Monday, May 30, 2011

Dusty & Gay: Snow on Memorial Day Weekend

Dusty & Gay: Snow on Memorial Day Weekend
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Dusty & Gay: Snow on Memorial Day Weekend

May 30, 2011

And onward–across the nation to the Save Our Schools March.

Ely, NV to Pruess Lake, UT Saturday we crossed another state line, said goodbye to Nevada, and hello to Utah. On the horizon, however, an on the news we heard about an approaching storm. Soon we would experience it first hand. At Pruess Lake we found the perfect camping spot and even considered swimming. That night it rained and in the early morning it snowed. We woke up to four inches of snow… no swimming.

Pruess Lake, UT to Minersville, UT The entire day’s bicycle ride was done in the rain, wind, and cold. After

School Tech Connect: The Work Is Just Beginning

School Tech Connect: The Work Is Just Beginning

The Work Is Just Beginning

Who the hell knows what kind of kabuki just transpired down in Springfield, but for now SB512 is stopped. I know the organizations I work with were able to send out almost 300 faxes alone, in addition to phone calls and emails. So, there's a future in micro-lobbying, if you asked me.

The IEA has pointed out the weirdness of the statement signed by Madigan and Cross and the unelected Tyrone Fahner. Apparently Robin Steans wasn't available. What has long been true, and is apparently truer than ever, is that there's a money train that stops in Springfield, and that everyone's on it, and ultimately this has to corrupt the system.

Also, there's this little nugget in the Madigan/Cross/Fahner statement.



I feel like they got a whiff of Ken Swanson's offer to sit down and roll up his sleeves during the committee hearing and they thought we can get them to ram it through themselves.


I'm would recommend that people inside the two main organizations start communicating with the leadership to figure out who's strong, who's wobbly, and who's going to be content to sit at the table, as a certain Logan Square activist has cautioned against time and again.

Also, I would recommend following up with Elaine Nekritz (D-57), who was left holding the bag by Madigan and Cross. Her schizophrenic "yes" vote on the committee should be pinned on her lapel by the residents in her district. She should be questioned specifically about what kind of ideas she would have proposed--- she referred to these ideas while caving to Madigan. She should also be asked if she's familiar with the Constitution.

Also, SB 512 should be referred to as the "pension phase-out bill" because that's exactly what it was and is-- it came out during the questioning by Daniel Biss (D-17), who showed his hand as a privatizer during his questioning and should be asked very specific questions about his positions. Back in the day, the people representing Evanston educators would have had a van load of activists dispatched to his office for some serious chit-chat. I don't know anyone there these days.

As for Kevin McCarthy (D-37), I have no idea. I'm not familiar with him, and I don't know where Orland Park even is. All I know is that he's a Democrat that voted in committee to phase out public pensions and he should be held accountable for that. Karen May (D-58) should be visited by a deputation of residents and given every kind of support for her wise committee vote.

The work is just starting. We're way, way past the point where we can rely solely on the centralized communication system that has us frantically sending postcards every time a disaster looms. We need to be aware of who is represented by whom so that we can build an actual grass roots. Wouldn't it be great if someone were able to directly contact that hundreds of educators living in Nekritz' district and arrange a little sit-down with her? There's no mechanism for that, currently.

I'm going to take a few days off here; I'll be turning the place over to some of the big aggregators just to see how that works out.

Execessive Testing Is a Dangerous Obsession - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Execessive Testing Is a Dangerous Obsession - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Testing Students to Grade Teachers

What do we know about using student achievement tests to judge teacher performance?

A Dangerous Obsession

Updated May 30, 2011, 07:00 PM

Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she is co-director of the Stanford Center on Opportunity Policy in Education. She was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and she led President Obama’s education policy transition team.

There is a saying that U.S. students are the most tested, and the least examined, of any in the world. American policymakers are quick to turn to testing to cure whatever problems they think exist in schools. Because teachers’ judgment is mistrusted, we test students in the United States more than any other nation, in the mistaken belief that testing produces greater learning.

Top-scoring countries in student achievement, like Finland and Korea, have eliminated crowded testing schedules and improved their scores by doing so.

However, nations like Finland and Korea -- top scorers on the Programme for International Student Assessment -- formally test students only in the 12th grade, to inform college admissions, having eliminated the crowded testing schedules used decades ago when these nations were much lower-achieving. Other high-achievers typically test students but once in elementary and/or middle school to

Let's Get Real: Addressing Bullying and the Bias That Fuels It « Whole Child Education

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

Post submitted by Whole Child Blogger Karissa Bell

One boy talks about how he is consistently bullied by his classmates. Seconds later, footage is shown of another student pushing him off his bike. One girl talks about how girls at her school are continuously harassed and even touched by the boys in their class. Another boy talks about how he is the bully because he wants people to stay out of his way.

Let’s Get Real is the title of Groundspark’s most recent film about bullying in schools and the bias that leads to that bullying. And it’s difficult to imagine that the film could get much more real.

