Latest News and Comment from Education

Show All

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape 2-18-12 » PostRank #EDchat #EDreform #soschat #p2 #1u




Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape » PostRank 



Hide8.0

S.2098: Student Right to Know Before You Go Act - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

2012-Feb-17
S.2098: Student Right to Know Before You Go Act - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:.2098 - Student Right to Know Before You Go ActA bill to support statewide individual-level integrated postsecondary education data systems, and for other purposes.view all titles (2)OverviewActions VotesNews (0) Blogs (5)Comments (0)Bill's ViewsToday:5Past Seven Days:27All-Time:27 Introduced SenatePasses HousePasses PresidentSigns 02/08/12 SponsorSenatorRon WydenD-ORNo Co-SponsorsCommitteesSenate Health, Education, Labor, and PensionsRelated Issue AreasWages and earningsHigher educationData via Congressional Research ServiceView all Issues (6 more)FEEDRecent News CoverageHmmmm, no news coverage found ...
Hide7.9

“If We Look to Buy the Cheapest Paper, Why Not the Cheapest Teachers?” « Fred Klonsky

2012-Feb-17
“If We Look to Buy the Cheapest Paper, Why Not the Cheapest Teachers?” « Fred Klonsky:“If We Look to Buy the Cheapest Paper, Why Not the Cheapest Teachers?”by Fred KlonskyI was asked to contribute Occasional Papers 27, a publication of Bank Street College of Education.Also included in collection are essays by William Ayers Gail Boldt Greg Dimitriadis Jeff Duncan-Andrade Ann Haas Dyson Celia Genishi Marc Lamont Hill Kevin K. Kumashiro Deborah Meier Erica R. Meiners Pedro Noguera Diane Ravitch Raynard ...
Hide7.9

Weekly Update: Rep. Pettigrew will be in town, an atrocity in Mission Viejo and hope in Governor Jerry Brown | Seattle Education

2012-Feb-17
Weekly Update: Rep. Pettigrew will be in town, an atrocity in Mission Viejo and hope in Governor Jerry Brown | Seattle Education:Weekly Update: Rep. Pettigrew will be in town, an atrocity in Mission Viejo and hope in Governor Jerry Brownby seattleducation2011This Saturday, February 18th at 11:00 AM Senator Adam Kline, Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos, andRepresentative Eric Pettigrew will be hosting a town hall at Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry Street. This would be a good time to let Representative ...
Hide7.9

Joe Williams Op-Ed « DFER Watch

2012-Feb-17
Joe Williams Op-Ed « DFER Watch:Joe Williams Op-Edby ken libbyFrom Joe Williams’ op-ed in today’s NY Daily News (bold is original): The much-maligned standardized test isn’t king. Under the new plan, the bulk of a teacher’s evaluation (60%) remains in the hands of the school principal, not in standardized testing. That’s as it should be. Implementing more meaningful classroom evaluations will help teachers improve their craft — … Read more
Hide7.9

Pop! Goes the Bubble | Scholastic.com

2012-Feb-17
Pop! Goes the Bubble | Scholastic.com:Pop! Goes the BubbleHow and when the school reform bubble popped—and what happens next.By Alexander RussoPRINTEMAILSometime over this past summer, the school reform "bubble" popped--seemingly unable to withstand the combined weight of unrealistic claims, weak results, poor policy choices, and resistance from career educators, along with the inertia of a $600 billion a year K-12 school system.What happens next could be a new, more balanced effort to improve public education-or a
Hide8.1

Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch

2012-Feb-16
Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch:Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest CutsBudget cuts and potential school closures are contested.By Cody KitauraEmail the author6:45 pm Email Print Comment PHOTOS (5) Upload Photos and VideosThursday's Sacramento City Unified School District board meeting hadn't even started yet, and it was already clear what the mood of the evening would be.Hundreds of protestors circled the district's headquarters in Sacramento prior to the meeting to protest proposed cuts to extra-curricular ...
Hide8.7

Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch

2012-Feb-16
Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest Cuts - Rosemont, CA Patch:Protesters Flood SCUSD Meeting to Contest CutsBudget cuts and potential school closures are contested.By Cody KitauraEmail the author6:45 pm Email Print Comment PHOTOS (5) Upload Photos and VideosThursday's Sacramento City Unified School District board meeting hadn't even started yet, and it was already clear what the mood of the evening would be.Hundreds of protestors circled the district's headquarters in Sacramento prior to the meeting to protest proposed cuts to extra-curricular ...
Hide8.2

Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learning « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

2012-Feb-16
Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learning « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:Ensuring Critical Thinking in Project-Based Learningby ASCD Whole Child BloggersPost submitted by Andrew Miller, is a national faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education as well as for ASCD. He is also a regular blogger for Edutopia. Connect with Miller on Twitter @betamiller.Project-based learning (PBL) can create engaging learning for all students, but that depth of learning requires careful, specific design. Part of this engagement ...
Hide7.6

As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New York

2012-Feb-16
As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New York: As Cuomo declares victory on a teacher-testing agreement, Ravitch says it's a 'dark day' | Capital New YorkAndrew Cuomo. saebaryo via flickrRELATED STORIESA teacher-evaluation issue heads to Albany to kick off Cuomo's Year 2Former 'Times' editor: Campaign finance reform means TV reformThe BookCourt bestseller list, annotatedSavino: Cuomo 'needs' to raise some money for the state through taxesBY AZI PAYBARAH3:25 pm Feb. 16, ...
Hide8.5

Shanker Blog » If Newspapers Are Going To Publish Teachers' Value-Added Scores, They Need To Publish Error Margins Too

2012-Feb-16
Shanker Blog » If Newspapers Are Going To Publish Teachers' Value-Added Scores, They Need To Publish Error Margins Too:If Newspapers Are Going To Publish Teachers’ Value-Added Scores, They Need To Publish Error Margins Tooby Matthew Di CarloIt seems as though New York City newspapers are going to receive the value-added scores of the city’s public school teachers, and publish them in an online database, as was the case in Los Angeles.*In my opinion, the publication will not only serve no ...
Hide9.0

NYC Educator: Honk If You Like to Honk

2012-Feb-16
NYC Educator: Honk If You Like to Honk:Honk If You Like to Honkby Miss EyreThis morning, on my way to work, I passed a school that has been slated for...well, clearly it's been slated for something. Not closure, I don't think. Maybe turnaround. Anyway, a lot of people are unhappy about it, as you can imagine. They had a pretty sizable demonstration going on the busy street alongside the school."HONK IF YOU WON'T LET BLOOMBERG DESTROY ANOTHER SCHOOL," read one ...
Hide9.0

Daily Kos: When is the profit motive wrong?

2012-Feb-16
Daily Kos: When is the profit motive wrong?:When is the profit motive wrong?by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)This is a topic that often intrudes into my consciousness. Reading Meteor Blades' front page story on privatizing prisons thrust it forward to the point I decided to offer some mental ruminations.Let's start with prisons. A prison is a place to which we send someone as punishment for having broken the social contract. Prisoners do not have the full rights of the rest of us - ...
Hide9.0

Jersey Jazzman: Every Reformy Politician Is Modeled on Bush

2012-Feb-16
Jersey Jazzman: Every Reformy Politician Is Modeled on Bush:Every Reformy Politician Is Modeled on Bushby DukeDoesn't matter if it's Christie or Cuomo or Scott or Walker or Emanuel or Bloomberg or Duncan or even Obama: all reformy politicians got their moves from studying the master himself:The first to discover that teachers make perfect scapegoats was George W. Bush. When he ran for president for the first time twelve years ago, Bush had a problem. He wanted lower taxes to be ...
Hide7.9

Hear from Parents Across America members on how to fight back against corporate reform | Seattle Education

