Friday, March 2, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts 3-2 #edreform #soschat


Community Rights Campaign | The Labor Community Strategy Center

Community Rights Campaign | The Labor Community Strategy Center: Community Rights CampaignAction Sum-UpFebruary 28, 2012 What is the meaning of our 14-0 victory at City Hall?A changed law, civil rights, our generation's fight, the role of organizingLast Wednesday, the City of Los Angeles took an historic step toward becoming a place that upholds the civil, human and educational rights of students and their families and promotes policies that reinvest in our youth to keep them in school and away from ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 3-1 #soschat #ReclaimingReform

Making Learning Relevant for the Whole Child « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child EducationBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-42 minutes agoMaking Learning Relevant for the Whole Child « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:Making Learning Relevant for the Whole Childby ASCD Whole Child BloggersPost submitted by Tim Magner, executive director of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the leading national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. Magner has had an ... more »

TEACHER HEROES AND MERIT PAY « Teachers Fight Back

TEACHER HEROES AND MERIT PAY « Teachers Fight Back:TEACHER HEROES AND MERIT PAYby alkleenI hope everyone saw the news conference concerning the school shooting in Ohio. The coach who chased the shooter away was given a few moments to speak. I hope everyone heard the emotion in the coach’s voice as he spoke about not being a hero and wishing he could have done more.I wish people could understand that there are teacher heroes at work every day in almost ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Once Again, NBC Ignores Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: Once Again, NBC Ignores Teachers:Once Again, NBC Ignores Teachersby DukeSo there's another one of these big reformy lovefests on the "liberal" (ha!) MSNBC tomorrow. And, oh, huzzah -this one's in Jersey:New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be at Fort Lee High School for a “special town hall meeting” Friday morning as one of many guests on the live broadcasts of MSNBC’s Morning Joeand Way Too Early, according to producers.Gov. Jack Markell, D-Del., Gov. Dannel Malloy, D-Conn. and Students ... more »

Amazing Graph Proves Poverty Doesn’t Matter!(?) « School Finance 101

Amazing Graph Proves Poverty Doesn’t Matter!(?) « School Finance 101:Amazing Graph Proves Poverty Doesn’t Matter!(?)by schoolfinance101I just couldn’t pass this one up. This is a graph for the ages, and it comes from a presentation by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education given at the NJASA Commissioner’s Convocation in Jackson, NJ on Feb 29.State of NJ Schools presentation 2-29-2012Please turn to Slide #24:The title conveys the intended point of the graph – that if you look hard enough across New ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Stellar Writing on Public Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Stellar Writing on Public Education:More Stellar Writing on Public Educationby Melissa WestbrookFor the second time in a week, I have been dazzled by some great writing on education. The Times has an op-ed by SPS high school teacher, Dan Magill, in response to the op-ed by Brad Smith (whose piece was about needed ed reform).He very plainly sets out the challenge and the goal:I would like to reframe the reality. There aren't two sides. There ... more »

Modern School: Teachers: the New Satanic Serial Child Molesters?

Modern School: Teachers: the New Satanic Serial Child Molesters?:Teachers: the New Satanic Serial Child Molesters?by Michael DunnTeachers Just Wanna Have Fun (Image from Flickr, by SKPY)Attacking teachers’ unions, collective bargaining and due process rights, pensions, salaries and privacy has not ended the achievement gap nor mollified the critics of public education. Now the witch hunt for teachers is taking a new and twisted turn for the worse, thanks to several recent and coincidental abuse allegations against Los Angeles Unified School ... more »

How, and How Not, to Improve the Schools by Diane Ravitch | #soschat #edreform #edchat

How, and How Not, to Improve the Schools by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books:How, and How Not, to Improve the SchoolsMARCH 22, 2012Diane RavitchFinnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?by Pasi SahlbergTeachers College Press, 167 pp., $34.95 (paper) A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for Allby Wendy Kopp with Steven FarrPublicAffairs, 229 pp., $25.99 Matt RothDavid Donaldson, a high school teacher in ... more »

Bill Gates Angers Peru After Saying Countries are More in Need - Hispanically Speaking News

Bill Gates Angers Peru After Saying Countries are More in Need - Hispanically Speaking News:Bill Gates Angers Many In Peru After Saying Other Countries are More in NeedMicrosoft founder Bill Gates recently made a number of people angry when he stated that aid agencies should be concentrating on the poorest countries in the world, not those like Peru, which he said actually has a median income of about $10,000 (adjusting for the price of goods), making it a median-income country.While ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 3-1 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

What Florida is doing to its public schools - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-26 minutes agoWhat Florida is doing to its public schools - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:What Florida is doing to its public schoolsBy Valerie StraussThis was written by Jean Clements, president of Florida’s Hillsborough County Classroom Teachers Association, representing more than 9,000 teachers and school personnel.By Jean ClementsHorace Mann called public education the “great equalizer.” Quite simply, ... more »

