger"

Jersey Jazzman: ""A widely read teacher blogger"

""A widely read teacher blogger"

by Duke

The Courier Post's Jane Roh has two articles out today: one in print and on-line, the other only on-line. Yours truly is quoted in both, which is a first for me as Jersey Jazzman.

I give her a lot of props for reaching out to me and @StoptheFreezeNJ; teachers' voices are not being heard in this debate, and I appreciate being able to state my case. I think Jane was fair to me in both pieces; however, we spoke for about an hour, so you can imagine a lot of context gets left out of my quotes.

If there is one thing I wish Jane would have changed about her pieces, it's this: there is no real discussion of the policies B4K wants to implement, and whether or not they will actually work. Yes, I know Jane is a political

GOP Candidates Take on the Department of Education - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

GOP Candidates Take on the Department of Education - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

GOP Candidates Take on the Department of Education

By Anthony Cody on August 14, 2011 3:36 PM | No Comments | No Recommendations

The recent debate among candidates for the Republican nomination for President has raised anew the proper role of the Federal government in our schools. Several candidates, including Herman Cain and Texas governor Rick Perry, have decried the expansion of federal influence. Michelle Bachman has likewise been critical of NCLB, and has even called for the abolition of the Department of Education.

Blogger Bob Sikes is actively following the ins and outs of the Republican primary, and he sees a split developing within conservative ranks. George W. Bush, and his brother Jeb, have been major players in the education "reform" movement, which means they have promoted NCLB and the Common Core standards. Rick Perry takes a divergent view. In an April interview in the National Review, Perry calls NCLB "a monstrous intrusion into our affairs." AsValerie Strauss describes, Perry has taken Texas on a different path for several

Protest Verizon Contract « JD2718

Protest Verizon Contract « JD2718

Protest Verizon Contract

by jd2718

Support striking workers.
Protest the contract.

This Wednesday, Panel for Educational Policy, Murray Bergtraum HS. Here’s the associated Facebook Event. And this came from Justin Wedes:

Verizon, stop swindling NYC schools.

Dear friend,

This week, education advocate Leonie Haimson (@leoniehaimson) clued us in to a very disturbing fact: Verizon,

California Education Data Systems Stuck in Political, Financial Mire « InterACT

California Education Data Systems Stuck in Political, Financial Mire « InterACT

California Education Data Systems Stuck in Political, Financial Mire

by ACT Guest Blog Posts

Today’s InterACT guest contributor is Alice Mercer, a Sacramento teacher and blogger, and member of Accomplished California Teachers. Alice’s prior contribution to InterACT can be found here (“Divining Rod, or Rod of Discipline?”). This post follows up on ideas that Alice has blogged about recently concerning the use of student test scores for teacher evaluation, and discusses the state’s imperiled education data systems, California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System (CALTIDES) and California Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA (photo: David B. Cohen).

In May of this year,

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: More Belt-Tightening Likely for SPS

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: More Belt-Tightening Likely for SPS

More Belt-Tightening Likely for SPS

by Melissa Westbrook

I attended a Crosscut lunch with their guest, Senator Ed Murray. There wasn't a lot to smile about in listening to him. The September revenue forecast is unlikely to be good. The Governor has already sent out signals that she expects departments to find another 10% to cut.

As the Senator points out, K-12 is somewhat protected because of the constitutional mandate. However, that doesn't mean they might not cut something else. As I mentioned elsewhere, Director DeBell is worried the Legislature will tie money to attendance, forcing a really big mandate on schools and school districts. Don't be surprised to hear more about attendance at your school.

What was sad was that he said that he didn't feel many of his fellow legislators held that kind of regard for higher ed. He said some of them felt the state should get out of the higher ed business (which begs the question of whether it is a "business"). That felt a little scary because we are so focused on K-12 and then the focus drops off after that? Why? He said he thought it was a combination of a mistrust of higher ed (elitism) and not being

School Tech Connect: Penny For My Thoughts?

School Tech Connect: Penny For My Thoughts?

Penny For My Thoughts?

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Heck with the penny; you can have 'em for free.

It's that pre-school year lull in blogging; there's just way too much to get ready for to do multiple posts in a day. However, since you asked here are my three thoughts for Sunday.

1) Welcome to the world of fake accountability, economy. Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of the US credit rating could be a metaphor for what has happened to American public education over the past decade. It's essentially a hugely flawed report card that has juked the conversation away from what it needs to

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

Good news. Students don’t have to bother with with the long form, also known as novels. Snippets are enough.

Koch brothers are a bunch of crooks. Need proof?

Only Obama and Duncan could make right-wing loony Rick Perry’s education policy actually seemreasonable.

UK government response to riots is bringing international human rights condemnation.

At the fair, Romney — whose net worth is between $190 million and $250 million — once again went manly by flipping a pork chop on a grill and facing down hecklers worried about cuts in Social Security. When a man in

I’m just honored to be nominated.

by Fred Klonsky

From Jersey Jazzman, an ed blogger of great wisdom:

Here are some people who would have been great panelists for MSNBC’s show on education, but, for some strange reason, weren’t invited:
Dr. Diane Ravitch
Leonie Haimson
Dr. Bruce Baker
Jonathan Kozol
Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige
José Vilson
Deborah Meier
Dr. Monty Neill
Taylor Mali
Todd Farley
Matt DiCarlo
Marie Corfield
Dr. Catherine Lugg
Fred Klonsky
Susan Ohanian
Valerie Strauss
Any of the over 3 million public school teachers in the United States
Any of these people would have been a helpful addition to the show. How odd that none of them were home when MSNBC called…

ADDING: I know I forgot so many great people. Shame on me for not including:

Alfie Kohn

Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)

Missouri Education Watchdog: Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)

Common Core Standards, ALEC, Jeb Bush and the "Frozen People" (American Taxpayers and Citizens)

At the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in New Orleans this past week, Jeb Bush's "progressive conservative" organization squashed effective discussion between legislators who wanted to discuss slowing down/stopping implementation of common core standards. Neal McCluskey writes:

In this space, we’ve been telling you about a few efforts in state legislatures to complicate adoption or implementation of common standards … A move that had the potential to involve

‘This Is What Democracy Looks Like’: A Documentary Of The 2011 Wisconsin Workers Uprising | Defend Wisconsin

‘This Is What Democracy Looks Like’: A Documentary Of The 2011 Wisconsin Workers Uprising | Defend Wisconsin

‘This Is What Democracy Looks Like’: A Documentary Of The 2011 Wisconsin Workers Uprising

– AUGUST 14, 2011POSTED IN: ANNOUNCEMENTS

Workers Independent News produced ‘This Is What Democracy Looks Like’: A Retrospective Documentary Of The 2011 Wisconsin Uprising. It began as a protest by a few students and teaching assistants over Walker’s union stripping bill, but quickly turned into a history making movement of working people in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Workers Uprising (Part 1)

Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 1 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

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The Wisconsin Workers Uprising (Part 2)

Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 2 of a
retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.