Monday, April 23, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts 4-23 #edreform #soschat


Making Myself Useful (and other items) | Mr. Teachbad

Making Myself Useful (and other items) | Mr. Teachbad: Making Myself Useful (and other items)byteachbad(I’m a bit rushed…driving to Indi­ana in…36 min­utes. More on that in a minute.)Churn ‘n’ Burn and Spin Me to theDoorThere are two short things I read this week that I believe are con­nected. The first was an arti­cle in Edu­ca­tion Week from early in April calledWhen Teach­ers Are Treated Like Wid­gets, Edu­ca­tion Suf­fers. It was writ­ten by aca­d­e­mics who are tired of all their stud­ies ... more »

RIGHT AGAIN :) ! Potter Williams Report: Diane Ravitch Outsmarted by One of Her Own

Potter Williams Report: Diane Ravitch Outsmarted by One of Her Own: DIANE RAVITCH OUTSMARTED BY ONE OF HER OWNEducation Week published aletterfrom Diane Ravitch to another progressive Deweyian educator Deborah Meier entitled “I Don't Understand Michelle Rhee.”Ravitch can't figure out why Rhee lies, why she blames teachers for everything and how she can reel in die-hard Republicans with ease.I guess education historian Diane Ravitch is not in on the endgame!Or is she? Maybe she's playing devil’s advocate for Duncan’s DOE ... more »

Ed Dept seeks to bring test-based assessment to teacher prep programs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Ed Dept seeks to bring test-based assessment to teacher prep programs - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: Ed Dept seeks to bring test-based assessment to teacher prep programsbyValerie StraussThe Obama administration wants to expand the use of standardized test scores as an accountability tool from K-12 into higher education.The Education Department just tried — and failed — to persuade a group of negotiators to agree to regulations that would rate colleges of education in large part on how ... more »

The Innovative Educator: The bad pineapple questions are not the problem with standardized tests

The Innovative Educator: The bad pineapple questions are not the problem with standardized tests: The bad pineapple questions are not the problem with standardized testsbynoreply@blogger.com (Lisa Nielsen)I am disappointed that the mainstream story about testing happens to be a poor a test section about pineapples. While I agree the test question was ridiculous, I think focusing on that diverts us from the real problem which is that even if the test had greatest questions on earth, standardized testing at its ... more »

School Tech Connect: The Single Sound Test

School Tech Connect: The Single Sound Test: The Single Sound Testbynoreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)CPS's now departed turnaround guy, Donald Fraynd, said he was leaving with a heavy heart to begin a start-up company. He called it something else, I can't remember.This appears to be it.I'll give him one thing ; he's a true believer.Decades of research show one thing – nothing affects achievement as much as the quality of teaching students receive. In fact, teacher attributes may account for more than ... more »

StudentsFirst will be in Seattle | Seattle Education

StudentsFirst will be in Seattle | Seattle Education: StudentsFirst will be in Seattlebyseattleducation2011…and that isnota good thing.Ms. Rhee (pronounced "re")StudentsFirst is an organization created by Michelle Rhee after her tumultuous tenure as Chancellor of DC public schools. She was supported by Eli Broad who threatened to pull his financial support for the DC public school system and Rhee specifically if she was not selected to continue as Chancellor of DC schools after Mayor Fenty’s failed re-election bid. After Fenty, who ... more »

May Day Wildcat March Called for 1pm | OccupyWallSt.org #ows

May Day Wildcat March Called for 1pm | OccupyWallSt.org: May Day Wildcat March Called for 1pmbyOccupyWallStviaSTRIKE EVERYWHERE!:A call has gone out for a massiveWildcatmarch in NYC on May 1st, starting at 1PM. The original call is availablehere. Secondingstrikeisaverb, See you in the streets! Forward and Repost widely.https://www.facebook.com/events/297929263615205/and print and distribute flyers (wildcatmarchflyer-single,wildcatmarchflyer-quarter)CALL FOR A WILDCAT MARCH FOR GENERAL STRIKE PARTICIPANTSMAY 1ST, 2012 1PMWe were told by bosses, by activists, by union leaders we could... more »

