Tuesday, August 16, 2011

NYC Public School Parents: Things are getting hot! Update on rally and letters from Verizon and CM Cabreras

Things are getting hot! Update on rally and letters from Verizon and CM Cabreras

by Leonie Haimson

Things are heating up. Speakers at tomorrow's rally will include elected officials, labor leaders, and parent and teacher activists. Be there or be square!

What: Rally and Protest

Where: Murry Bergtraum HS, 411 Pearl Street, Manhattan (4/5/6 or N/R to City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge)

When: Wed. August 17, 2011 at 5 PM

Why? Verizon is shortchanging their own workers and stealing from schoolchildren! Say no to more giveaways to private contractors and more wasted spending on technology while our class sizes are increasing! Tell the PEP to vote down the Verizon contract with the DOE!

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Verizon has sent a letter to members of the Panel for

Standardized Testing and Reporting Program: August 2011 Information Memoranda - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

August 2011 Information Memoranda - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education)

August 2011 Information Memoranda

Background information and updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members.

Periodically, the State Board Members may receive information memoranda from State Board staff and the California Department of Education. The information memoranda may include background information, updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members, and reports on a variety of educational topics.

Ackerman absent from leadership conference | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Ackerman absent from leadership conference

by Benjamin Herold

Principals and assistant principals from across the District gathered at Lincoln University this morning for the annual Superintendent's Leadership Conference, but embattled District leader Arlene Ackerman was not with them.

A statement prepared by Ackerman cited "circumstances beyond my control" as preventing her from being with those in attendance. The full statement was read to participants during the conference's opening session by

Buffet learning: the future of education « Cooperative Catalyst

Buffet learning: the future of education

by alanthefriesen

In my last post (read it here), I talked about how I had transformed my English 12 class last year from an “English class” to a true community of writers. In this post, I’m going to talk about how I’m planning on expanding this experiment to my English 9 through 12 classes with the main focus being student-driven… well,everything.

We are all born with the desire to learn. Babies and small children are infinitely curious creatures, driven to experiment with their environments and push their bodies to master feats that at first seem impossible. As toddlers get older, they learn their first language not by being put inside a room and given a computer and a set of headphones, but by being immersed in the language. They learn how to ride a bike not by examining the principles of gravity, momentum, or balance, but by getting on, falling off, and repeating the process until they no longer fall off.

After five magical years of learning, playing, and experimenting, kids enter kindergarten, and their educational

UseYourTeacherVoice | The Classroom Sooth

UseYourTeacherVoice

by classroomsooth

Yesterday I launched the Use Your Teacher Voice campaign. At this juncture it is solely a YouTube campaign. The goal is to have a viral video campaign of teachers talking into a camera in an effort to reclaim what has been lost: our authority in our vocation.

When teachers need the attention of the students; when we claim our authority in the classroom, we use our teacher voice. We all know what it sounds like: it’s not threatening, but it is declarative. It’s not hostile, but it does warn. Teachers are good at this in the classroom, but it is time we use our teacher voice outside the classroom, and direct at those who say we don’t deserve our teacher voice, or that our teacher voice has become unnecessary.

In some cases, our authority, our teacher identity has been taken away or stolen from us. In others cases we just haven’t capitalized on the opportunities to say what we love about teaching and what we believe needs to change in ways that are best for teaching and learning.

The video you post to UseYourTeacherVoice is yours. You may speak on any edu-topic of your choosing. UYTV does not have a political stance past encouraging you to reclaim your stance. I do expect some common themes to crop up, and if you wish to, feel free to speak on any or all of these topics: high-stakes testing, equitable funding, public schools, classroom size, teacher evaluations, decision-making, curriculum and instruction, education reform, etc. Perhaps you start your video with a quote and take it from there.

I only ask that you keep your speech dignified, and around :30 seconds in length. Individual teachers in different states of the Union and different stages of their careers need to also consider how they can best speak without putting their employment, school, colleagues or students in jeopardy.

This is your voice and it reflects on you, not the campaign.

How to Use Your Teacher Voice:

1) Make a short video on a subject you wish to speak on

2) Post the video to YouTube

3) Tag the video UseYourTeacherVoice

4) Pass it on to others.

