Saturday, October 8, 2011

Florida DOE Gets Caught in Their Own “Choice” Spin | Scathing Purple Musings:Florida DOE Gets Caught in Their Own “Choice” Spinby Bob SikesWhile in the process of promoting its virtual school program, the Florida Department of Education’s blog, Florida Common Ground, had it’s own rhetoric thrown back in their face. After commenter LZ expressed concern that virtual school is not a good option for the unmotivated student or one who had little parental involvment, the DOE responded:We appreciate your concern. ... more »

Keep Your Tea Away From Me! (With apologies to Led Zeppelin)

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

Keep your tea away from meYou've been drinking I can seeI think I'll have a glass of lemonadeyour slash and burn democracyis not good public policyit's causing your intelligence to fadeThat tea is causing your intelligence to fadeWell I don't want to drink your teaIt causes mass stupidityJust look who you got playing on your teamBased on what I hear and seeIt's clear you've had a glass or threeYour lack of basic understanding makes me want to freakin' SCREAM!Keep your ... more »

Online schools need oversight - Loveland Reporter-Herald

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Online schools need oversight - Loveland Reporter-Herald:Online schools need oversightPosted: 10/07/2011 10:46:37 PM MDTThe Internet offers great opportunities in education. Online schools provide flexible schedules, expanded class offerings and an alternative for students who struggle in traditional school settings.But there are pitfalls, as a recent investigative report by Education News Colorado and the I-News Network has revealed.The system of online K-12 schools in Colorado -- offered by GOAL Academy, Hope Online, Insight School of Colorado and other such programs -- ... more »

FTA says student diplomas are jeopardized | abc30.com

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FTA says student diplomas are jeopardized | abc30.com:FTA says student diplomas are jeopardizedSaturday, October 08, 2011TAGS:fresno unified school district, education, linda mummaComment NowEmailPrintReport a typoLinda MummaMore: Bio, E-mail, Facebook, News TeamFRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno Teacher's Association is pointing fingers at Fresno Unified. This time, it claims the district knowingly hired non-credentialed instructors to teach at Roosevelt High - without supervision. The union president says the practice jeopardizes the validity of student diplomas.Roosevelt High is ... more »

Education Report: Tracking student suspensions -- by teacher - San Jose Mercury News

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Education Report: Tracking student suspensions -- by teacher - San Jose Mercury News:Education Report: Tracking student suspensions -- by teacherBy Katy MurphyOakland TribunePosted: 10/07/2011 04:09:58 PM PDTUpdated: 10/07/2011 08:17:46 PM PDTThis is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more atwww.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.Oct. 5: A new report written by Dan Losen of UCLA's Civil Rights Project says a disproportionate number of minority students nationwide are being suspended from school for relatively minor i... more »

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Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank TopAMPostsHow One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrong | Scathing Purple MusingsBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-58 minutes agoHow One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrong | Scathing Purple Musings:How One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrongby Bob SikesFrom StateImpact, comes this link to an opinion piece by Cato Institute economist Arnold Kling who believes “test scores are not the right metric for evaluating ... more »

More on student discipline in Oakland — and a list of suspension-free schools - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

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More on student discipline in Oakland — and a list of suspension-free schools - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:More on student discipline in Oakland — and a list of suspension-free schoolsBy Katy MurphyFriday, October 7th, 2011 at 4:38 pm in safety and discipline.According to statistics provided by the Oakland school district (and crunched by your devoted education reporter):TOTAL SUSPENSIONS in 2010-11: 6,137TOTAL DAYS OF SCHOOL MISSED: 14,533DEFIANCE (“disruption/defy authority”) was the basis for 43 percent ... more »

“What the #@*%? Did You Just Hit Me?” When Students Hit Teachers! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

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“What the #@*%? Did You Just Hit Me?” When Students Hit Teachers! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!:“What the #@*%? Did You Just Hit Me?” When Students Hit Teachers!And no, those four marks represent the word “H-E- Two sticks”, not the other word. Although I have to admit, I don’t know what word that teacher was thinking at that moment it happened. She was slapped. Slapped hard. By a first grader. Seriously?I remember 7th grade, George Gershwin JHS in ... more »