NYC Educator: Don't Know Much About History

NYC Educator: Don't Know Much About History: Don't Know Much About HistorybyNYC EducatorIs NY State right to abolish theGlobal History Regents exam? Lots of us have had our fill of standardized testing, and would like to see far less of it. Of course that's not the case, as the state plans all sorts of nonsense, largely to assess teachers. Kids will be spending hours of potential learning time indulging in nonsensical junk science, to appease those who wish to fire ... more »

Zoning The Poor Out of Good Schools | California Progress Report

Zoning The Poor Out of Good Schools | California Progress Report: Zoning The Poor Out of Good SchoolsbymeganBy Peter SchragMost of us have long known that in places like Oakland and Berkeley, and probably in a lot of other cities as well, the easiest way to predict a school’s test scores is by the altitude of the building.The higher up the school, the more likely it will be in an affluent neighborhood. The schools in the flats, where the poor ... more »

REASONS NOT TO SIGN GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN'S TAX INITIATIVE PETITION - Perdaily.com

REASONS NOT TO SIGN GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN'S TAX INITIATIVE PETITION - Perdaily.com: REASONS NOT TO SIGN GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN'S TAX INITIATIVE PETITIONbyLeonard Isenberg(Mensaje se repite en EspaƱol)(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)In the bleak reality of coordinated political and corporate siege against public education, one is tempted to grasp at straws in trying to stop this continued onslaught against teachers and the ever worsening degradation of the essential democracy formative institution ... more »

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? pineapple question stumps ... everyone!

Captain: Are ya ready kids?Kids: Aye, Aye captain!Captain: I can't heeeaaar yooouuu!Kids: AYE, AYE CAPTAIN!Captain: oooooooooooo...Captain: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?Kids: Sponge Bob Square Pants!Captain: Absorbent and yellow and porous is he.Kids: Sponge Bob Square Pants!Captain: If nautical nonsense be somethin' ya wish.Kids: Sponge Bob Square Pants!Captain: Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish.Kids: Sponge Bob Square Pants!Captain: Ready? Sponge Bob Square Pants,Captain Kids: Sponge Bob Square Pants, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Sponge Bob ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 4-22 #soschat #EDReform

What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-13 minutes agoWhat Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled?byLarry FerlazzoProf. Armin Falk, a professor at Bonn University, unveiled some very intriguing studies on motivation last week. ...more »

Educator Musing: Real Parent Empowerment is a Rebellion

Educator Musing: Real Parent Empowerment is a Rebellion: Real Parent Empowerment is a RebellionbyEducator Musing If without medical justification, [your son] is absent fromschool on any dayduring the Assessment period, the District will deem thisabsence as unexcused. Further, if you keep [your son] home from school during theAssessment period,without medical verification, it is within the District’sdiscretion to deemthese absences as indicia of educational neglect, whichwould leave the Districtlittle choice but to contact Child Protective Services(“CPS”). Pursuant to theNew York

Teacher Appreciation:From the Mouths of Babes! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

Teacher Appreciation:From the Mouths of Babes! « Diary of a Public School Teacher!: Teacher Appreciation:From the Mouths ofBabes!Some of my studentswrote a letter for the state department’s Teacher Appreciation Day contest. After reading the letters, it gave me some insight as to what my students appreciate about me. I chose to use the letters as an informal evaluation tool to see what I am doing right,(or wrong). I found some of the responses quite amusing.:)I bustle (Vocabulary word) around on ... more »

ARE MORE OF Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Right Wing Buddies Turning On Her?

