On Bias and Learning Student Voice

Student Voice:

On Bias and Learning

Bias is dangerous.

More than any other time in our lives, we students are now coming head-to-head with the future. That’s a frightening concept, especially for those of us who are interested in leaving an impact on our societies. We’re forced to acknowledge that if we are going to make a change, the time is now. The most important action one must take in order to implement change is simply to learn–to gather and analyze information in order to effectively decide which are the best moves to make and the best strategies to pursue.

Learning isn’t as easy as cracking open a book and taking notes, or doing a Google search on a piece of information; the process requires a bit more brainpower than that. There’s a reason why language teachers constantly lecture their students on gathering information from as many different sources as possible when creating a project or writing an essay. It isn’t just to practice different methods of formatting a bibliography. Real learning requires thorough investigation into books, newspapers and websites, as well as people. Real learning requires changing your very mindset in order to truly understand the information you’re processing. The process of learning never stops; it continues throughout everything that happens in our everyday lives, big

- See more at: http://www.stuvoice.org/2013/07/25/on-bias-and-learning/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.mrwSqQL7.dpuf

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Summer reading

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Summer reading:

Summer reading

I'm trying to catch up this summer on reading that's piling up in the Kindle. Aside from beach novels -- I've reloaded The Ninth Wave by Eugene Burdick, a favorite from my ill-spent youth in L.A.. Burdick also authored popular '60s reads, The Ugly American and Fail Safe -- I'm trying to get to the serious stuff.

On top of the new pile is Charter Schools and the Corporate Makeover of Public Education: What's at Stake? by Michelle Fineand Michael Fabricant. It came out a year ago but I'm just getting to it. I try and keep up with everything Michelle writes but it's an impossible task -- she's prolific.

Sports writer supreme, Dave Zirin wrote this great piece, Rahm Emanuel's Zombie Pigs vs. Chicago's Angry Birds, in The Nation, back in May. Just got to it. It's a take-down of Rahm's insane plan to build a new basketball stadium for DePaul, which fellow sports writer Rick Telander calls, "a new arena of stupidity," with millions in tax payer dollars -- money that could be used to save our schools.

Chicago teacher  Greg Michie, author of We Don't Need Another Hero and Holler if you hear me,  has a strong response today to Rahm and Byrd-Bennett's "students-first" mantra.

What's happening in Chicago schools -- and in many other places across the 

Shooting for the Stars: Let’s Read! Let’s Move! | ED.gov Blog

Shooting for the Stars: Let’s Read! Let’s Move! | ED.gov Blog:

Shooting for the Stars: Let’s Read! Let’s Move!

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Guest Blogger

The third installment of the Let’s Read! Let’s Move! summer series at the Department of Education took kids’ imaginations all the way to the moon and back this week with space-themed activities and a strong focus on STEM. The event was part of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Let’s Read! Let’s Move! summer enrichment series, which engages children in summer reading and physical activity over the summer months, and promotes healthy eating habits.

Thanks to NASA, educators from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan, the children received a special opportunity to “Train like an Astronaut” through core strength exercises, and learned about the solar system through an interactive “mission to space” dance.

Hagan, along with Secretary Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and two-time space shuttle astronaut, George Zamka,  joined forces to read Pluto’s Secret: An Icy World’s Tale of Discovery to a room of eager young learners. Zamka told the children that Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man” was only achieved through a series of preceding little steps, like working extra hard on homework.

The Let’s Move! portion of the afternoon, carried out with the help of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, included a “Shooting Stars Jumbo Jam,” “Comet Blast Relay,” and food tasting station with healthy star fruit. At the end of the active afternoon, children were encouraged to keep their minds active as well, by taking home a new book and book bag, courtesy of Target.

The last two installments of this summer’s Let’s Read! Let’s Move! series will take place on August 1 and 6. Each event supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, dedicated to promoting healthy eating and an active lifestyle, while also encouraging strong early learning programs to ensure children get started on the right track.

For highlights of this week’s event, watch our video wrap up here!

Sandra Ramos is a student at Cornell University and a current intern in the Office of Communication & Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education.

