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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2012 ten minute drawing sample. « Fred Klonsky

2012 ten minute drawing sample. « Fred Klonsky:


2012 ten minute drawing sample.

by Fred Klonsky
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Twelve lessons we learned from New York City’s schools in 2012 | GothamSchools

Twelve lessons we learned from New York City’s schools in 2012 | GothamSchools:


Twelve lessons we learned from New York City’s schools in 2012

by Philissa Cramer

2-12

Jan. 1, 2012, dawned just as 2013 will tomorrow: with the city at odds with the UFT over teacher evaluations, under the threat of a bus strike, and in the process of closing down dozens of schools. But just because the city’s education news sometimes seems like it’s on a loop doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it.
Here are a dozen of the lessons we took away from the city’s schools this year:
1. The Department of Education can’t always get what it wants.
When the year opened, everyone expected the city and UFT to continue negotiating new teacher evaluations and unfreeze federal funds. But Mayor Bloomberg shocked New Yorkers by announcing that he would circumvent the requirement for new evaluations by closing and reopening the 33 schools using a federally prescribed overhaul process called “turnaround,” which would require many teachers to be replaced. The union’s opposition began immediately.
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered an evaluations deal between the state teachers union, he also brokered a 
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Ed Notes Online: Back to Brooklyn College with Julie and Jack

Ed Notes Online: Back to Brooklyn College with Julie and Jack:


Back to Brooklyn College with Julie and Jack

by ed notes online


Recently Julie Cavanagh (and Jack) and I were invited by professor Charisa Kiyô Smith as GEMers to speak to a class at Brooklyn College that had watched our movie in class the week before.  She wanted us to talk about activism. She described the class, Children and The Law, this way:
90% of my students are either already paras or teacher's aides, or seek to go into teaching full time. They would like to learn about becoming more involved in combating some of the destructive politics around education in this city. My students are frustrated at the purported lack of resources for traditional public schools, as well as the over-vigilance on certain aspects of performance and testing...
This was back in November. (I started to write about it but never finished.) I guess I assumed after seeing our film and being connected to the schools they would be receptive to our anti-charter message. Boy was I wrong. We 
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A Model T Education: Public Schooling on the Assembly Line - DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

A Model T Education: Public Schooling on the Assembly Line - DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:


A Model T Education: Public Schooling on the Assembly Line

by Adam Bessie

Ford-model-a-assembly-line

“Mass production is a problem the auto industry solved over 100 years ago,” veteran education reporter Jonn Merrow narrates over grainy images of Model Ts being rolled out of a factory in his most recent PBS NewsHour report. He observes that with the Model T, Henry Ford’s innovation was not in creating a quality car, but in constructing an assembly-line which could mass-produce them, providing this once cutting edge technology affordably to the public. “But it’s an issue our education system has yet to figure out. Nobody has figured out how to mass-produce high-quality, cost-effective schools,” Merrow mournfully concludes – public education has yet to discover its “Model T.”
In other words, Merrow – who has been reporting on education for forty years – is saying public education should aspire to the assembly line 
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Parent Trigger Brings Division Among the Same Parents Who Won in California | Scathing Purple Musings

Parent Trigger Brings Division Among the Same Parents Who Won in California | Scathing Purple Musings:


Parent Trigger Brings Division Among the Same Parents Who Won in California

by Bob Sikes


Several Florida republican lawmakers went to the mat for Parent Trigger last March and it’s widely predicted it will be back this year. Jeb Bush has vowed that it will. Existing in only a handful of states, Parent Trigger has been successfully used just once. After ripping a community apart, it appears that there’s division among the parents who won their Parent Trigger effort in Adelanto, California. Writes Victoria Daily Press reporter Lynnea Lombardo:
Two of the original five filers of the “Parent Trigger” lawsuit against Adelanto School District were voted out of the Desert Trails Parent Union’s steering committee, according to the group’s lead organizer, Joe Morales.
Morales said that Kathy Duncan and Olivia Zamarripa were ousted because they are in favor of seeking financial compensation through the lawsuit in the midst of the school’s transition to a 
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Opt Out in ’13! | California Father

Opt Out in ’13! | California Father:

California Father


Opt Out in ’13!

by  on January 1, 2013 · Leave a Comment

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NYC Educator: Happy New Year to All!