2012-Feb-15
Hear from Parents Across America members on how to fight back against corporate reform | Seattle Education:Hear from Parents Across America members on how to fight back against corporate reformby seattleducation2011Feeling overwhelmed by all the negative legislation and education policies being imposed by corporate reformers on your school or district?On Monday night, February 20th at 8 PM EST, Parents Across America will be sponsoring a conference call, open to all parents and concerned citizens, to brief you on strategies you ...
Hide7.9

Launching Project RESPECT | ED.gov Blog

2012-Feb-15
Launching Project RESPECT | ED.gov Blog:Launching Project RESPECTPosted on February 15, 2012 by Cameron BrenchleyOfficial Department of Education Photo by Leslie Williams“Our goal is to work with educators in rebuilding their profession—and to elevate the teacher voice in shaping federal, state and local education policy,” said Secretary Duncan today at the launch of the RESPECT Project. “Our larger goal is to make teaching not only America’s most important profession—but America’s most respected profession,” he said.The RESPECT Project (Recognizing Educational Success, ...
Hide9.8

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Can You Trust? Part 2

2012-Feb-15
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Can You Trust? Part 2:Who Can You Trust? Part 2by Melissa WestbrookI guess no one.So from what I was following on the superintendent search (both in person and reading minutes), I thought I understood how the superintendent search would be working. Of course, we are still waiting on the webpage for this information (tick tock). I had understood the search committee to be made up of the following:7 Board members1 SEA rep1 PASS rep1 SCPTSA ...
Hide8.5

NYC Educator: Bad Teacher Day

2012-Feb-15
NYC Educator: Bad Teacher Day:Bad Teacher Dayby NYC EducatorAll week last week we kept hearing about spirit week. There was a Harry Potter Day, some other stuff, and a Bad Teacher Day. They announced them every day. I wondered what the hell Bad Teacher Day was, but I don't wear costumes to work, so I ignored it. Then some of my colleagues started asking me about it."What the hell is Bad Teacher Day? Isn't that a terrible idea?"It occurred to ...
Hide7.6

Schools We Can Envy by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books

2012-Feb-14
Schools We Can Envy by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books: Schools We Can EnvyMarch 8, 2012Diane RavitchFinnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?by Pasi Sahlberg, with a foreword by Andy HargreavesTeachers College Press, 167 pp., $34.95 (paper) Tuomas UusheimoThe Kirkkojärvi School in Espoo, Finland, which accommodates about 770 students aged seven to sixteen and also includes a preschool for six-year-olds; from the Museum of Finnish Architecture’s exhibition ‘The Best School in ...
Hide9.3

Big Education Ape: 2-14-12 PM Now we’ve got Mayor Rahm upset EDition #2013BUDGET #REALREFORM

2012-Feb-14
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now: Big Education Ape: Ed News NowPublished by Coopmike48 – 8 news spotters todayNext update in about 11 hoursSee all articlesHEADLINESEDUCATIONSOCIETYPOLITICSSTORIESBUSINESSART ENTERTAINMENT#2013BUDGET#REALREFORM Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Now we’ve got Mayor Rahm upsetpureparents.org - The secret sauce has made a touchdown, according to Mayor Rahm. He’s really mad about our protest yesterday against Noble’s discipline policy. I’d guess he’s even madder that the news made every Ch...coopmike48Taking on New Jersey : ...
Hide10.0

Occupy V-Day: The Greatest Love Of All | The Jose Vilson

2012-Feb-14
Occupy V-Day: The Greatest Love Of All | The Jose Vilson:Occupy V-Day: The Greatest Love Of Allby JoseWhitney HoustonThis is part of the OccupyVDay movement, sponsored by Samhita Mukhopadhyay. I found out about it via Jennifer Pozner and didn’t think I would, but Ms. Houston inspired this. Rest in peace.Until a few years ago, Valentine’s Day worsened everything I knew about love.My first crush was this girl named Barbara in the second grade. Whether it was her low key demeanor, ...
Hide9.3

