Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Last Week's Best Posts on Big Education Ape 4-14-12 » PostRank #EDchat #EDreform #soschat #p2 #1u



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



Hide7.9

Summer Matters - Partnership for Children and Youth

2012-Apr-13
Summer Matters - Partnership for Children and Youth: STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION TOM TORLAKSON TO LAUNCH 2012 SUMMER MATTERS CAMPAIGNSuperintendent Torlakson to Announce Statewide Initiative to Bolster Summertime LearningMedia VIP EventTuesday, April 17 – 12:30pm / San Francisco City Hall San Francisco, CA –OnTuesday, April 17,State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will kick off “Summer Matters 2012” — a statewide campaign to expand summertime learning opportunities for California children at a launch event at San Francisco City Hall.Superintendent ...
Hide7.9

Choosing Curriculum Without Evidence « The Core Knowledge Blog

2012-Apr-13
Choosing Curriculum Without Evidence « The Core Knowledge Blog: Choosing Curriculum Without EvidencebyRobert PondiscioIf you wanted to improve medical care, would you focus on hospital administration and patient insurance? Or would you look at the treatment doctors were giving patients? Would you try to improve a sports team’s won-loss record by focusing on stadium layout and the team’s travel schedule? Then why, ask Brookings’ Matthew Chingos and Russ Whitehurst, do education policy makers focus most of their attention on academic ...
Hide7.9

Walmart, big-box stores linked with hate groups in study | Hot Topics | an SFGate.com blog

2012-Apr-13
Walmart, big-box stores linked with hate groups in study | Hot Topics | an SFGate.com blog: Walmart, big-box stores linked with hate groups in study(AP file)The number of big-box retailers in a community can have social and economic effects that lead to the formation of hate groups,a recent study found.Researchers found a stronger correlation between the number of Walmart stores in a county and local hate group activity than other factors such as unemployment, crime and low education.“Walmart has clearly ...
Hide7.9

Not the Drop-Off! « Chalkdust101

2012-Apr-13
Not the Drop-Off! « Chalkdust101: Not the Drop-Off!bypjhigginsBob: Hey, you’re doing pretty well for a first-timer.Marlin: Well, you can’t hold on to them forever, can you?Bill: You know I had a tough time when my oldest went out to the drop off.Marlin: They’ve just got to grow up som – THE DROP OFF? THEY’RE GOING TO THE DROP OFF? WHAT ARE YOU, INSANE? WHY DON’T WE FRY THEM UP NOW AND SERVE THEM WITH CHIPS?Over the course of the last ...
Hide7.9

Why San Diego Isn't Joining the Teacher Evaluation Revolution - voiceofsandiego.org: Education

2012-Apr-13
Why San Diego Isn't Joining the Teacher Evaluation Revolution - voiceofsandiego.org: Education: Why San Diego Isn't Joining the Teacher Evaluation RevolutionStoryComments (10)Image(1)ShareSharePrintCreate a hardcopy of this pageFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizePhoto by Sam HodgsonCrawford High School calculus teachers Jonathan Winn and Carl Munn and their team created a grassroots data evaluation system that boosted teachers' performance. The school district all but ignored their efforts.RELATED STORIESThe Data War in Schools, ContinuedThe Data War in Local SchoolsOpinion: What’s Fair in Measuring ...
Hide7.9

Top 5 Ways Educators Can Stop Bullies | ED.gov Blog

2012-Apr-13
Top 5 Ways Educators Can Stop Bullies | ED.gov Blog: Top 5 Ways Educators Can Stop BulliesPosted onApril 13, 2012byCameron BrenchleyA new documentary film, “BULLY,” follows several students to show how bullying happens in schools—and how educators often struggle to put a stop to it. A safe and supportive school climate can be one of the best tools in preventing bullying. Whether it’s the classroom, the cafeteria, the library, the restrooms, on the bus, or on the playground, children need ...
Hide7.9

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm, the artless dodger

2012-Apr-13
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm, the artless dodger: Rahm, the artless dodgerbyMike KlonskyRahm retreats "this much."“Now that the mayor is starting to listen to parents, teachers and research regarding the pitfalls of the longer school day program being pushed in school districts across the country, it is now time he used both ears to hear everything we are saying about the types of schools our children deserve.” It is not the length of time but the quality of time that ...
Hide8.2