How One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrong | Scathing Purple Musings

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How One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrong | Scathing Purple Musings:How One CATO Economist Shows Why Testing’s Primary Triumvirate are Wrongby Bob SikesFrom StateImpact, comes this link to an opinion piece by Cato Institute economist Arnold Kling who believes “test scores are not the right metric for evaluating teachers.” Writes Kling:Pay-for-performance supporters in K-12 education argue that good teachers should receive higher pay than mediocre teachers, while poor teachers should be dismissed.Opponents of pay-for-performance argue that ... more »

New Orleans Liberation Academy: We Are the 99%

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New Orleans Liberation Academy: We Are the 99%:4:06 PM (21 minutes ago)We Are the 99%from New Orleans Liberation Academy by New Orleans Liberation AcademyYesterday we participated in the first day of Occupy New Orleans, a solidarity protest and march with Occupy Wall Street. Check out New Orleans Liberation Academy student Anthony Johnson during the march:Day 1 of Occupy New Orleans. Solidarity protest and march with Occupy Wall Street.Here is also a great video that captures some of

Missouri Education Watchdog: No Child Left Behind? How About "No Constituent Left Behind"?

Missouri Education Watchdog: No Child Left Behind? How About "No Constituent Left Behind"?:

No Child Left Behind? How About "No Constituent Left Behind"?

by stlgretchen

This a clever take on the politicians' rantings and ravings on assessing teachers based on student scores. You would think poor scores would automatically mean poor teachers. That's what all the politicians tell us, right? They don't advance the conversation to consider individual cases, such as a teacher having a group of learning challenged students, or students whose first language is not English, or students who enter the classroom seriously under performing.

But why be bothered with those pesky issues that make students different than other students, let's go on the premise we can measure the effectiveness of teachers based on student assessments;

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Princess Sydney Morris Writes An Email To Los Angeles Teachers

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: Princess Sydney Morris Writes An Email To Los Angeles Teachers:

Princess Sydney Morris Writes An Email To Los Angeles Teachers

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

As reported this past Wednesday, October 5,Educators4Excellence is planning to invade Los Angeles. This Tuesday, October 11, the invasion begins. Yes, you read this right, 5 30 PM PDT at the Paul Williams Cafe at the RFK Education Center, the brainwashing, the subterfuge, the lies begin. For you Los Angeles teachers who are not aware of E4E, their founders, the methods, their lack of transparency, and of course their deceit you have come to the right place to learn all you can about E4E.

Our source deep inside E4E has been gracious enough to allow the crack team here at SBSB to see the emails that were sent out by Princess Sydney

Pepper-Sprayed for Peace | Dissident Voice

Pepper-Sprayed for Peace | Dissident Voice:

Pepper-Sprayed for Peace

by David Swanson

I’ve been coughing and vomiting, and my head aches from pepper spray. I’ll post videos and photos of why atthis link.

We intended to hold signs and sing inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, protesting its promotion of unmanned drones, missiles, and bombs, including its sponsorship by and promotion of weapons corporations. We don’t have any museums promoting health coverage or education or retirement security.

We had marched from the Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square occupations, taking over the streets of DC. The museum knew we were coming. Some of our group got in and dropped a banner. Hundreds of us did not. Instead, we were greeted at the door with cans of pepper spray.

There were three sets of entrance doors. I was among the first to open the third set of doors. A guard shook a

Governor Brown signs Dream Act | Thoughts on Public Education

Governor Brown signs Dream Act | Thoughts on Public Education:

Governor Brown signs Dream Act
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Law lets some undocumented students apply for state aid

Posted on 10/08/11 • Categorized as Community Colleges, Jerry Brown, UC and CSU,Undocumented students

By Kathryn Baron

Governor Brown fulfilled a campaign pledge today to extend financial aid to deserving undocumented college students by signing the California Dream Act into law.