Potter Williams Report: Michelle Rhee’s Mask Is Slipping: Illegal Activity in Constitution State?: ARE MORE OF Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Right Wing Buddies Turning On Her?MICHELLE RHEE’S MASK IS SLIPPING: ILLEGAL ACTIVITY IN CONSTITUTION STATE?It was only a matter of time before Michelle Rhee would start blowing her cover. But I have to admit she’s held off “enquiring minds who want to know” for at least five years since signing on to DC.Citizen watchdogs have found evidence of Rhee's ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pineapples Don't Have Sleeves

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pineapples Don't Have Sleeves: Pineapples Don't Have SleevesbyMelissa WestbrookIf ever there was a reason to pull a stop on standardized testing mania, it's this story.The Hare and the Pineapple.Yes, apparently in NYC's 8th grade standardized test there was a reading section, based on a story by Daniel Pinkwater, the children's author, about a hare and a pineapple having a race, based on The Tortoise and the Hare. (The story was altered from Mr. Pinkwater's original according ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 4-22 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

ED News Worth Reading April 2011 at Pinterest.Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-12 minutes agoED News Worth Reading April 2011:ED News Worth Reading April 2011ED News Worth Reading April 2011https://pinterest.com/coopmike48/ed-news-worth-reading-april-2011/4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: CORONA-NORCO USD IN INLAND EMPIRE GIVES TEACHERS THE FREEDOM TO EXPERIMENT INSTEAD OF PRESCRIBED LESSON PLANS, boosting scores and graduation rates in the heavily Latino, low-income district.Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-12 minutes ago4LAKids - some of the news... more »

NSBA President’s letter to Obama: please change direction! « Parents Across America

NSBA President’s letter to Obama: please change direction! « Parents Across America: NSBA President’s letter to Obama: please change direction!byleoniehaimson“…school board members and top educational thinkers overwhelming urge abandoning the current “command-and-control” federal educational oversight…driving us toward mediocrity….Mr. President, public education in the U.S. is on the wrong track. As we have moved decision-making farther

Bridgeport Schools Going Private With Taxpayer Money? - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News

Bridgeport Schools Going Private With Taxpayer Money? - Jonathan Kantrowitz - Connecticut News: Bridgeport Schools Going Private With Taxpayer Money?April 22, 2012 at 3:18 pm byJonathan Kantrowitzby Jon Pelto fromWait, WhatThis week we learned that Governor Malloy and his education commissioner, Stefan Pryor hired certain consultants to help develop Malloy’s “Education Reform” bill. Rather than go through some silly competitive bidding process, they simply got a quasi-state agency, SERC to hire the two consultants; one for $195,000 and the other ... more »

Andrea Merida on why Denver school board should reject Gates grant « Parents Across America

Andrea Merida on why Denver school board should reject Gates grant « Parents Across America: Andrea Merida on why Denver school board should reject Gates grantbyleoniehaimsonSee video below of Andrea Merida, a member of the Denver school board and Parents Across America, on why they should reject a grant from the ALEC-linked Gates Foundation. [For more on this issue, see theGates website,including comments from critics.] In hermessageon vimeo, Andrea asks:Why are the Denver Public Schools accepting money from the Bill ... more »

NYC Public School Parents: NYC principal opting her own children out of testing

NYC Public School Parents: NYC principal opting her own children out of testing: NYC principal opting her own children out of testingbyLeonie HaimsonHere is a letter from a NYC principal who spoke outagainst standardized testing and corporate education reform onWNYC radio, whenBrian Lehrer had Michelle Rhee as his guest. She sent the below letter,about opting her children out of testing in the Ridgewood NJ public schools, to their principals,teachers, the superintendent, the NCLB administrator, guidance counselors,Special Education supervisor, etc.The official ... more »

What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled?byLarry FerlazzoProf. Armin Falk, a professor at Bonn University, unveiled some very intriguing studies on motivation last week. I’ll provide a short summary of how I believe some of his key findings can be applied to education. You can also read a more extensive reporthere, review ... more »

What Works in Education | Seattle Education

What Works in Education | Seattle Education: What Works in Educationbyseattleducation2011There are many successful programs that work around the country in terms of educating our students and one that was successful on a national level was the original war on poverty which was paid for by public funds.As Linda Darling-Hammond wrote in her book, The Flat World and Education:How Policy Can Matter…These declines are not inevitable. We have made strong headway on educational achievement in the past and can do ... more »