NYC Educator: Happy New Year to All!:


Happy New Year to All!

by NYC Educator
Yes, I know there's school tomorrow. But it's a new year, and things could get better at any moment!
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“Elections shouldn’t exist”: The new war on school boards - Salon.com

“Elections shouldn’t exist”: The new war on school boards - Salon.com:


“Elections shouldn’t exist”: The new war on school boards

The new education "reform" fight is over who chooses school boards: the mayor or the people. One city fought back

BY 
On Election Day 2012, as voters around the country chose between two presidential candidates who both touted policies that would make it easier to fire teachers, voters in Bridgeport, Conn., rebuffed a referendum backed by Michelle Rhee, Michael Bloomberg and the local Democratic Party. By a seven-point margin, Bridgeport rejected city charter changes that would have ended school board elections. It’s the latest round in Bridgeport’s multi-year battle over a below-the-radar front in America’s reform wars: Who should pick school board members – mayors or voters?
“Nobody thinks that a bunch of hedge fund managers from Greenwich are going to make their schools any better,” said Lindsay Farrell, the executive director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, one of the groups that spearheaded the opposition effort. “And the right to vote has been a hard-fought right. So people were reluctant to give it up and didn’t trust who they 
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My 2012 @tomwhitby « My Island View

My 2012 @tomwhitby « My Island View:


My 2012 @tomwhitby

by tomwhitby


It has come to that time of year that we all sit back and reflect on what went on in our lives over the last 365 days. For some of us older folk this yearly indulgence has become more of a legacy measurement than just a checklist of what was done last year.  At this stage of my life I find myself in a unique position to help connect and engage educators in huge numbers and using methods that were not imagined a few years ago. I might say that this is an assessment of my digital footprint. I guess that this post is more for me than it is for others, unless some people view it as a possible model of accomplishment in a second career after education. The open secret to all who know me is that I am not a Tech wizard, and it is only through the use of Social Media and technology that any of these accomplishments could have been created having the effect that they have had.
SmartBlog on Education
One of my proudest accomplishments this year has come from my affiliation with SmartBrief. SmartBrief 
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UPDATE: Top posts of 2012 + They said what? @ the chalk face internet radio. « @ the chalk face

They said what? @ the chalk face internet radio. « @ the chalk face:


They said what? @ the chalk face internet radio.

Leave a comment
January 1, 2013 by Timothy D. Slekar
at-the-chalk-face
@ the chalk face internet radio 12/30/12. 
Educated Educators talking Education!
Interview with Ms. Katie Osgood.
We discuss EduShyster’s miracle: Twin Cities’ Venture Academy.
And Utah teaches teachers to “lock and load” for free!
Follow Shaun Johnson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thechalkface
Follow Timothy D. Slekar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/slekar


Happy New Year from @thechalkface! Top posts of 2012

Leave a comment
January 1, 2013 by Chalk Face
To celebrate the new year @ the chalk face, here are the top ten posts of 2012:
Many more great education analysis and commentary to come.
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UPDATE: Jersey Jazzman: Joel Klein: As Excellent As He Says He Is? Part I

Jersey Jazzman: Joel Klein: As Excellent As He Says He Is? Part I:


Joel Klein: As Excellent As He Says He Is? Part I

by Duke


I and many others spent a good deal of time last year documenting the real legacy of Michelle Rhee. This is important work: Rhee occupies an outsized place in the current debate about education "reform," largely based on claims of her own success, both as a teacher and as Chancellor of Washington, D.C.'s schools.

Thanks to the close scrutiny of Gary Brandenburg, Bob Somerby, Matt DiCarlo, Dana Goldstein, Diane Ravitch,USA Today, and others, we now know the true story: Rhee was never a miracle worker. She was, at best, an average new teacher (meaning she had a long way to go) and a mediocre large-city superintendent when judged by student achievement (when judged by other criteria, she was clearly a trainwreck).

It's important to get this on the record, because the anti-teacher and anti-union "reforms" Rhee implemented in 



Joel Klein: As Excellent As He Says He Is? Part II

by Duke
So I was going to wait a bit before the next post in my series about Joel Klein's claims of educational success during his tenure as the head of New York City's schools. But then the terrific Leonie Haimson reminded me that her group, Class Size Matters, had already done an outstanding analysis of NYC's standing in national test scores last year. Let's get their work on the record before we proceed.

We'll start by going back to Klein's claims about how NYC did on the National Assessment of Education Progress, the "gold standard" for measurement of student progress. What does Klein claim as his legacy, as measured by the NAEP?
Finally, on the federal tests — the National Assessment of Educational Progress — which are taken on a sampled basis every couple of years, the city showed improvement on each of the four tests — with significant improvement on three of them. 
Indeed, in the fourth grade, the city’s students today are about a year ahead of where they were in reading and math when Bloomberg started.
Before I get to the analysis by Leonie and Elli Marcus, let's stipulate something important: it's not enough for 
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What Will Happen to FLDOE Investigation of K12 Inc When Tony Bennett Arrives? | Scathing Purple Musings