Diane in the Evening 7-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Principal: “Who Is Going to Help the Children of Florida?”

A principal writes about the sharp drop in school grades, caused by a change (again) in the grading system by the state: “As a principal of a school in Florida who ‘fell’ from a B to a C, despite all the news press of the lack of reliability in the change in grades, our parents will still think our school is ‘getting worse’. In reality, our scores are the same or better than last year. Trying to e

by dianerav / 25min 

How Arizona Discriminates Against Public Schools

A comment from a reader in Arizona: “I live in Arizona, am freshly retired from the US military, and have no children. Even from this vantage point, it doesn’t take much effort to see that Arizona’s under paid, hard working (at multiple jobs), parents are too busy trying to survive to notice that their legislators are feeding their tax dollars to private school corporations, by the buckets! We ca

by dianerav / 3h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Mark Naison: How TFA Is DestructiveMark Naison sent the following thoughts about Teach for America: Why Teach for America is Seductive to Mayors and Legislators and Destructive to Everyone Else Teach for America offers states and municipalities the opportunity to subcontract their teaching to non-union workers, saving large expense

by mike simpson / 3min 

What Parents really want from the New ESEA

What Parents really want from the New ESEA 

This Week In Education: Update: Goodbye (& Good Luck) To LA School Report

This Week In Education: Update: Goodbye (& Good Luck) To LA School Report:

http://laschoolreport.com/

Update: Goodbye (& Good Luck) To LA School Report

Here's a copy of an email that I sent earlier this morning to a handful of LA educators, advocates, and journalists I've been working with for the past 18 months:

Friends and colleagues:

As you may already know, my stint building and running LA School Report ended earlier this month, just short of the site's first anniversary.

In December 2011, longtime Democratic political activist Jamie Alter Lynton called me wanting help getting a new local education site started.

She had the energy and resources to help get something up and running.  I had the know-how to make it happen.

Lynton initially wanted the site to be advocacy-based, providing readers with enough information to get them to do something (sign a petition, call a politician, appear at an event, donate to a campaign); however I was able to convince her that an independent news site covering all sides fairly would be more effective in the long run (and was necessary to attract quality writers).

When it came time to launch the site last summer, Lynton asked me to take the reins.

My job included assigning and editing stories, coordinating coverage, writing some of my own pieces, and generally making sure the site was consistently smart and timely. Reporters (including most notably Hillel Aron and Samantha Oltman) handled the reporting and writing duties and endured my stubborn views and ham-fisted editing.  Lynton provided invaluable financial support, helpful news tidbits, and strong opinions.

Over all, I'm extremely proud of the results. Despite its small, part-time staff, LA School Report established itself as a go-to site for daily education news and commentary in Los Angeles. The site broke news, explored issues with greater depth and regularity than the mainstream outlets were able to do, frequently (and I think evenly) challenged one or the other "side" of the education debate, and occasionally made some news, too. 

There were numerous challenges, to be sure -- the most persistent of which was establishing, maintaining, and defending the site's editorial integrity.  I spent a lot of time insisting on transparency and balance, running interference between Lynton and others, and urging readers and colleagues to judge the site based on its coverage. Good thing I had a long track record writing about education (and wasn't financially dependent on the paycheck).

Things started getting better after the March school board primaries, and as the 2012-2013 school year ended I came to think that finding a news editor to handle the day-to-day story assignments and editing would -- along with a second regular reporter -- be a good way to bolster the news-gathering operation and create time and space for me to write commentary and do fundraising and outreach and other things to help the site grow and improve.

Lynton embraced the idea at first but then decided she didn't want me to have any editorial/ management role over the site going forward. Despite repeated negotiations and attempts at compromise, we parted ways over whether this was wise or appropriate. Former New York Times and Bloomberg journalist Michael Janofsky has been editing the site for the past two weeks.

Disappointed as I am, I remain proud to have helped make LA School Report as much of a success as it has been and I wish the journalists who are involved with the site good luck.   I'll still be writing about LAUSD in magazines and online -- and I'll be watching closely to see if it remains the feisty, independent site that it's been up to this point.

