Emerson College: Faculty “Diversity” Has Meaning | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog

Emerson College: Faculty “Diversity” Has Meaning | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog:

merson College: Faculty “Diversity” Has Meaning

Posted By The Editors | September 25th, 2011 (3 seconds ago) | Category: Education | No Comments » Print This Post

By Kenneth J. Cooper

A public controversy erupts over the denial of tenure to a black professor. The college goes into a defensive crouch and may conduct an internal review of its hiring and promotion practices. Then the racial and ethnic composition of the faculty usually changes little.

Emerson College, a private communications arts school in Boston, faced such a controversy in 2008 after denying tenure to two African-American professors. Each promptly filed a complaint with the state’s anti-discrimination agency. The Boston NAACP criticized Emerson for the tenure denials.

But Emerson’s response differed from a college’s typical reaction. Both professors were offered a chance to reapply for tenure three years later. One accepted the offer; the other rejected it.

When faculty advocates of diversity pushed for an external review, the college’s president, a white woman, took the unusual step of adopting that recommendation. A panel of three experts was named to conduct an independent review of personnel practices.

The three-member panel reported last year that stigma and bias had left Emerson’s black faculty in a “caste-

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: MisEducation Nation: CORPORATE MEDIA + CORPORATE EDUCATION REFORM

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: MisEducation Nation: CORPORATE MEDIA + CORPORATE EDUCATION REFORM:

MisEducation Nation: CORPORATE MEDIA + CORPORATE EDUCATION REFORM

FROM FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING | REBLOGGED FROM EDUFLACK | HTTP://BIT.LY/PBGBK1

FAIR New York City Event :: September 27, 2011

Corporate Media and Corporate Education Reform

NBC is staging its second annual "Education Nation" summit at the end of September--a series of events and broadcasts bankrolled by the corporate interests and foundations aligned with the so-called "education reform" movement.

Corporate media coverage of education policy tends to hew closely to the "reform" agenda: promoting charter schools and vouchers, embracing relentless testing and other "accountability" measures, and attacking teachers' unions for standing in the way of progress.

What would a more reasonable conversation about public education look like?

Join Education Nation and Helen Gym for a dialogue on "American Teacher" | Philadelphia Public School Notebook #EducationNation #TeacherTownHall

Join Education Nation and Helen Gym for a dialogue on "American Teacher" | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Join Education Nation and Helen Gym for a dialogue on "American Teacher"

by Helen Gym

This afternoon at 4 p.m., I'll be on a panel for Education Nation reviewing a new documentary "American Teacher" and discussing sustainability in the teaching profession. The documentary focuses on the struggles of four teachers across the country to remain in a profession which loses almost half its teachers within five years. Locally the numbers for Philadelphia are even more serious, where the PFT says that more than 50% leave by their fifth year.

Expect a strong discussion with folks like Newsweek pundit Jonathan Alter, the teachers featured in the documentary and myself.

The event streams live online at www.educationnation.com.

read more

Charter Reforms Coming to the New Jersey Senate #educationnation #TeachersEdNat

Charter Reforms Coming to the New Jersey Senate:

CHARTER REFORMS COMING TO THE NJ SENATE! PLEASE TAKE 3 MINUTES TO ENSURE THEIR PASSAGE Thanks to your efforts, New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney has agreed to bring the two charter reform bills that Save Our Schools NJ has been supporting to the Senate Education Committee. Your actions -- phone calls, letters, e-mails, attending rallies – helped these reforms to pass the New Jersey Assembly in late June. Now we need your help to make sure that the Senate Education Committee approves these critical reforms so the full Senate can vote on them. Please call or e-mail the following three members of the Senate Education Committee this week and ask them to vote for these bills [1]. It only takes a couple of minutes of your time and really influences how the Senators vote. Phone calls are much more effective than e-mails. If you reach an answering machine, leave your name and phone number along with your message and ask that a staff member call you back regarding where the Senators stand on these bills. Then please e-mail info@saveourschoolsnj.org to let us know what they said. WHOM TO CALL: 1) Senator Diane B. Allen (609) 239-2800 senallen@njleg.org 2) Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. (908) 232-3673 senkean@njleg.org 3) Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (973) 484-1000 senruiz@njleg.org WHAT TO ASK: Please ask them to vote for Senate bill 2443, which requires local approval before the establishment of a new charter school, and Senate bill 3005, which improves charter school financial and educational transparency and accountability and helps ensure that charter schools students represent their sending districts in terms of income, English proficiency and special needs. Both bills have bi-partisan sponsorship in the Senate and had bi-partisan support in the Assembly. These are common-sense reforms that would bring New Jersey’s charter law in line with the rest of the country. Nationally, 90 percent of all charter school authorizers are local voters or school boards. Only New Jersey’s law completely ignores local wishes, allowing the Commissioner of Education to force communities to pay for an unlimited number of new charter schools. Local approval of new charter schools is supported by 73 percent of New Jersey residents, across all political parties. We will let you know when the Committee vote is scheduled and encourage everyone who can do so to attend the hearing. The next step after these bills pass the Senate Education Committee is to get them brought up for a vote in the full NJ Senate. We will keep you posted as to how you can help to make that happen. Thank you for all that you are doing. It is having a huge impact!! [1] The other members of the Senate Education Committee -- Senator Shirley Turner and Senator Jim Whelan -- support and co-sponsored these bills.

Cupcakes: A metaphor for the white man’s struggle for fairness in education? | Being Latino Online Magazine

Cupcakes: A metaphor for the white man’s struggle for fairness in education? | Being Latino Online Magazine:

Cupcakes: A metaphor for the white man’s struggle for fairness in education?

by beinglatino

via CNN – What do you do when you need to raise funds for your cause? There’s selling candy bars, hosting a car wash, and of course the ever popular bake sale. Who wouldn’t want to buy a delicious cupcake?

Berkley students may not. Campus Republicans at the University of California Berkeley are hosting a bake sale and how much you pay for your baked goods will depend on the color of your skin and your gender.

What would your price be?

If you’re a white man you will pay $2.00. Asian men will pay $1.50, Latino men will pay $1.00, black men will pay $0.75 and Native American men will pay $0.25. Women will get a whopping discount of $0.25 off those prices.

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Education Nation (and a Fox in the Schoolhouse) #TeacherEdNat #educationnation

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Education Nation (and a Fox in the Schoolhouse):

Education Nation (and a Fox in the Schoolhouse)

by Melissa Westbrook

NBC is gearing up its Education Nation series this week and having a conference in NYC. Many of thespeeches are to be webcast. Naturally, this is EST so you either have to get up very early or tape/Tivo them. I haven't been overly impressed with this series in the past but they do have some interesting conversations scheduled.

Tomorrow's include an interview with Warren Buffett, Susie Buffett and Melinda Gates at 8:15 am.

One great one will be on Tuesday at 9:00 am - a debate between Geoffrey Canada and Diane Ravitch. I have a feeling they have more in common than might be expected.

I'm going to be on KING-5 news at 8:30 am on Wednesday to talk about parent involvement and whether parents need a union. (This is their phrasing and no, I don't think parents need a union but I do think they need groups who serve as parent advocates. I don't think that's happening so much now except at a high level - PTSA advocacy for legislative matters - and at CPPS, Communities and Parents for Public Schools of Seattle, who

Don’t Think Class Size Affects Achievement? Think Again. | Edwize

Don’t Think Class Size Affects Achievement? Think Again. | Edwize:

Don’t Think Class Size Affects Achievement? Think Again.

by Maisie McAdoo

It is already obvious that class sizes are up this year — which will give School Year 2011-12 the dubious honor of being the fourth straight year of class size increases. The DOE won’t have official numbers until November, but budget cuts resulted in the loss of some 2,500 teachers this year, enrollments are rising and now we have theDay 6 class size grievance counts: nearly 7,000, up from 4,370 this time four years ago.