(It is not necessary, but will help with “virality” if you email your video link to useyourteachervoice@gmail.com, or subscribe to the UseYourTeacherVoice YouTube channel.)

It’s time to stop letting others speak in our place. It’s time for us to say what we know, in ways that we can, for reasons we must: our students, our schools, our curricula, ourselves. In the words of Educator and poet Taylor Mali:

“Speak with Conviction: say what you believe in in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it.”

I entreat you, I implore you, and I challenge you to Use Your Teacher Voice.

Gmail: useyourteachervoice@gmail.com

Facebook: Use Your Teacher Voice

Twitter: @UseYrTcherVoice, #UseYourTeacherVoice

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/UseYourTeacherVoice

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OTL Campaign Blog: Reich: Strengthen human capital by investing in education

Reich: Strengthen human capital by investing in education

by otlcampaign

Our nation’s future depends on all Americans living up to their responsibility to help provide quality public schools for all students. Unfortunately, budget cuts and a very aggressive attack on public schools are creating new urgency to support, defend and strengthen public schools.

In this video, Robert Reich, former U.S. secretary of labor, urges Americans to shift the focus from investing in financial capital to investing in human capital in the form of public education. “Our schools are the engines of our human capital, and if we don’t bail out public education, we face a bigger economic Armageddon years from now,” says Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of

Schools Matter: Gabriella Charter Corporation further encroaches Logan Street Public Elementary School

Gabriella Charter Corporation further encroaches Logan Street Public Elementary School

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

"Colocation is eviction... It doesn't mean sharing, it means displacement." — NY State Sen. Bill Perkins

Gabriella Charter School Corporation has illegally occupied the Auditorium the public school community at Echo Park's Logan Street Elementary School

Gabriella Charter School Corporation continues to blatantly disregard the rights of the public school community at Echo Park's Logan Street Elementary School. Not content with having exceeded their allotment of space by several rooms, last week the well heeled executives of the corporate charter decided to forcibly annex Logan's entire auditorium. Here's an excerpt from one of the witnesses:

[We] looked into the school auditorium to discover that the Gabriella Charter School had moved its entire front office into the Logan auditorium. That includes desks, sofas, file cabinets, end tables and other various office paraphernalia. It was not there

Jersey Jazzman: Ben Chavis: Uninformed "Genius"

Ben Chavis: Uninformed "Genius"

by Duke

Just one thing more about about MSNBC's attempt to cover eduction reform last Sunday:

One of the panelists was Ben Chavis; no, not that Ben Chavis, this Ben Chavis. He's a former principal at an American Indian charter school.

Tamron Hall described Chavis as a "genius." Wow, really? Well, we'd better listen to what this "genius" has to say:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"I not blaming the white people or the Chinese. I'm telling you: they're low too. They don't know they're low. Everybody in America's low. Until you start offering math and science... I

All Education Matters: Letter from a Couch-Hopping Student Loan Debtor

Letter from a Couch-Hopping Student Loan Debtor

by C. Cryn Johannsen

As many of you know, I am living with my gracious, loving in-laws. They help us buy groceries and other items. I have realized over the last few months that the decision to return to the U.S. was a smart move, but it has taken me several months, and a lot of anguish, to get to this point. As for Korea, it became too difficult to juggle two careers and try to straddle two time zones. One thing is certain, if I didn't have a loving husband and such wonderful in-laws, I would be out on the streets in the good ole U. S. of A. Of course, I am mobile and have lived abroad, so it would be more likely that I would be teaching in the Middle East or in S. Korea again. But that would mean abandoning my political activism, something I've been dedicated to for nearly 3 years now.

I thought that when I told my readers that I lived with my in-laws and could not even pay for groceries I would feel ashamed about it. The subject of shame has come up a lot with all the student loan debtors I know, and I have

Waiting for My Job Description - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Waiting for My Job Description

by Nancy Flanagan

A couple of blogs back, I shared a moving story about a professional development workshop at a turnaround school in Louisiana: the new principal-with-vision, the mix of teachers (veterans who knew the community well, eager newbies, masters teachers who transferred in from other schools), the galvanizing moment when the principal let her staff know that she valued their judgment--that they were the people who would make learning happen.

School opened last week, even though they weren't even close to "ready"--not the building rehab, not the cleaned-up, bright-and-shiny classrooms everyone wanted, not the professional preparation and staff bonding. The principal (who's only been on the job for a few weeks) hadn't even received her job description. School started anyway.