Thanks again for all your help and support.

/Alexander

Co-founder, founding editor, LA School Report

Image via @adolfoguzmanlopez

Once You Were Children, a poem by Sandy White Hawk | Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission

Once You Were Children, a poem by Sandy White Hawk | Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission:


Once You Were Children, a poem by Sandy White Hawk | Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission
HawkOnce You Were Children, a poem by Sandy White

“Once You Were Children” © July 2013 by TRC Commissioner Sandy White Hawk

Once you were children
Innocent with no thought that evil or harm existed
Your hearts were pure and trusting
You played without fear
Until they came and took you
Until……….. that first day of school
When they took your clothes, your toys, and your hair, your name
No talking, no laughing, no friends
Only crying, thoughts of home, wondering when you get to leave
Then they took your innocence, dignity and trust
Then………………. you became Victims
Once you were children
Then you became victims
Victims who were at the mercy of those who only knew darkness and evil
Victims of evil and harm that words cannot describe
Some of you came home
Some of you wandered for years before you found your way home
Some are still wondering in pain, shame and confusion
Some never made it past the school yard gate
Left to lay in unmarked graves
Those who made it home……
Their bodies carry the scars seen and unseen – spirits broken
Their hearts walled up – not able to trust – show or receive love
Lost in the swirl of alcohol and violence that repeated for generations in your families
and communities – only because that is all you knew
Carried these wounds and scars in shamed silence believing the lie that Indians are
less than human.
Then………..You spoke
Told the stories of those prison schools
You shared your pain – encouraged each other
You found sobriety and peace
You found friends and laughed again
Then………….you found healing
Then you became survivors
Once you were children
Then you were victims
Then you were survivors
Survivors who walk the Red Road – with pride and dignity and with the strength of your
ancestors
Now you are warriors
Taking back your language
Healing in ceremonies
Warriors who carry the battle scars of brutality
Some scars invisible to the eye yet deep and permanent
Warriors who bravely tell their stories to their grandchildren
So they understand……………..
So they can have compassion to understand some of that pain they still see
You tell our grandchildren so they know the legacy they come from
A generation of warriors who
Once were children
Then were victims
Then were survivors
Who are now warriors
Warriors who we honor today – their relatives can stand with pride of their strength
A community who is here because these warriors gave them life
Warriors who share their stories – breaking the silence – mending the sacred circle of
life
Once you were children
Then you were victims
Then you were survivors
Now you are warriors

John Pike, Pepper-Spraying Cop, Seeks Workers Comp From UC Davis:

John Pike, Pepper-Spraying Cop, Seeks Workers Comp From UC Davis

07/26/13 12:45 AM ET EDT

DAVIS, Calif. -- The former police officer who pepper-sprayed students during an Occupy protest at the University of California, Davis is appealing for worker's compensation, claiming he suffered psychiatric injury from the 2011 confrontation.

John Pike has a settlement conference set for Aug. 13 in Sacramento, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations' website.

Pike was fired in July 2012, eight months after a task force investigation found that his action was unwarranted.

Online videos of him and another officer casually dousing demonstrators with pepper spray went viral, sparking outrage at UC Davis leaders. The images became a rallying symbol for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Hackers posted Pike's information online. He received scores of threats that led an Alameda County Court judge to rule against releasing the names of other officers at the scene.

This week, a state appeals court ruled news organizations are entitled to know the names of a dozen University of California police officers who were interviewed about the use of pepper spray on demonstrators at UC Davis.

The Los Angeles Times and The Sacramento Bee are seeking the officers' identities, 

Choosing Democracy: Willful Defiance ?

Choosing Democracy: Willful Defiance ?:

Willful Defiance ?

Talk It Out: A Community Conversation to Fix School Discipline (a short play based on real life stories about school discipline in Sacramento County).  

Catch WILLFUL on Cable TV! All cablecasts will be on Comcast/Surewest Channel 17 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, Pacific Daylight/Standard Time, unless otherwise specified. If you don't have those services, it can also be viewed at www.accesssacramento.org, at the times listed below.