VEA Protests Bills Passed by General Assembly « PWC Education Reform Blog

2012-Feb-14
VEA Protests Bills Passed by General Assembly « PWC Education Reform Blog:VEA Protests Bills Passed by General AssemblyFebruary 14, 2012 — pwceducationreformThe VEA has sent out a flyer asking teachers to wear black on Friday Feb 17 2012 to protest what they claim is a “lack of commitment to public education and loss of respect accorded teachers by our elected officials.“ (see 2012BlackFridayFlyer).So what terrible, horrible, awful, no good, very bad things has the VA General Assembly done to cause ...
Hide7.6

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Two provocative articles for my students

2012-Feb-14
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Two provocative articles for my students:Two provocative articles for my studentsby Mike Klonsky Waselenchuk’s judgment of the court’s geometry would make even Euclid wonder.I'm giving my Philosophy of Ed students two provocative articles from the New York Times to consider. They have just finished reading John Dewey's Experience and Education and the articles exemplify the fundamental connection between experience and learning.The first is, "A Field Trip to a Strange New Place: Second Grade Visits the Parking ...
Hide7.6

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Student protests hit Rahm's favorite charter chain

2012-Feb-14
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Student protests hit Rahm's favorite charter chain:Student protests hit Rahm's favorite charter chainby Mike KlonskyJulie Woestehoff, of Parents United for Responsible Education, speaks at a rally and march to call for an end to what they call “appalling” disciplinary policies at some schools. | Brian Jackson~Sun-TimesThe mayor's favorite charter school franchise was the target of a parent and student protest yesterday. An FOIA report obtained by PURE, the Advancement Project civil rights group and a student ...
Hide9.6

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Learning from Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee #edchat

2012-Feb-13
THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Learning from Rhee:Learning from Rheeby The Perimeter PrimateThis is a guest post by Joanna A. Bujes, an Oakland public school parent and supporter of public education. She has taught at U.C. Berkeley, University of Santa Clara, and SUNY Plattsburgh, and she has been a volunteer teacher and tutor in the Oakland public schools (poetry, drama, math) whenever she could find the time.RHEE'S FRAMING OF THE DEBATE ON EDUCATIONOn the evening of February 7, Michelle Rhee, former chancellor ...
Hide9.3

On Alan Borsuk’s Commentary on New MPS Budget « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

2012-Feb-13
On Alan Borsuk’s Commentary on New MPS Budget « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:On Alan Borsuk’s Commentary on New MPS Budgetby millerlfBy Larry MillerWhen does speculation – what MPS parents might do – become suggestions – what MPS parents ought to do?In a February 12 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commentary, Alan Borsuk appeared to be on a slippery slope about the woes facing parents of students at top-performing MPS schools.First, Borsuk claimed our schools are suffering because the district failed ...
Hide8.7

Democurmudgeon: Charter Schools fail to block public, ordered to reveal how they spent taxpayer money!

2012-Feb-13
Democurmudgeon: Charter Schools fail to block public, ordered to reveal how they spent taxpayer money!:Charter Schools fail to block public, ordered to reveal how they spent taxpayer money!by DemocurmudgeonCharter schools are trying break free from the chains ofpublic accountability, by claiming taxpayer money is theirs once paid, and thereforewhat they do is no longer public.And conservatives complain about how our public schools andteachers aren’t accountable? Again, this is another warning, and only the startof our journey down the road to ...
Hide8.3

U.S. Department of Education 2013 Budget Continues Investments to Strengthen Workforce and Rebuild American Economy

2012-Feb-13
U.S. Department of Education 2013 Budget Continues Investments to Strengthen Workforce and Rebuild American Economy | U.S. Department of Education:U.S. Department of Education 2013 Budget Continues Investments to Strengthen Workforce and Rebuild American EconomyFEBRUARY 13, 2012Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov The Obama Administration continues its commitment to education and an America Built to Last with the release of its 2013 budget today, building on responsible decisions that will put the nation on a path toward fiscal sustainability in the ...
Hide7.9