Here's a verbatim dispatch from the principal.

Monday morning, Week Two.

Morning duty at 7:00 a.m.:
Parents and kids are now being r

Looking Beneath the Surface of Good News in California Education « InterACT

Looking Beneath the Surface of Good News in California Education

by David B. Cohen

What a surprise I had when I picked up my newspaper at breakfast this morning! The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle featured not one, but two positive stories about public education! Under the shared headline “State Schools Closer to Making the Grade,” the Chronicle had one article about improvements in our statewide test scores, and one article about a local principal whose leadership has made a positive impact at a struggling school.

Sadly, I can’t just look at the “good news” about schools and feel cheered by what’s reported. Let’s start with

DC Parent Power Organizing Meeting inspired by the National Save Our Schools

DC Parent Power

Organizing Meeting

You are invited to an organizing meeting for “DC Parent Power” to look for common ground for civic engagement around public education in the District.

Watha T. Daniel Library (Shaw Library)

1630 7th St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20001

Main meeting room

5:30-7:30 p.m

Wednesday, August 31st 2011

1 block from the Shaw/Howard Metro (Green Line)

Street parking is generally available

This is the second gathering of a group of DCPS parents and education advocates joining together to improve public education by re-engaging DCPS, District government education agencies and elected officials with the major constituency who use the schools.

City families, teachers & interested community members are welcome to participate.

We initially came together inspired by the National Save Our Schools event on the Mall and conference in July. The initial gathering indicated strong sentiment for:

· Authentic public engagement

· Transparency at all stages of policy development

· Less emphasis on standardized testing

· Richer curriculum

· Strong backing for public education, as opposed to increasing privatization

· Decreasing racial and economic school segregation

· Use of proven methods in all levels of school reform

· Equalize funding for all Wards

If interested, please contact Miriam Cutelis at Miriam.Cutelis@yahoo.com with an RSVP if you plan to attend or if you want more information.

**Feel free to forward this invitation to other individuals or groups who might be interested.

Randi Weingarten for Chancellor? - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Randi Weingarten for Chancellor?

by Stephen Sawchuk

What would happen if New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg installed American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten as the city's school chancellor?

It's a scenario posed in Steven Brill's new book Class Warfare, which traces the rise of proponents of the Race to the Top and other initiatives that have put much emphasis on "teacher effectiveness."

There is certainly no love lost between Brill and Weingarten—one of his earlier pieces resulted in AFT claiming he'd made up quotes. Don't expect that relationship to change much: In the new book, Brill suggests that Weingarten would quickly embrace stronger evaluation systems and performance pay if she was under direct pressure to improve student achievement. It's not a particularly subtle critique of the union leader.

But leave all that baggage aside for a moment. What exactly would Weingarten do as schools chancellor,

Poor English fluency and parent income, education drive down O.C. scores - The Orange County Register

Some answers to common questions | answers, common, questions - News - The Orange County Register

Poor English fluency and parent income, education drive down O.C. scores

Related
SLIDE SHOW:
Poor English fluency and parent income, education drive down O.C. scores
12 Photos »
- DATA: Poor English fluency and parent income, education drive down O.C. scores

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By FERMIN LEAL / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

An analysis of Orange County student subgroup performance on the California Standards Test math and English language arts exams shows a slew of expected factors driving down local scores -- English fluency, family income and parental education.

The scores were released as part of the state's annual Standardized Testing and Reporting program, known as STAR. The math and English CST exams are just two of dozens of tests encompassed by the program, but perhaps the best known.'

Follow the slideshow to try some of the questions faced by students in spring testing. See how you fare.

MORE PHOTOS »

Click here to review a comparison chart of O.C. student subgroup performance.

The subgroup with the lowest performance on the state's English test was English learners who had attended a U.S. school for less than a year. Their score: 17.7 percent scoring proficient or advanced, compared with the county's overall score of 62.9 percent.

Click here to review scores for all students in O.C.

In all, 24.5 percent of all English learners passed the test -- the second-worst showing by a student subgroup.

Some 36.2 percent of students whose parents have only a high school education passed the English arts test as did 45.4 percent of those whose families are considered poor -- meaning