Sunday, July 28th @ 7:00pm
Monday, July 29th @ 11:00am
Tuesday, July 30th @ 3:00am
Friday, August 2nd @ 7:00pm
Saturday, August 3rd @ 11:00am
Sunday, August 4th @ 3:00am

Tuesday, August 6th @ 10:00pm
Wednesday, August 7th @ 2:00pm
Thursday, August 8th @ 6:00am

Sunday, August 11th @ 10:00pm
Monday, August 12th @ 2:00pm
Tuesday, August 13th @ 6:00am

Walking the Labyrinth of the Corporate-Owned-Common Core | United Opt Out National

Walking the Labyrinth of the Corporate-Owned-Common Core | United Opt Out National:

WALKING THE LABYRINTH OF THE CORPORATE-OWNED-COMMON CORE

7-26-13 Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

Newsflash: Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald recuses himself from Lopez v. Vallas case

Categories: Andrew McDonald Bridgeport Malloy Paul VallasTags: Andrew McDonaldBridgeportMalloyPaul VallasNews Update: “Thursday it was announced the State Supreme Court would reinstate a stay allowing Paul Vallas to continue in his job as the city’s schools superintendent pending an appeal of his qualifications to hold the position in Connecticut.” “According to a court spokesperson, the followin

by jonpelto / 1h 

Adamowski, Pryor and State Department of Education violate Connecticut Law on Windham Turnaround Plan…

Categories: Malloy State Board of Education State Representative Susan Johnson State Senator Don Williams Stefan Pryor Steven Adamowski WindhamTags: MalloyState Board of EducationState Representative Susan JohnsonState Senator Don WilliamsStefan PryorSteven AdamowskiWindhamThe fundamental principle is pretty simple.  We are a nation of laws and when a law requires certain actions, failure to foll

by jonpelto / 19min   

Supreme Court leaves Vallas in place during appeal process… (updated with statement from plaintiffs) - Wait, What?

Supreme Court leaves Vallas in place during appeal process… (updated with statement from plaintiffs) - Wait, What?: Supreme Court leaves Vallas in place during appeal process… (updated with statement from plaintiffs)  Last Friday lawyers for Paul Vallas filed a brief arguing why Paul Vallas should stay “on the job” during the Supreme Court’s review of Judge Bellis’ ruling that Vallas cannot serv

by mike simpson / 10h 

Action Alert: Parent Trigger Conference Call | Seattle Education

Action Alert: Parent Trigger Conference Call | Seattle Education:

Action Alert: Parent Trigger Conference Call

Parents to Rep. George Miller: To celebrate “National Parents Day,”
please listen to parents!

Parents Across America, a network of grassroots parents and parent
groups across the U.S., has learned that Rep George Miller, ranking
Democratic member of the House education committee, is holding a
teleconference today to celebrate the July 28th National Parents Day.

The teleconference is taking place today, July 26, 2013, at 1:00 p.m.
EST

Toll-free U.S. dial-in #:866-952-1907

Conference Call: National Parents Day; Password: Parents

The teleconference is clearly designed to promote parent trigger laws;
Rep. Miller’s guest for the teleconference is Ben Austin, head of Parent
Revolution, a group generously funded by corporate reform supporters
including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton
Foundation. No one from Parents Across America was invited to
participate in this event.

Parent Revolution has been exposed for paying so-called parent activists
to promote the disastrous “Won’t Back Down” movie and to go around the
U.S. testifying about the parent trigger.

Although Parents Across America strongly supports true parent
empowerment, we oppose the parent trigger process. While the parent
trigger allows parents to voice discontent with a school, it gives them
no opportunity to choose among more positive reforms, and fails to
promote the best practices for parent involvement from the ground up. In
addition, the process creates huge potential for abuse, disruption and
divisiveness to school communities. The push for parent trigger laws
across the U.S. raises deep concerns. As with other deceptively
simple-sounding solutions, this law is likely to cause more problems
than it solves.