Will the bigger classes affect achievement? Results from just a single year suggest they will. The UFT Research Dept. looked at fourth grade, where class sizes rose an average of about one-half a child (0.47) last year. Then we divided the fourth grade into schools where class size rose more than the average, and schools where it rose less, and looked at their achievement in math. The difference was pronounced. While the majority of schools improved in math last year, schools where 4^th grade class sizes rose by less than the average improved two percentage points more than schools that had larger-than-average class size increases.

School year 2010 to 2011	Growth in class size	Change in math proficiency
Grade 4 (274 schools)	Less than 0.47 student	+5.2 points
Grade 4 (426 schools)	More than 0.47 student	+3.2 points

Another way to parse the same information is by dividing the group into quartiles (quarters). When we did this we

Smacking Down Margaret Spellings | Scathing Purple Musings

Smacking Down Margaret Spellings | Scathing Purple Musings:

Smacking Down Margaret Spellings

by Bob Sikes

Last weekend’s Huffington Post piece by Bush-era Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was a remarkable exercise in condescension and self-righteousness. Her mischaracterizations of teachers was unprecedented and representative of someone who never should have been in such a position of power in the first place. Writing in the Washington Examiner, Kansas teacher David Reber responds to Spellings in a manner appropriate to her airy missive:

Ms. Spellings, you proudly talk of your visits with minority parents; and how you learned that minority parents have high hopes and dreams for their kids “…no different than those of white parents….”.

Ms. Spellings, I believe that anyone who must be told that minority parents want the best for their kids has NO business accusing others of “soft bigotry.”

Speaking of bigotry, I believe you need a lesson on how your beloved charter schools are re-

Me vs. the movement to opt students out of tests - Class Struggle - The Washington Post

Me vs. the movement to opt students out of tests - Class Struggle - The Washington Post:

Me vs. the movement to opt students out of tests

By Jay Mathews

Shaun Johnson is a blogger and assistant professor of elementary education at the College of Education at Towson University in Maryland. He has been active in the movement to protest overuse of standardized tests by persuading parents to opt their children out of the testing, an option few exercise or even know they have.

I told him I thought that was a bad idea. He agreed to debate the issue here. I start:

Mathews: You realize, I assume, that the vast majority of parents approve of testing and want their schools to be accountable in this way. Politicians who embrace the notion that we have to junk standardized tests don’t go far. You are never going to get much support for an opt-out. Why do it? Why not instead come up with an alternative that makes

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank

The Innovative Educator: What's Popular This Week on The Innovative Educator

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

The Innovative Educator: What's Popular This Week on The Innovative Educator:What's Popular This Week on The Innovative Educatorby lnielsen.professional@gmail.com (The Innovative Educator)Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see my top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews in the past 7 days. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re so inspired leave a comment.What Parents Really Want to ... more »

Bob Dylan Assembles ‘The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams’ - NYTimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

Bob Dylan Assembles ‘The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams’ - NYTimes.com: Stars Add New Tunes to Country King’s LyricsEverett CollectionHank WilliamsBy ALAN LIGHTPublished: September 23, 2011RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTSINGLE PAGEREPRINTSSHAREBOB DYLAN has long claimed Hank Williams as an influence and an inspiration. In his 2004 memoir, “Chronicles Volume One,” Mr. Dylan recounted his discovery of that country giant’s music in the 1950s. “I became aware that in Hank’s recorded songs were the archetype rules of poetic songwriting,” he wrote. “The architectural forms are ... more »

Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's Top 10

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Big Education Ape - PostRank Today's Top10The Washington Teacher: NO WTU Vice President For You AGAIN!Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-4 minutes agoThe Washington Teacher: NO WTU Vice President For You AGAIN!:NO WTU Vice President For You AGAIN!Written by Candi PetersonMonday was one exhausting day for me. The real sordid details will have to be left for another day and another time and place. First, I must ask you to not to cast judgment on me, at least not ... more »

Arne Duncan/President Obama’s New “Flexibility” Program, the NCLB Waivers | Seattle Education

