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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Giving data a bad name. Misleading testing article goes viral. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Giving data a bad name. Misleading testing article goes viral. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Giving data a bad name. Misleading testing article goes viral.

A headline in Friday’s NY Times caught my attention.

To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test.

It was in the Times’ Science section. It could just have been the ad on late night television claiming you can lose weight by holding shaking dumb bells.

But the problem was that the research wasn’t

Assessing teacher evaluation system is wrong on several levels

Assessing teacher evaluation system is wrong on several levels

Assessing teacher evaluation system is wrong on several levels

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 23, 2011; 6:08 PM

Say it isn't so, Mayor Gray.

Here's why I was so disappointed to read my colleague Bill Turque's report on a plan by D.C. schools officials to have the flawed IMPACT teacher evaluation system reviewed by a Harvard professor:

1) I was optimistic that Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) was serious about fixing the problem when he said at a public forum recently that the evaluation system - instituted under former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee - was unfair to teachers.

He said, "I guess I would say at this stage . . . it's a step in the right direction, but it's got a long way to go to be a fair evaluation of our teachers. And, frankly, any system that isn't sensitive to the differences in challenges of the kids in the schools only encourage

Is KIPP abandoning the neediest kids?

Is KIPP abandoning the neediest kids?

Is KIPP abandoning the neediest kids?

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 23, 2011; 6:10 PM

The Knowledge Is Power Program, the nation's and the District's most successful charter school network, has a new official name, KIPP, and a new approach to raising achievement for disadvantaged children.

In its first decade, the network - with 91 schools in 20 states and eight in Washington - focused on creating middle schools that started with fifth-graders two or three years below grade level and got them up to speed by eighth grade. Now it is opening elementary schools, including three here, so that it can start raising

No-felons bill revived for 2011 | EdNewsColorado

No-felons bill revived for 2011 | EdNewsColorado

Teachers Taking Control: A Historical Context | Lefty Parent

Teachers Taking Control: A Historical Context | Lefty Parent

Teachers Taking Control: A Historical Context

In my previous blog piece, “Teachers Take Control of a Detroit School”, I got generally positive comments on Daily KOS on the good news this story represented for progressives. One commenter, a former teacher, wished they could have been involved in such a school, while instead…

I taught in secondary schools for sixteen years. I left because I had two choices… 1. Fight constantly with administrators, school boards, district officials et al for the freedom to teach the best possible curriculum with the best possible methodology for the students in my classroom… OR 2. Blindly follow the wishes of all of the above people regarding curriculum and methodology to

Principal Training Summit Video | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Principal Training Summit Video | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Principal Training Summit Video

Rare, undercover footage from a principals’ retreat in Omaha last month…

Popout

Mr. Teachbad

Schools Matter: Whhhhhhhaaattt? Did'chu Read It?

Schools Matter: Whhhhhhhaaattt? Did'chu Read It?

Whhhhhhhaaattt? Did'chu Read It?

A research study published last week by Science Magazine is drawing a bit of attention. The Flypaper fellows are talking about it, the NY Times wrote about it (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), and theNorthwest Evaluation Association tweeted about it:

Screen shot 2011-01-23 at 12.13.21 PM.pngAll three give the impression that taking a test helps with learning. It's fair to say the assumption is that

Marion Brady is awesome - Ed Thoughts

Marion Brady is awesome - Ed Thoughts

Marion Brady is awesome - Ed Thoughts

"Learning, real learning - trying to make more sense of what's happening - is as natural and satisfying as breathing. If your big reform idea requires laws, mandates, penalties, bribes, or other kinds of external pressure to make it work, it won't work. You can lead the horse to water, and you can force it to look like it's drinking, but you can't make it drink."

I know I tweeted Mr. Brady's

Keep All the Top Teachers - NYTimes.com

Keep All the Top Teachers - NYTimes.com

Keep All the Top Teachers

THE past year was a sobering one for American educators, as we learned that the United States is falling farther behind in international student rankings. To his credit, President Obama put forward a plan for change that hit the mark, a brilliant stroke that even the “abolish the Department of Education” crowd had to admire. Race to the Top, the competitive grant program that harnesses stimulus dollars to drive reform, convinced a surprising number of governors and legislators from both parties to pay the entrance fee by proving they could strengthen their education laws.

THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH

What Should the President Say?

Politicians, journalists and experts in various fields share what issues they would like addressed in the President’s State of the Union speech.

Twelve states improved their evaluation tools so that they can identify effective teachers and make sure they are prized in the classroom. Six states reversed policies that had made it impossible to use student achievement to evaluate classroom teachers. And 27 broadened their public charter school laws, giving parents more choices and reminding everyone that competition in education is a good thing.

Last Stand for Children First: Last Stand for Children First pushes for an American education reform

Last Stand for Children First: Last Stand for Children First pushes for an American education reform

Last Stand for Children First pushes for an American education reform

For several years now, the best country in the world on the international PISA test has been Finland. Their scores dwarf our own and top the list of the best countries in the world for education. Let's look for a second at the qualities of the Finish education system:

Finnish System
School Day: 4 hour days the first two years to up to as many as 6 hours in high school
School Year: 190 Days
Beginning School Age: 7
Private Schools: Very Few

Modern School: Newspaper to Publish Teacher/Public Employee Compensation

Modern School: Newspaper to Publish Teacher/Public Employee Compensation

Newspaper to Publish Teacher/Public Employee Compensation

The Bay Area Newsgroup (publisher of the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News) will be publishing an online database that will access compensation data for all public employees in California, including teachers.

This is not illegal, but it is intended to be provocative, particularly in this climate of public employee bashing. In

Unfinished business. MDV in Andersonville. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Unfinished business. MDV in Andersonville. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Unfinished business. MDV in Andersonville.

Thanks to Tim Furman for this video.


Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links.

What should Obama say in his speech to Congress on Tuesday? Now that Joel Klein, Ron Huberman and Michelle Rhee are gone as school chiefs, we should continue the process and keep only the top administratorsand fire the rest.

Send Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross after Larry Summers and the Wall Street crooks. Frank Richtakes a look at what the popularity of

The Wall.

Tunis.


New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools 1-23-11 Get Involved- Read Education News

New Posts on Parents 4 democratic Schools

Get Involved- Read Education News



PENewark to launch second education reform survey | NJ.com

PENewark to launch second education reform survey | NJ.com

PENewark to launch second education reform survey

Published: Sunday, January 23, 2011, 11:00 AM

Hitting the streets in NewarkEnlargeNewark Mayor Cory Booker (left) joined the other volunteers from PENewark as they canvas Newark residents for their opinion on Newark schools and school reform. He spoke to Rayshon Cross while going door-to-door. (Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger)Hitting the streets in Newark gallery (4 photos)
  • Hitting the streets in Newark
  • Hitting the streets in Newark
  • Hitting the streets in Newark

NEWARK — After a hasty start and a heap of criticism, PENewark is rolling out a second survey this weekend to glean the thoughts of Newarkers on education reform in the state’s largest city.

The group was set up by Mayor Cory Booker as the outreach arm of his reform effort, sparked by a $100 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg to Newark schools.

From the outset, PENewark faced criticism for what many educational leaders considered a shallow and ill-conceived survey. Now, with the