Opportunistic Parasites in Our Schools | IDEA

2012-Feb-13
Opportunistic Parasites in Our Schools | IDEA:Opportunistic Parasites in Our Schoolsby Kristan Morrison in democracy.eduThis weekend, my husband was at a bar watching an ACC basketball game. He struck up a conversation with a fellow watcher and found out that this guy was a doctoral candidate in education. He further found out that this man supported his graduate studies by being a "coach" to teachers in schools that were facing NCLB-related sanctions. Under NCLB, as many of you know, if ...
Hide9.0

NYC Educator: Are Our Kids Guinea Pigs? Or Lemmings?

2012-Feb-13
NYC Educator: Are Our Kids Guinea Pigs? Or Lemmings?:Are Our Kids Guinea Pigs? Or Lemmings?by NYC EducatorWhen you decide to arbitrarily take control from educators, and re-assign it to self-professed experts, you run into problems. Take, for example, these shining stars in Philadelphia. They observed a classroom, saw a reading corner, labeled it "clutter," and had it removed. Sure, that's blatant idiocy. Yet who's to say those who most influence faux-Democrat Barack Obama are not equally deluded?Now that there's a ...
Hide8.5

CEO of Charter Schools USA Understands Why Charter Schools Don’t and Shouldn’t Get More Money | Scathing Purple Musings

2012-Feb-12
CEO of Charter Schools USA Understands Why Charter Schools Don’t and Shouldn’t Get More Money | Scathing Purple Musings:CEO of Charter Schools USA Understands Why Charter Schools Don’t and Shouldn’t Get More Moneyby Bob SikesLooks like the CEO of the state’s largest charter school corporation doesn’t agree with the intent behind Steve Wise’s SB 1852. At the end of May last year, Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathan Hage granted an interview toTampa Bay Times education reporter, Jeff Solochek. In that ...
Hide7.9

Big Education Ape: 2-12-12 AM Emanuel Criticizes Chicago EDition #OWS #edchat

2012-Feb-12
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now: Big Education Ape: Ed News NowPublished by Coopmike48 – 6 news spotters todayNext update in about 9 hoursSee all articlesHEADLINESEDUCATIONSOCIETYSTORIESPOLITICSART ENTERTAINMENTCRIME#EDU#OWS Emanuel Criticizes Chicago Union in Intervieweducationnews.org - As the Chicago Teachers Union is set to go head to head with the Chicago Public Schools system in what many believe will be contentious contract negotiations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has publicly critic...mikeklonskyCarrots, Sticks, the Bully Pulpit : Education Nexteducationnext.org - By Frederick Hess 02/10/2012 Interesting ...
Hide7.9

Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacher - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

2012-Feb-12
Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacher - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Eulogy for a brilliant mentor and teacherby Valerie StraussHere is a eulogy for a pioneering scientist that says more about the lifelong effects of a dynamic teacher on his students than any “value-added” formula ever could.The eulogy was delivered by Jeffrey Ravetch, head of the Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller University in New York, at a memorial service last week for ...
Hide7.9

School Tech Connect: The Clarion Whisper of Alarm

2012-Feb-12
School Tech Connect: The Clarion Whisper of Alarm:The Clarion Whisper of Alarmby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I saw this tweet over at Small Talk.Remember when Cher slapped Nicholas Cage and told him to snap out of it? I always feel that way about the president of my national federation*. In my view, she's always speaking in these muted terms instead of letting
Hide7.9

Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentives | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

2012-Feb-12
Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentives | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentivesby Larry FerlazzoAs regular readers know, I’m not a fan of teacher merit pay (see The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea).Some school reformers and researchers have suggested that providing merit pay for entire schools is an alternative, though I’m not a supporter of those kinds of group incentives for similar reasons why ...

Posted by at