AB 131, by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), allows students – whether U.S. citizens from other states or undocumented students – who meet specific criteria, to apply for Cal Grants at the University of California and California State University, and for fee-

Three Things I Used to Think About School Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Three Things I Used to Think About School Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Three Things I Used to Think About School Reform

by Nancy Flanagan

A couple of years ago, Deborah Meier, whose thinking frequently encourages me to slow down and go deeper,was musing about changing one's mind. Her reflections were inspired by a meme frequently used in workshops by Richard Elmore, who asks participants to write down what they used to think--and how those beliefs had changed. Elmore's first example of a "used to" totally blew me away:

I used to think that policy was the solution. And now I think that policy is the problem.

Stirred by Meier and Elmore, I wrote my own "used to/but now" contribution, and posted it. About an hour after it went up, I got a concerned e-mail from a good friend, wondering if maybe I needed a listening ear--or a stiff drink. Wow, he said. That's the most depressing thing you've ever written. He may have been right--it was a chronicle of my broken educational dreams, pretty much.

Elmore has now edited a book in which 20 revered educators go through the same assignment. It's an exercise in learning, he says: "It strikes me as ironic that in a field nominally devoted to the development of capacities to

Dumbest completely fabricated (but still serious?) graph ever! (so far) « School Finance 101

Dumbest completely fabricated (but still serious?) graph ever! (so far) « School Finance 101:

Dumbest completely fabricated (but still serious?) graph ever! (so far)

by schoolfinance101

Okay. You all know that I like to call out dumb graphs. And I’ve addressed a few on this blog previously.

Here are a few from the past: http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/dumbest-real-reformy-graphs/

Now, each of the graphs in this previous post and numerous others I’ve addressed, like this one (From RiShawn Biddle) had something over the graph I’m going to address in this post. Each of the graphs I’ve addressed previously at the very least used some “real” data. They all used it badly. Some used it in ways that should be considered illegal. Others… well… just dumb.

But this new graph, sent to me from a colleague who had to suffer through this presentation, really takes the

Big Education Ape: 10-8-11 PM Irony of Arresting OccupySac Protesters in Cesar Chavez Park #OCCUPYTOGETHER #ows #OCCUPYWALLSTREET

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The Ultimate Irony of Arresting OccupySac Protesters in Cesar Chavez Park | MyFDL #OCCUPYTOGETHER #ows #OCCUPYWALLSTREET

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - The Ultimate Irony of Arresting OccupySac Protesters in Cesar Chavez Park | MyFDL:The Ultimate Irony of Arresting OccupySac Protesters in Cesar Chavez ParkBy: john in sacramento Friday October 7, 2...

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Should Sac City schools be doing business with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp? - SNOG - October 6, 2011 - Blogs

newsreview.com - Remember how people got bummed about the half million dollars in consultant contracts having to do with a new Kings Arena? What about a half million bucks in Sacramento taxpayer money to company ow...

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Managing Director of Learning

jobs.gothamschools.org - Job Description Background Success Charter Network (SCN) is a not-for-profit charter management organization that operates public charter schools in economically-disadvantaged communities with high...

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Professional development for charter school teachers | UFT ACTS

uftacts.org - UFT Fall Charter Conference: Fulfilling the Promise: Building A Progressive Charter School Movement Join your fellow charter school educators from New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey as well as ...

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LAUSD Class Sizes Put On Trial By Teachers Union Seeking More Jobs

neontommy.com - UTLA Secretary speaks at mock trial (Gracie Zheng) The union that represents Los Angeles' public school teachers held a mock trial Thursday to blame the school district for allowing excessive class...

leoniehaimson

Black 'Occupy' Protesters Start Occupy The Hood

loop21.com - Malik Rhasaan Malik Rhasaan Supporting Occupy Wall Street, Occupy The Hood seeks to recruit, educate blacks and Latinos The racial makeup of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been a curious, if n...

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coopmike48 The Ultimate Irony of Arresting OccupySac Protesters in Cesar Chavez Park | MyFDL #OCCUPYTOGETHER #ows #OCC... http://t.co/1LNS29YN #Edu25 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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Testing, No Testing, Too Much Testing - On Special Education

blogs.edweek.org - Gretchen Herrera expected it would just be her and her son, who has Asperger syndrome and Type 1 diabetes, on the steps of the capitol building in Columbia, S.C., this Saturday, protesting standard...