What Will Happen to FLDOE Investigation of K12 Inc When Tony Bennett Arrives? | Scathing Purple Musings:


What Will Happen to FLDOE Investigation of K12 Inc When Tony Bennett Arrives?

by Bob Sikes


A glimpse at John O’Connor’s StateImpact review of 2012′s top stories reminds readers of the ongoing investigation of online education giant K12 Inc by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) for irregularities in Seminole County.
State investigating K12 — In September we told you the Florida Department of Education was investigating K12, Inc., the nation’s largest online education company.
Emails between K12 officials and teachers suggested the company had asked teachers to sign off on Seminole County students they had not taught. The emails raised questions about whether K12 
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PREDICTIONS FOR A CRAZY 2013 « Teachers Fight Back

PREDICTIONS FOR A CRAZY 2013 « Teachers Fight Back:


PREDICTIONS FOR A CRAZY 2013

by alkleen



I predict :
More teachers will be armed as a measure to prevent school shootings, and at least one of the teachers will accidentally shoot themselves in the foot.
More security personnel will be in our schools and at least one of them will make headlines for having an affair with a married teacher and or having a liaison with an underage student.
A court will order at least one high school to have 3 separate proms. One prom for gay, lesbian and transgender students, one for students with mental and physical disabilities, and one for anyone outside of those categories.
At least one high school conference will shorten football games to 3 quarters as a way of lowering the incidences of head injuries. Halfway through the season an administrator will notice that the number 3 doesn’t lend itself well to quarters, and the quarters will be renamed “thirds”.
So many teachers will complain about the excessive demands of the “common core curriculum” that it will be 
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Ed Notes Online: E4E at Dec PEP Exposes Ties to Eva and Success

Ed Notes Online: E4E at Dec PEP Exposes Ties to Eva and Success:


E4E at Dec PEP Exposes Ties to Eva and Success

by ed notes online
When I got on the speakers' line at the Dec. 20 PEP at 5PM, low and behold there were a bunch of E4E staffers and other E4E slugs already on line in front of me. Was E4E going to use the occasion to push their anti-UFT agenda calling for giving up the fight for a fair evaluation agreement?

Not at all. In fact they were there as placeholders so Eva's crew could get to speak. These are the people calling on the UFT to give up the rights of teachers by signing on to an evaluation agreement based on junk science. And of course they support handing over entire public school buildings to Eva's growing real estate empire.




Here are the real people at the PEP.



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2012 in pictures. « Fred Klonsky

2012 in pictures. « Fred Klonsky:


2012 in pictures.

by Fred Klonsky
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The 2013 Wait, What? Content Survey - Wait, What?

The 2013 Wait, What? Content Survey - Wait, What?:


The 2013 Wait, What? Content Survey

by jonpelto


Wait, What? needs your feedback;
Please take a moment to respond to the attached survey by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.
Not only will I publish the results, but they will help guide the research, writing and topics covered in Wait, What? over the coming year.  Feel free add topics, as appropriate, and please – please – continue to send ideas and background on issues you think need some light shined on them.
Of course, a huge thank you for taking the time to read Wait, What?, and a special thanks to all of you who participate by adding comments and pushing the discussion and debate further.  (Oh, and that even goes for those of you who are wrong).
Finally, as always, remember to keep your pitch-forks at the ready, one never knows when the time for real action will present itself.
I hope you and yours have a healthy, safe and increasingly prosperous New Year.
All the best for 2013,
Jonathan Pelto
jonpelto@gmail.com
860-428-2823
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW (or cut and paste it into  your browser) TO TAKE THE 2013 WAIT, WHAT? CONTENT SURVEY
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Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award



THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award

My Gift to you during this holiday season and nearly everyday is the voices of people who love public education. Most of the people are fighting to keep education Public and Free. I follow these people for news, ideas and inspiration. There are others but these guys are working it everyday to fight privatization of our Public Schools and for a free and great education for all kids. They are truly American Heroes. 



 Rheefirst
www.RheeFirst.com: Exposing Michelle Rhee's lies and deceptions, 140 characters at a time
. -

 Rita Solnet

 Jersey Jazzman
Music educator, composer, and political gadfly
.

 Bob Sikes
Former NY Mets trainer is a current high school teacher. By blog's currenty focused on the dynamic that exists between education reform, politics and money
.

 Anthony Cody
Worked in Oakland schools for 24 years, 18 of them teaching in a high needs middle school. He writes a blog, Living in Dialogue, for Teacher Magazine
.

 Cynthia Liu
Founder, K12NewsNetwork. Education news: made and reported by parents, students, educators
.