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Arne Duncan/President Obama’s New “Flexibility” Program, the NCLB Waivers | Seattle Education:Arne Duncan/President Obama’s New “Flexibility” Program, the NCLB Waiversby seattleducation2011A Commentary:It’s interesting how President Obama in his speech yesterday referred to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as a failed program with no mention of Race to the Top (RTTT) which was the same but worse. Some of us refer to RTTT as NCLB on steroids and it seems that at this time most people have recognized that RTTT is ... more »

Michelle Rhee’s Legacy Continues To Unravel - City Desk

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

Michelle Rhee’s Legacy Continues To Unravel - City Desk:Michelle Rhee’s Legacy Continues To UnravelPosted by Shani Hilton on Sep. 23, 2011 at 10:02 amThe Post reports that 75 teachers fired by former Chancellor of Schools Michelle Rhee may be reinstated, and given $7.5 million in back pay.The District's Public Employees Relations Board upheld a February decision by an arbitrator. Apparently, "the dismissals were improper because the teachers, who were in their two-year probationary period, were not told why they were ... more »

Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com - Obama cites city school

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

Worcester Telegram Gazette - telegram.com - Obama cites city school:Obama cites city schoolNo Child ‘failure’ sends 95% to collegeBy Jacqueline Reis TELEGRAM GAZETTE STAFFjreis@telegram.comAdd a commentMr. Hall» Enlarge photoPresident Barack Obama used University Park Campus School in Worcester yesterday as one example of how the federal No Child Left Behind Act mislabels successful schools and why states should have the option of seeking waivers from some of the law’s requirements.The president singled University Park Principal Ricci W. Hall out of ... more »

Ex-Chairman Archie and State Rep. Evans maneuvered over who would get MLK High contract, a report asserts - Philly.com

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Ex-Chairman Archie and State Rep. Evans maneuvered over who would get MLK High contract, a report asserts - Philly.com:Ex-Chairman Archie and State Rep. Evans maneuvered over who would get MLK High contract, a report assertsState Rep. Dwight Evans and Robert L. Archie Jr., former chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, waged a relentless Godfather-style campaign to ensure that a New Jersey nonprofit would win a contract to manage Martin Luther King High School and, when that failed, pressured the ... more »

WEEKLY ADDRESS: Strengthening the American Education System | The White House

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WEEKLY ADDRESS: Strengthening the American Education System | The White House:WEEKLY ADDRESS: Strengthening the American Education Systemby The White HouseRelease Time: For Immediate ReleaseWASHINGTON—In this week’s address, President Obama told the American people that it is time to raise the standards of our education system so that every classroom is a place of high expectations and high performance. On Friday, the President announced that states will have greater flexibility to find innovative ways of improving the quality of learning and ... more »

Interconnect Ed - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Interconnect Ed - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post:

Looking Ahead

Interconnect Ed

The hallmark of this brave new Information Age is the interconnectedness of everything: ideas, information, people. Relationships are key. It’s no longer what you know or how much you know…it’s who you know and how to connect with them. Interactions are more immediate, fluid and dynamic.

On an individual basis it is happening as I write. But what about on an institutional scale? Don’t we eventually have to affect change in our public institutions so that they will morph from their successful Industrial Age mindset to this new way of living and working? This is the biggest challenge of making the shift: finding institutional incentive for becoming more interconnected, agile and responsive.

Public education is a prime example. In the Industrial Age education established itself by putting in place very deliberate policies and practices that require anyone engaging with the institution to meet established requirements, complete specified forms and tests, and move through its programs and services in prescribed, sequential steps. It is very hard to

The LEARN Act’s real effect on literacy - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

The LEARN Act’s real effect on literacy - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

The LEARN Act’s real effect on literacy

by Valerie Strauss

The Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation Act, or LEARN ACT, was introduced in both houses of Congress earlier this year with the aim of providing federal funds to support state and local literacy programs.
Supporters argue that passage of the legislation would be an important step in the country’s literacy policy. Opponents say there is no evidence that the $12 billion proposal will work and plenty that it won’t.
Read full article >>

Schools Matter: The Obama-Gates-BRT 10-Year Priority Plan for Urban School Privatization