Jersey Jazzman: Teachers = Dangerous Minds

2012-Apr-13
Jersey Jazzman: Teachers = Dangerous Minds: Teachers = Dangerous MindsMycommentors are the best:Anonymoussaid...Where is the NJEA? What are they doing about this defamation? I hope they are not making any more "teachers aren't that bad" ads. Who, besides Jazzman, will confront the slogans and insults and lies?April 10, 2012 6:16 AMAnonymoussaid...Go to the NJEA web site. They are fighting the good fight but are fighting against a hostile media and anti-union oligarch billions. The NJEA is damned if they do ...
Hide8.3

A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to choose | Davis Enterprise

2012-Apr-12
A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to choose | Davis Enterprise: A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to chooseThis photo of Davis families was published Jan. 22, 1987, in The Davis Enterprise as part of an ad honoring the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision. The ad reads: "Pro choice is pro family. No one loves their children and families more than we do. And no one understands more than we that a ...
Hide9.2

Jersey Jazzman: Teachers = Dangerous Minds

2012-Apr-13
Jersey Jazzman: Teachers = Dangerous Minds: Teachers = Dangerous MindsMycommentors are the best:Anonymoussaid...Where is the NJEA? What are they doing about this defamation? I hope they are not making any more "teachers aren't that bad" ads. Who, besides Jazzman, will confront the slogans and insults and lies?April 10, 2012 6:16 AMAnonymoussaid...Go to the NJEA web site. They are fighting the good fight but are fighting against a hostile media and anti-union oligarch billions. The NJEA is damned if they do ...
Hide8.5

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top 4-13 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

2012-Apr-13
Legislators consider reforming student suspension practices | California WatchBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-4 hours agoLegislators consider reforming student suspension practices | California Watch: Legislators consider reforming student suspension practicesbySusan FerrissAnonymousMedill News21/FlickrPersuaded that school discipline policies are far too harsh, California lawmakers are moving closer to enacting reforms aimed at stemming a rising tide of suspensions and expulsions in the nation’s largest state.“I have seen too many children removed from school under the mandatory suspension and expulsion regime, when ...
Hide8.3

A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to choose | Davis Enterprise

2012-Apr-12
A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to choose | Davis Enterprise: A necessary rewind on a woman’s right to chooseThis photo of Davis families was published Jan. 22, 1987, in The Davis Enterprise as part of an ad honoring the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision. The ad reads: "Pro choice is pro family. No one loves their children and families more than we do. And no one understands more than we that a ...
Hide8.5

Divisive Michelle Rhee Rally Gets Parent Advocate Fired By New Haven Schools

2012-Apr-12
CT News Junkie | Parent Advocate Fired By New Haven Schools Following Rhee Rally: Parent Advocate Fired By New Haven Schools Following Rhee RallybyNatalie Missakian| Apr 12, 2012 1:59pm(0) Comments|Log in to Post a CommentPosted to:Education,Town News,New Haven,Labor,LegalNATALIE MISSAKIAN FILE PHOTOGwen SamuelThe founder of the Connecticut Parents Union says she was fired from her job with the New Haven Public Schools’ Head Start program just one day after staging a rally at the Capitol with lightning rod school reformer Michelle ...
Hide8.5

'Bully' Highlights Need for Parent-School Cooperation - High School Notes (usnews.com)

2012-Apr-12
'Bully' Highlights Need for Parent-School Cooperation - High School Notes (usnews.com): 'Bully' Highlights Need for Parent-School CooperationByLAURA MCMULLENApril 12, 2012RSS FeedPrintThe fact that about30 percent of school children are reportedly affected by bullyingis much too real for Jackie Libby. Her 12-year-old son, Alex, lived a nightmare each day at school and on the bus, where he was regularly strangled, punched, stabbed with pencils, and verbally abused.Viewers across the country will get an intimate look into the lives of Alex, and ...
Hide8.5

The Alzheimer's Caregiver: Angels Among Us | Maria Shriver | The Open Field Network