 Arne Duncan 
The official Twitter page of the US Secretary of Educatio
n

 ModernSchool
High school science teacher, union organizer, activist and advocate for children and teachers
.

 Tom Torlakson
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. My staff & I provide updates on events and education issues. Official SSPI & CDE feed is .

 Angus Johnston
Historian and advocate of American student activism. I teach at CUNY
.

 SmallSchoolsWorkshop
Rethinking public school design, teaching & learnin
g

 Alfie Kohn
author and lecturer on topics in education, parenting, and human behavio
r

 Walter ASCD
Lifelong learner, teacher, leader and connector making use of social media to take it to the next level
.

 Shanker Blog
Commentary and research on education, labor, and democracy from the Albert Shanker Institute. You can also follow us on Facebook: 

 Maria Shriver 
I am an activist, author, journalist and mother. I consider myself a work in progress. My mission: to inspire and empower people to be Architects of Change
.

 Bruce Baker
Professor at Rutgers University specializing in school finance, education policy & quantitative analysis
.

 Brett Dickerson
An Oklahoma high school history teacher who is committed to integrity in education and government
.

 Bruce Lesley
President of First Focus ( &). Child advocacy, politics, policy. Father: 4 kids. Basketball fanatic. Views expressed are mine alone
.

 Jeanne Newman
public school math teacher, obama canvasser, proud mother, adoring wife, bleeding heart liberal, Woodstock 69 attende
e

 Milton Ramirez
Education, Translation, Math, Physics, Technology, Social Media, Blogging
.

 Deborah Meier
Education Activist/Write
r

 Richard Lakin
educator, child and teacher advocate, edu-tweeter, author of Teaching as an Act of Love:Thoughts and Recollections of a Former Teacher, Principal and Ki
d

 Kenneth Bernstein
tchr Quaker liberal Dem, music, puns, 60+, blogger (Daily Kos, BLue Commonwealth, etc
)

 SCUSD Superintendent
Striving to do all we can so our young people can achieve their goals and dream
s

 Valerie Strauss
The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss writes about everything that matters in education -- and some things that don't
.

 Ken Libby
PhD student at CU-Boulder studying education. Doctoral student researcher at NEPC. Tweets do not represent the university. RTs ≠ endorsements
.

 Tomas Karkalas
My pictures opens my diary where poetry embellishes rough luck
!

 Emily Alpert

 Education Nation
Examining and redefining education in America. Hosted by .

 John Fensterwald
Educated Guess blogger on California ed policy and editor, Thoughts on Public Education in Calif. (top-ed.org); former opinion writer for San Jose Mercury News
.

 Jose Vilson
You can't stop my go. I been born to be where I am. Bright light from a distant star ...

 Tom Whitby
Prof of Education. Founder: , The EDU PLN Ning, Linkedin group Technology-Using Professors et al. BLOG: My Island View 

 Larry Ferlazzo
Inner-city High School teacher -- ESL & Mainstrea
m

 fklonsky
Art teacher, union gu
y

 leonie haimson
NYC public school parent, Exec. Director, Class Size Matters and founding member, Parents Across Americ
a

 David B. Cohen
English teacher, blogger, assoc. dir. of Accomplished California Teachers. Interests: ed. leadership, practice & policy. Follows/retweets are not endoresements
.

 Tim Furman
Chicago-Based 2.0 Teacher, Tech Support Person. All about reclaiming the progressive vision of education before it's tested completely away
.

 TeacherReality
FL teacher; parent; advocate for public education; working tirelessly to expose 'ed reform' profiteer
s

 CJ
Hoping Godot will come
.

 Sabrina Stevens
Teacher, writer & advocate for teachers, kids, & communities. Tweets, bad jokes, & unpopular opinions are mine alone :
)

 Monise L. Seward
 Alum, Soccer Mom, Edu-Blogger, Fndr ,  & CEO of. Advocate 4 all things Kid-Arts-Education related
.

 Katy Murphy
Education reporter and blogger for the Oakland Tribune. Reach me at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com
.

 Stud Protest

 alexanderrusso
I used to be a Hill staffer. Now I write about education. Follow my other feeds  (Chicago schools) & (ed-related gossip and pop culture)
.

 Justin Hamilton 
Official twitter account for Department of Education Press Secretary Justin Hamilto
n

 Diane Ravitch
I write about education. I blog at Bridging Differences at Education Week
.

 Mike Klonsky
Education prof, writer, blogger, high school basketball coac
h

 A. Mercer
Elementary teacher, ed tech enthusiast, wife, mother. Oh, and I knit too. Like a ninja, I'm full of surprises
!


Please Note: Many others qualify for the 
Big Education Ape Wildly Achieving Cohort Award
they have been remove for National Security Reasons


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