In the film, kids of all ages speak quite candidly about their experiences bullying and being bullied. But even more unsettling than their tales of bullying are their statements about how their teachers seem unaware of or indifferent to their situations.

Later, in the ensuing discussion, educators described how they feel trapped when it comes to issues

Spain 15M: from angry to action crossing the Sun Door | Dailycensored.com

Spain 15M: from angry to action crossing the Sun Door | Dailycensored.com

Spain 15M: from angry to action crossing the Sun Door

By Concha Mateos
PhD in Social Communication
Faculty at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid

Something that looked impossible is happening.

A miracle. Could be. But there is no God acting, no holy character. Here there is only human will and the crowd´s wishes.

Thousands of people were there, in the same ideas, in the same objectives, in the same need of changes, in the same Puerta del Sol, but they didn´t know it.

The unknowed companions have meet together.

Have you ever taken a decision with thousands of people considering them all the same.

The square has become a school of democracy, pure, radical, real and effective democracy. (Democracia real ya, is the name of one of the groups that compounds the movement 15M). Every day while corporations try to captivate audiences with rubbish TV programs, you can find them there,

Big Education Ape: 5-30-11 PM Love In Eights The Jose Vilson Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 contributors today



Multiple choice tests for Yearbook? Let's get more creative

charlotteobserver.com - Posted: Sunday, May. 29, 2011 From Jack Eiselt, a sophomore at Myers Park High School: Recently, as part of Pay for Performance, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has started making students in experie...
DianeRavitch

NYC Educator: "Why Wait?" Asks Duncan

nyceducator.com - US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today lamented that only a third of Joplin, Missouri was leveled by tornadoes. "Unfortunately, the fact that so much of the city remains standing will not enab...
DianeRavitch

Love In Eights [Draft] | The Jose Vilson

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Love In Eights [Draft] | The Jose VilsonLove In Eights [Draft]by JoseTo understand how I got to this point isTo ask a man to uproot weedsclinging to the webs of his own feetTo see through the fog t...
coopmike48

Students: Too many tests given; no pay for performance

charlotteobserver.com - Posted: Monday, May. 30, 2011 EDITOR'S NOTE: Young Voices is an e-mail forum for students college age and younger. Responses are published twice a month in the print newspaper and here online. Abig...
DianeRavitch

A new miracle school in Chicago

garyrubinstein.teachforus.org - I’m not an education reporter. I’m just a guy with a computer and a healthy amount of skepticism and internet access. I also am someone whose been in education for twenty years and am fearful abo...
DianeRavitc
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Report slams heavy focus on school testing

washingtontimes.com - As Congress and the Obama administration weigh a major reform of education policy, the government should overhaul testing methods that have handcuffed teacher creativity and done little to boost st...
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SB 512. It comes down to today. « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - We thought the vote might be last Friday. Then Saturday. But Saturday they adjourned early for the Memorial Day holiday. They reconvened last night. It was long enough to turn SB 175, which had bee...
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Art In 'America' Records The National Experience : NPR

npr.org - Enlarge Courtesy of America: Now and Here New York-based artist Andres Serrano's America (Jewel-Joy Stevens, America's Little Yankee Miss) is one of many works included in "America: Now and Here." ...
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Latin American Treasures Preserved & Deemed Valuable to World

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 5:36 pm, May 30, 2011 Photo Credits: Treasures from Latin America The head of the United Nations agency tasked with preserving the world’s cultural heritage endorsed recommendations to...
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49% of Americans Think Memorial Is Most Important Holidays

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 3:47 pm, May 30, 2011 Photo Credits: Memorial Day Important Holiday Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans view Memorial Day as one of the nation’s most important holidays. A new Rasmus...
coopmike48

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Robert Reich (The Truth About the American Economy)

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Robert Reich (The Truth About the American Economy)The Truth About the American Economy8 people liked thisThe U.S. economy continues to stagnate. It’s growing at the rate of 1.8 percent, which is b...
coopmike48

The American Middle Class « MomsRising Blog

momsrising.org - From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org Do you understand how come it got so bad for so many households these days? I’ve been lo...
coopmike48

The Truth About the American Economy

34years.tumblr.com - 60 notes May 30, 2011 robertreich:The U.S. economy continues to stagnate. It’s growing at the rate of 1.8 percent, which is barely growing at all. Consumer spending is down. It’s vital that we unde...
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#eduRead this paperSee all


Robert Reich (The Truth About the American Economy)

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Robert Reich (The Truth About the American Economy)The Truth About the American Economy8 people liked thisThe U.S. economy continues to stagnate. It’s growing at the rate of 1.8 percent, which is b...
coopmike48

Schools Matter: A T-Shirt for Arne Duncan

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: A T-Shirt for Arne DuncanA T-Shirt for Arne Duncanby skrashenA T-Shirt for Arne DuncanSent to the NY Daily News, May 30, 2011The Daily News mentioned that school officials at the Ea...
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"#quote Well, if crime figh…" « Deck.ly

tweetdeck.com - Coopmike48#quote Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they? - George CarlinLong post from Deck.ly...
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