2012-Apr-12
The Alzheimer's Caregiver: Angels Among Us | Maria Shriver | The Open Field Network: APRIL 9, 2012ALZHEIMER'S AND CAREGIVINGThe Alzheimer's Caregiver: Angels Among UsByEllen Woodward Potts and Daniel C. PottsMy father-in-law, Lester Potts, was a proud member of the Lions’ Club, a men’s community service organization similar to Rotary or Kiwanis.Until he moved into an Alzheimer’s assisted living unit, he had perfect attendance at their meetings for over 42 years.During the last several years of those 42, advancing Alzheimer’s disease ...
Hide9.3

NEA - Leading the Profession

2012-Apr-12
NEA - Leading the Profession: Leading the Profession: An NEA Agenda for ActionNEA President Dennis Van Roekel lays out a new action agenda totransform teaching. Photo by Gary Dwight Miller.National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel has announced a new action agenda that will help advance the Association’s goals of transforming the teaching profession and accelerating student learning.Incorporating proven best practices from thousands of leading teachers from around the country, and input from an independent Commission on Effective Teachers and ...
Hide9.3

Bills on school discipline clear first hurdle in state Legislature | 89.3 KPCC

2012-Apr-12
Bills on school discipline clear first hurdle in state Legislature | 89.3 KPCC: Bills on school discipline clear first hurdle in state LegislaturePass / Fail-6 hours agoThree bills in the California Legislature that aim to address problems with school suspension rates and discipline cleared an initial hurdle and passed out of committee today. These include AB 2242, which seeks to reduce out-of-school suspensions for students under the category of "willful defiance," an often very subjective classification that includes behavior such ...
Hide9.3

An overdue recognition that teachers must be partners in education reform | Thoughts on Public Education

2012-Apr-12
An overdue recognition that teachers must be partners in education reform | Thoughts on Public Education: An overdue recognition that teachers must be partners in education reform - by Ellen MoirbyEllen MoirThis much we know. Never before has there been so much attention focused on teachers and teaching. And, according to the latest MetLife Survey of the American Teacher report, teachers’ satisfaction with their profession is down. Way down. These findings are particularly worrying given that there is a need ...
Hide8.6

Task Force Report: Davis Pepper-Spraying Should Have Been Prevented - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento

2012-Apr-11
Task Force Report: Davis Pepper-Spraying Should Have Been Prevented - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento: Task Force Report: Davis Pepper-Spraying Should Have Been PreventedPOSTED: 1:29 pm PDT April 10, 2012UPDATED: 12:38 pm PDT April 11, 2012EmailPrint1commentsSAN FRANCISCO --The University of California has released a long-awaited report on the pepper-spraying of student demonstrators by UC Davis police last fall, concluding that the incident "should and could have been prevented."Comprehensive Summary Of ReportRead Full ReportThe report also said that the use ...
Hide7.9

Title I Academic Achievement Awards for 2011-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

2012-Apr-11
Title I Academic Achievement Awards for 2011-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces 2011-12Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 117 California public schools have been selected for the 2011-12 Title I Academic Achievement Award."The progress being made at these schools, which serve our neediest students, should serve as a beacon of hope for California. At a time of fiscal crisis and economic uncertainty, ...
Hide10.0

DOJ Finally Sues Apple and Publishers for E-Book Price Fixing - Business - The Atlantic Wire

2012-Apr-11
DOJ Finally Sues Apple and Publishers for E-Book Price Fixing - Business - The Atlantic Wire: DOJ Finally Sues Apple and Publishers for E-Book Price FixingbyAdam MartinApple and a handful of publishers got hit with a price-fixing lawsuit on Wednesday, with the Department of Justice finally snipping the string on the sword of Damocles that's beendangling over the e-book industryfor months.Bloomberg was first to the story, butThe Wall Street Journal'scoverageof the antitrust suit is much easier to understand, which is ...
Hide9.3

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Wallace Foundation Grant

2012-Apr-11
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Wallace Foundation Grant: Wallace Foundation GrantbyCharlie MasSeattle Public Schools won a million dollar competitive grant from the Wallace Foundation for arts education planning. You will recall that the approval of this grant was rushed by the board so the work of planning our arts education program could begin right away. A four-week delay in getting started was regarded as intolerable. The grant was presented for introduction and action at the sameboard meeting on July 6, 2011. ...
Hide10.0

Will Gates Foundation ALSO Dump #ALEC owned Michelle Rhee?