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Sen. Patty Murray Introduces FOCUS Class Size Legislation

educationnews.org - U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Facilitating Outstanding Classrooms Using Size Reduction (FOCUS) Act of 2011 [bill summary, PDF], which the Senator says would provide states with th...

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SocietySee all

The New York Times finds the protests “annoying.” « Fred Klonsky's blog

preaprez.wordpress.com - The execution of Marie Antoinette. Talk about being annoying. Some have claimed that the #occupywallstreet protests are unfocused in terms of issues. Others, like Mitt Romney, say the protesters ar...

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Video

nypost.com - Mayor Bloomberg today accused the Wall Street demonstrators of trying to cripple the city's economy. "What they're trying to do is take the jobs away from people working in this city," the mayor de...

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For Some, Wall Street Is Main Street

nytimes.com - Panini and Company Cafe normally sells sandwiches to tourists in Lower Manhattan and the residents nearby, but in recent days its owner, Stacey Tzortzatos, has also become something of a restroom m...

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A challenge that fits 'Occupy Together' to a tea

blogs.chicagotribune.com - Part of my brief against the tea party movement, particularly early on, was that the angry right-wing activists who carried signs and shouted slogans at its protests seemed to have no idea exactly ...

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Elizabeth Warren: "The People on Wall Street Broke This Country"

blog.buzzflash.com - MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT If there is a populist change afoot making the pragmatic case to rebalance economic income in America, Elizabeth Warren is its political voice. In a nas...

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G.O.P. Anti-Federalism Aims at Education

nytimes.com - Representative Michele Bachmann promises to “turn out the lights” at the federal Education Department. Gov. Rick Perry calls it unconstitutional. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, would allo...

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SFPD raids OccupySF camp, seizes gear, but protesters remain

sfbg.com - By Yael Chanoff Last night, San Francisco Police officers showed up at Occupy San Francisco for the first hostile altercation that the SF movement has had with cops so far, and among the first poli...

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Air and Space Museum closes after guards clash with protesters - Post Now

washingtonpost.com - The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on the Mall was closed this afternoon after a “large group of protesters” tried to push past security guards and enter the museum, Smithsonian spokes...

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Vt. union to ask teachers to consider strike

boston.com - BENNINGTON, Vt.—Union leaders of the Southwestern Vermont Education Association plan to ask teachers to consider a strike during a membership meeting next week.The Bennington Banner reports (http:/...

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Oakland Schools Expanding Free-Meal Programs

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Are You Mentally Ill? If You Drink Too Much You Are, Says Big Pharma

dissidentvoice.org - It’s no secret that Pharma is trying to replace its declining pill franchise with optional vaccines like the HPV vaccine which Texas Gov. Rick Perry tried to mandate for adolescent girls. Vaccines ...

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Community-Wide Effort May Help Tame Troubled Teens

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Towns using ‘Communities That Care’ system saw decrease in vandalism, theft, study finds.A community-based prevention system may lead to lasting reductions in teen smoking, drinking, violence and o...

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Miserably low job growth | Economic Policy Institute

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live streaming video powered by Livestream

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Education Petition: Please Help My Son! expelled from his school for refusing to take the state standardized test!

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Education Petition: Please Help My Son! | Change.org: Signatures1 out of 1,000PetitioningThe President of the United States (+ 5 others)Created ByGretchen HerreraLexington, SCAbout this PetitionPet...

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#Occupy Digest « occupy california #OCCUPYTOGETHER #ows #OCCUPYWALLSTREET

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - #Occupy Digest « occupy california:#Occupy Digestby *In the wake of the recent #Occupy movement, we wanted to create a running digest of some helpful resources for information and critiques. (None ...

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Capitol Alert: Jerry Brown signs California Dream Act

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Capitol Alert: Jerry Brown signs California Dream Act:Jerry Brown signs California Dream ActGov. Jerry Brown today signed legislation allowing undocumented immigrant college students to receive pub...

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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top late nite Posts

Governor Brown signs Dream ActShare

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Governor Brown signs Dream Act
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