A corporate reform coup d’etat in Bridgeport « Parents Across America

A corporate reform coup d’etat in Bridgeport « Parents Across America:A corporate reform coup d’etat in Bridgeportby leoniehaimsonBy Norm Pattis, the attorney who litigated this case, cross-posted from his blog.An Open Letter to the Connecticut General Assembly In re: Bridgeport’s SchoolsA call came in moments ago. Mayor Bill Finch and his aides are busy at work in Hartford, lobbying lawmakers to pass legislation retroactively justifying the disbanding of the elected school board in Bridgeport. The governor’s men are also at ... more »

Reform critic speaking in Hub City today - The Independent Weekly

Reform critic speaking in Hub City today - The Independent Weekly:Reform critic speaking in Hub City todayWritten by Heather MillerThursday, March 01, 2012Diane Ravitch, a distinguished education writer, researcher and outspoken critic of charter schools, vouchers and other reform measures Gov. Bobby Jindal is touting, is scheduled to address attendees of the Louisiana School Boards Association annual conference at the Cajundome Thursday afternoon.Ravitch, who served in the U.S. Department of Education under former President George Bush, is the author of ... more »

At long last, Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's funders revealed | MinnPost

At long last, Michelle Rhee's funders revealed | MinnPost:At long last, Michelle Rhee's funders revealedBy Beth Hawkins | 10:09 amdol.govMichelle RheeWalking Rorschach test Michelle Rhee is back in the headlinesthis week, put there by a reporter who found a crack in the infamous wall shrouding the funding sources for her national education-reform lobbying powerhouse StudentsFirst.Whatever you thought of Rhee five minutes ago, prepare to have it confirmed. Her multi-million-dollar backers include top donors to the campaigns of both Barack Obama ... more »

Obesity Rate Slowdown in Students - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Obesity Rate Slowdown in Students - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson AnnouncesSlowdown in Rate of Obesity Among California School Children SACRAMENTO—Following years of preventive and legislative efforts to positively affect the health of children, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that the rise in obesity and drop in fitness levels have stabilized in California students. The results are in a peer-reviewed report titled "Obesity and Physical Fitness in California School Children," published ... more »

Making Learning Relevant for the Whole Child « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

Making Learning Relevant for the Whole Child « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:Making Learning Relevant for the Whole Childby ASCD Whole Child BloggersPost submitted by Tim Magner, executive director of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the leading national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. Magner has had an extensive career in education, serving most recently as the vice president of Keystone for KC Distance Learning as well as the director of ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Did a TSA Note About Possible School Bus Terrorism Come Home in Your Child's Backpack?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Did a TSA Note About Possible School Bus Terrorism Come Home in Your Child's Backpack?:Did a TSA Note About Possible School Bus Terrorism Come Home in Your Child's Backpack?by stlgretchenEight school buses have disappeared within the last year in St. Louis and Jefferson counties (Missouri). Could school buses be used in terroristic attacks? The TSA is concerned about missing school buses and possible criminal use.From School Transportation News 02.29.12:The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reminded student transporters to ... more »

Hechinger Report | How New York City’s value-added model compares to what other districts, states are doing

Hechinger Report | How New York City’s value-added model compares to what other districts, states are doing:How New York City’s value-added model compares to what other districts, states are doingby Sarah ButrymowiczNew York City schools erupted in controversy last week when the school district released its “value-added” teacher scores to the public after a yearlong battle with the local teachers union. The city cautioned that the scores had large margins of error, and many education leaders around the country believe ... more »

Schools Matter: Rahm's Corporate Pals Running CPS School Closings and CPS School Openings

Schools Matter: Rahm's Corporate Pals Running CPS School Closings and CPS School Openings:Rahm's Corporate Pals Running CPS School Closings and CPS School Openingsby Jim HornAfter years of malignant neglect by the Daley Machine in Chicago, Rahm Emanuel is now in charge of completing the school corporatization plan that has fully taken shape since 2000. Emanuel last year appointed the former head of the corporate welfare outfit, the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL), to head his covey of appointed toadies ... more »

Anti charter school resolution passed by The Nova Project PTSA | Seattle Education

Anti charter school resolution passed by The Nova Project PTSA | Seattle Education:Anti charter school resolution passed by The Nova Project PTSAby seattleducation2011Resolution from The Nova Project PTSA(also referred to as Nova High School)The Nova Project is an alternative public high school in Seattle that is committed to equitable education for all students. Our community believes that fully funded public education is fundamental to the survival of our democracy and collective well-being. We call upon all citizens to demand adequate ... more »

March 1st Day of Action for Education Transformation Blogger March #occupyeduM1 « Cooperative Catalyst

March 1st Day of Action for Education Transformation Blogger March #occupyeduM1 « Cooperative Catalyst:March 1st Day of Action for Education Transformation Blogger March #occupyeduM1by coopcatalystToday all over the country students, educators, parents and community members are taking part in Day of Action for Education Transformation. There are many ways to support this day of action. One way is to make your voice heard online. Today we will be collecting blog posts and twitter/facebook status message and pictures and posters in ... more »