2012-Apr-11
RheeFirst!: FEATURED STORYAs the test cheating scandalsheat up around the country, media attention is now increasingly focused on the issue. Viewpointsvary–from the uninformed and superficial tothose that offera deeper scrutiny on the root causes ofcheating. In other words, from the stupid to the sublime. Take your pick. Weare compilinga running list onrecentErasureGate articles. Please feel free [...]WHERE IS RHEE?ACADEMIC REPORTSFalse Choices: the economic argument against market-driven education reformBenefits of Bargaining: How Public Worker Negotiations Improve Ohio CommunitiesPartnerships in Education: How ...
Hide10.0

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top 4-11 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

2012-Apr-11
Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Evening Posts 4-10 #SOSchat #p2 #edreformBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-1 hour agoRheeFirst! » Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agendaBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-39 minutes agoRheeFirst! » Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agenda: Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agendabyadminPopoutWritten by Laura Clawson ...
Hide8.5

Report: A black male disabled student is most likely to be suspended | 89.3 KPCC

2012-Apr-10
Report: A black male disabled student is most likely to be suspended | 89.3 KPCC: Report: A black male disabled student is most likely to be suspended4:18 p.m. | ByTami Abdollah0Robyn Beck/Getty ImagesA student on his way to school walks past a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school, in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2009.If you're a black male student who is disabled, you are more likely to be suspended from the classroom in California's largest districts than ...
Hide7.9

RheeFirst! » Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agenda

2012-Apr-10
RheeFirst! » Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agenda: Video: Students and parents from New York to Seattle are fighting corporate education reform agendabyadminPopoutWritten by Laura Clawson for the DailyKos. Read theentire post here.“Michelle Rhee calls her organization StudentsFirst, a common affectation among corporate-style education reformers, who often like to claim that the tens of millions of dollars they pour into remaking education policy are spent on behalf of students and parents. ...
Hide7.9

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-9 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

2012-Apr-9
QA: Schools Services of California chief on education financing issues - Education - The Sacramento BeeBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-4 minutes agoQA: Schools Services of California chief on education financing issues - Education - The Sacramento Bee: QA: Schools Services of California chief on education financing issuesbydlambert@sacbee.com (Diana Lambert)Hundreds of school administrators and finance officers will crowd into conference rooms around the state in May to hear School Services of California staff explain what the state budget revisions ...
Hide7.9

Schools Matter: Don't Miss This One: Stephen Krashen at Occupy the DOE

2012-Apr-9
Schools Matter: Don't Miss This One: Stephen Krashen at Occupy the DOE: Don't Miss This One: Stephen Krashen at Occupy the DOEStephen Krashen is the funniest, most entertaining, and most knowledgeable educator/researcher that the University of Southern California can brag about. If you have not heard Stephen make his case, brew up a cup of tea and check this out.Watchlive streaming videofromcalifatherat livestream.comPosted byJim Hornat7:07 PM
Hide7.9

USA Science & Engineering Festival

2012-Apr-9
USA Science Engineering Festival: Don’t miss the largest celebration of science in the US: the 2nd USA Science Engineering Festival will feature over 3,000 fun, interactive exhibits, more than 100 stage shows and 33 Author Presentations. The finale Expo will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC on April 28-29, 2012. Hours are 10am-6pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sunday. New this year: the USA Science Engineering Festival Book Fair, and a Career Pavilion for ...
Hide9.1

Teacher Fired over Trayvon Martin Fundraiser | Teaching Tolerance

2012-Apr-9
Teacher Fired over Trayvon Martin Fundraiser | Teaching Tolerance: Teacher Fired over Trayvon Martin FundraiserSubmitted byAlice Pettwayon April 6, 2012Keywords:Race and ethnicityWhat do you do with a teacher who provides students with authentic learning opportunities? A teacher who invests her own resources to support students? A teacher who was voted Teacher of the Year two of the last three years?If you’re Superintendent Jacqueline Cassell at the Pontiac Academy for Excellence Middle School in Pontiac, Mich., you fire her.When Brooke Harris ...
Hide8.5