Schools Matter: The Obama-Gates-BRT 10-Year Priority Plan for Urban School Privatization:

The Obama-Gates-BRT 10-Year Priority Plan for Urban School Privatization

by Jim Horn

A piece in this morning's NYTimes reports on legions of small donors who have given up on Obama in his bid to raise $1,000,000,000 for the 2012 campaign. Why, indeed, should I or anyone who pays taxes send money to Team Obama when the hedge-funders and oligarchs who pay none are sending him all he needs? Why should any of us educators, in fact, send Obama a nickel when his education policies are designed to benefit only corporations, corporate foundations, privatization ideologues, and the education industrial complex?

Monty Neill has done a terrific initial analysis of Duncan's behind-the-back bounce pass to his corporate teammates who are driving in to score big, and I won't repeat what Monty has said here. Monty's opening:

The Obama-Duncan plan for ―flexibility in the administration of the ―No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education law offers little more than a leap from the frying pan to the fire – and even adds

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

They only call it class warfare when we fight back. #occupywallstreet

Unhappy with Obama’s conciliatory approach to the Republicans in Congress, small donors are not givingto the campaign this time around.

Michael Moore goes on Olbermann and announces his support for the Wall Street occupation.

Caterpillar Inc, which supplies the machinery for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, was getting an award from the National Building Museum. Thousands think that’s a bad idea.

Live streaming from #occupywallstreet on adbusters.

Chicago corporations pony up a quarter of a million dollars to the United Neighborhood Organization

The Spin to Justify Florida’s Voucher $214 Million Price Tag | Scathing Purple Musings

The Spin to Justify Florida’s Voucher $214 Million Price Tag | Scathing Purple Musings:

The Spin to Justify Florida’s Voucher $214 Million Price Tag

by Bob Sikes

Jacksonville public education advocate and freelance writer Julie Delegal has the lead letter today in the Florida Times Union. Delegal provides the numbers on what Florida’s two voucher system cost taxpayers and ultimately take from public schools.

Florida currently operates two school voucher programs.

The McKay Scholarship transmits state funds directly to families of disabled students so that they may attend private schools that might better meet their children’s needs.

The Florida Tax Credit voucher, on the other hand, diverts various tax payments to a charity, which funds private school vouchers.

The children, families and taxpayers of Florida deserve better accountability for both of these

Moving Forward While Romanticizing the Past? | Connected Principals

Moving Forward While Romanticizing the Past? | Connected Principals:

Moving Forward While Romanticizing the Past?

by Chris Wejr

Image from http://bit.ly/oaU0qL

We often look to our past through a lens of ‘that is how things should be done today’. This past week I have read a few articles and posts about how we need to return to the old, better ways of doing things and how ‘kids these days’ are lazy and have such a sense of entitlement.

New math equals trouble, education expert says – Canada – CBC News (via David Wees – see David’s response here)

Inside the entitlement generation – The Globe and Mail

There are very few things that get me more frustrated than when I hear stereotyping of our future generations and the criticism of the new way of teaching. Cale Birk (@birklearns) wrote a brilliant post in response to the Globe

White House to Host First-Ever Hispanic-Focused Online Roundtable - Hispanically Speaking News

White House to Host First-Ever Hispanic-Focused Online Roundtable - Hispanically Speaking News:

White House to Host First-Ever Hispanic-Focused Online Roundtable

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Published at 9:40 am, September 25, 2011

Photo Credits: White House Hosting First-Ever Hispanic Focused Online Roundtable

Next week President Obama and the White House will host the first-ever Hispanic-focused online roundtable in partnership with Yahoo! media that will be live streamed. The event is slated for Wednesday, September 28 and well be webcasted from the White House. The roundtable will be moderated by Jose Siade, editor-in-chief for Yahoo U.S. Hispanics and Latin America.

This online format according to Yahoo will ‘give people the opportunity to submit questions to the president on the issues that are important to them.’ The roundtable is expected to focus on issues such as the economy, education, immigration and health care. Yahoo! will moderate the session and ask