Parents Across America instead supports a process in which parents are
authentically involved at the ground level in developing strategies for
improvement. These strategies might include smaller classes, more parent
involvement, or other reforms that have been proven to work and are
aligned with the individual needs of the school and its students.
PAA’s recommendations

We urge lawmakers to oppose proposals like the Parent Trigger that would
exploit parents’ legitimate concerns in order to hand public property
over to private hands.

Please also see PAA’s position paper, “The Empowerment Parents Want: The
LSC Model for School Reform.”

For more detail, please see our position paper, “Parents Across America
on the Parent Trigger.”

Parents to Rep. George Miller: To celebrate “National Parents Day,” please listen to parents!

Parents to Rep. George Miller: To celebrate “National Parents Day,”
please listen to parents! 

Parents Across America, a network of grassroots parents and parent
groups across the U.S., has learned that Rep George Miller, ranking
Democratic member of the House education committee, is holding a
teleconference today to celebrate the July 28th National Parents Day.

The teleconference is taking place today, July 26, 2013, at 1:00 p.m.
EST

Toll-free U.S. dial-in #:866-952-1907 

Conference Call: National Parents Day; Password: Parents

The teleconference is clearly designed to promote parent trigger laws;
Rep. Miller's guest for the teleconference is Ben Austin, head of Parent
Revolution, a group generously funded by corporate reform supporters
including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton
Foundation. No one from Parents Across America was invited to
participate in this event. 

Parent Revolution has been exposed for paying so-called parent activists
to promote the disastrous “Won’t Back Down” movie and to go around the
U.S. testifying about the parent trigger. 

Although Parents Across America strongly supports true parent
empowerment, we oppose the parent trigger process. While the parent
trigger allows parents to voice discontent with a school, it gives them
no opportunity to choose among more positive reforms, and fails to
promote the best practices for parent involvement from the ground up. In
addition, the process creates huge potential for abuse, disruption and
divisiveness to school communities. The push for parent trigger laws
across the U.S. raises deep concerns. As with other deceptively
simple-sounding solutions, this law is likely to cause more problems
than it solves.

Parents Across America instead supports a process in which parents are
authentically involved at the ground level in developing strategies for
improvement. These strategies might include smaller classes, more parent
involvement, or other reforms that have been proven to work and are
aligned with the individual needs of the school and its students.
PAA’s recommendations

We urge lawmakers to oppose proposals like the Parent Trigger that would
exploit parents’ legitimate concerns in order to hand public property
over to private hands. 

Please also see PAA’s position paper, “The Empowerment Parents Want: The
LSC Model for School Reform.”

For more detail, please see our position paper, “Parents Across America
on the Parent Trigger.”

Digital content bill one step from governor’s desk SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Digital content bill one step from governor’s desk
By Tom Chorneau
Friday, July 26, 2013

A two-year effort to pass legislation requiring textbook publishers to make available digital versions of their content appears to be one step from the governor’s desk.

AB 133 by Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, would mandate digital formats be made by any publisher or instructional materials manufacturer that submits a printed textbook for adoption by the California State Board of Education or governing board of a local school district.

Supported by an array of key education groups including the Association of California School Administrators, the bill has also picked up the backing of the Association of American Publishers as well as groups representing students with disabilities, including the California Council for the Blind.

The bill passed off the Assembly floor in May without dissent and won passage from the state Senate – also without opposition – just before the Legislature broke for summer recess earlier this month.

Amendments made in the Senate, however, require that the bill return once more to the Assembly – but expectations 

7-26-13 SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE:

Attended the @educationgadfly event on #optorcop yesterday. Nice people, here’s my rant

Here’s a link to video of the event at the Fordham Institute on a debate about opting out of test-based accountability in education reform. I’ll have to watch the video to see if my question/comment was recorded. I’m still kicking myself because I feel like I botched it. I was a little nervous and my […]

by Chalk Face, PhD / 1min 

7-25-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face

SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: Congress Set to Profit from Student Loan Rates Determined by Wall Street SwindlersIf you ever wonder how the Feds are going to pay for the new era of non-risk corporate welfare farming, charter schools, preschools, for-profit college subsidies, military contractors, corporate welfare spy firms, etc., Congress has a plan.  One drop in that national cash reserve for

by mike simpson / 3h