Hechinger Report | Questions abound as districts shift to merit pay for teachers

2012-Apr-9
Hechinger Report | Questions abound as districts shift to merit pay for teachers: Questions abound as districts shift to merit pay for teachersbyScott ElliottRaymond Park Intermediate Academy Principal Ryan Russell sits in on the fifth-grade classroom of Jen Hess for a three- to five-minute "walk through" evaluation of her class.If your child’s teacher seems a little bit on edge this year, it might not be your imagination.Education reforms now going into effect in Indiana, and similar ones sweeping the nation, ...
Hide8.5

Missouri Education Watchdog: Trangressive Journalism at University of Missouri?

2012-Apr-9
Missouri Education Watchdog: Trangressive Journalism at University of Missouri?: Trangressive Journalism at University of Missouri?bystlgretchenHave you heard of the word "trangressive"? Here's adefinition:Transgressivemay mean:Transgressive art, a name given art forms that violate perceived boundariesTransgressive fiction, a modern style in literatureTransgressive Records, a United Kingdom-based independent record labelTransgressive (morphology), a form of verb in some languagesTransgressive phenotype, a phenotype that is more extreme than the phenotypes displayed by either of the parentsTransgressive segregationCinema of Transgression, film movement using shock value and ...
Hide7.9

Deepening the Debate over Teach For America: Responses to Heather Harding - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

2012-Apr-9
Deepening the Debate over Teach For America: Responses to Heather Harding - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Anthony CodyAnthony Cody spent 24 years working in Oakland schools, 18 of them as a science teacher at a high needs middle school. He is National Board certified, and now leads workshops with teachers focused on Project Based Learning. With education at a crossroads, he invites you to join him in a dialogue on education reform and teaching for change and ...
Hide7.9

Daily Kos: Important piece critical of Teach for America

2012-Apr-9
Daily Kos: Important piece critical of Teach for America: Important piece critical of Teach for Americabyrss@dailykos.com (teacherken)was posted this morning by my good friend Anthony Cody. TitledDeepening the Debate over Teach For America: Responses to Heather Harding, it appears at his Living In Dialogue blog at Ed Week / Teachers.A brief explanation. Anthony has over the past few months put up guest posts by people who have been critical of Teach for America. As a result, he psted exchange/interview with ...
Hide7.9

2012 State of America's Library Report Shows Free Access to Information in Jeopardy -- CHICAGO, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

2012-Apr-9
2012 State of America's Library Report Shows Free Access to Information in Jeopardy -- CHICAGO, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --: 2012 State of America's Library Report Shows Free Access to Information in JeopardyALA releases Top Ten List of Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2011CHICAGO,April 9, 2012/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Publishers limiting library ebook lending, budget cuts and book challenges are just a few library trends of the past year that are placing free access to information in jeopardy. These trends as well as ...
Hide9.7

Editorial: New compact offers a truce in charter wars - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee

2012-Apr-9
Editorial: New compact offers a truce in charter wars - Editorials - The Sacramento Bee: Editorial: New compact offers a truce in charter warsSharePublished: Monday, Apr. 9, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 13AThe Sacramento City Unified School District is among 16 across the country that have signed a compact to work with charter schools. This initiative, supported with $100,000 from the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to get beyond relationships of antagonism and isolation. It seeks to put contentious ...
Hide7.6

Pitt Bars Transgender Students and Faculty from Gender-Appropriate Bathrooms « Student Activism

2012-Apr-8
Pitt Bars Transgender Students and Faculty from Gender-Appropriate Bathrooms « Student Activism: Pitt Bars Transgender Students and Faculty from Gender-Appropriate BathroomsbyAngus JohnstonLast fall a student at the University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt-Johnstown campus was banned from the men’s locker room at the university gym. The student, Seamus Johnston, is listed as female in the university’s records, but has been living as a man for three years and carries a driver’s license identifying him as male. When Johnston refused to comply with ...