Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break 5-26 #soschat #edreform




Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break


Wage Gap: Women's Median Wages Compared to Men's in the Same Jobs, 2011 | Womens eNews

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Wage Gap: Women's Median Wages Compared to Men's in the Same Jobs, 2011 | Womens eNews: SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEYPart: 1 Wage Gap: Women's Median Wages Compared to Men's in the Same Jobs, 2011 By WeNews Staff Sunday, May 20, 2012 *Table 1: The Wage Gap in the 20 Most Common Occupations for Women **(Full-Time Workers Only), 2011* *Women's median weekly earnings* *Women's earnings as percent of men's* *Men's median weekly earnings* *Share of female workers in occupation* *Number of male* *workers* *Number of* *female workers* *All full-time workers, all occupation... more »

STATE OF ILLINOIS ABOUT TO HUMILIATE TEACHERS, AGAIN « Teachers Fight Back

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
STATE OF ILLINOIS ABOUT TO HUMILIATE TEACHERS, AGAIN « Teachers Fight Back: STATE OF ILLINOIS ABOUT TO HUMILIATE TEACHERS, AGAIN by alkleen [image: Frowny Face Clip Art] The Illinois Legislature is poised to enact its version of “pension reform”. They are about to say to the teachers of Illinois, “we stole your money from the pension fund for years, and now we would like YOU to replace what we stole”. They can phrase it any way they want, but basically that is what they are saying to the teachers of Illinois. How humiliating to teachers. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s like a b... more »

Judge sends honor student to jail for missing school | The Raw Story

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Judge sends honor student to jail for missing school | The Raw Story: Judge sends honor student to jail for missing school By David Ferguson Saturday, May 26, 2012 11:30 EDT [image: Print] Share on facebookShare on redditShare on diggShare on twitterShare on farkShare on stumbleupon56 [image: Diane Tran via KHOU video] Topics: Diane Tran ♦ Judge Lanny Moriarty ♦ Willis High School A Houston-area teenager has been jailed and fined for missing school by a judge who hopes to make an example of her. 17-year-old Diane Tran is working two jobs while taking advanced placement and dual cr... more »

School Tech Connect: The Scantron Debacle

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
School Tech Connect: The Scantron Debacle: The Scantron Debacle by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) Tip o' the hat to Julie Woestehoff for exposing the recent Scantron test for what it is: the nexus of the corporate testing complex and the privatization/self-segregation movement. Julie got a hold of a test item that is basically a charter school propaganda piece. There's so much deception, distortion, and misinformation catapulted from the charter movement, and it's so obviously connected to the desire to privatize the public sector, that even

School Reform in Louisiana, As If « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
School Reform in Louisiana, As If « Diane Ravitch's blog: School Reform in Louisiana, As If by dianerav The State Education Department in Louisiana has given approval to the New Living Word School in Ruston, Louisiana, to accept 315 voucher students. The school currently has 122 students, so if it can enroll its full complement of voucher students, it will nearly quadruple in size. The New Living Word School will accept the largest number of voucher students in the state’s voucher program. The second largest number of seats is offered by the Upperroom Bible Church Academy in O... more »

Saturday coffee + Old school. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. by Fred Klonsky Sitting in the mail box when I got home last night was a big white envelope from Barack Obama. Not really. It was from the Democratic National Committee asking me for a donation. It had a prepaid return envelope. So I wrote the following, printed it, put it in the envelope and this morning I mailed it back. *Dear President Obama,* *On a beautiful night in November of 2008 I stood on the periphery of a huge crowd in Grant Park as the word that Pennsylvania had gone into the Democratic Party column and that you would b... more »

Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 5-26 AM Posts #soschat #edreform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
*BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK AM POSTS* Calling All Parents! « Diane Ravitch's blog coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 minutes ago Calling All Parents! « Diane Ravitch's blog: Calling All Parents! by dianerav In an earlier post, I described how a parent organization called out Scantron, the testing company, for inserting a blatantly propagandistic item into its standardized tests. The reading passage was about the alleged superiority of charters as education reform and named a fictitious “multi-millionaire” who sends his own children to a charter. Public school students in... more »

Calling All Parents! « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Calling All Parents! « Diane Ravitch's blog: Calling All Parents! by dianerav In an earlier post, I described how a parent organization called out Scantron, the testing company, for inserting a blatantly propagandistic item into its standardized tests. The reading passage was about the alleged superiority of charters as education reform and named a fictitious “multi-millionaire” who sends his own children to a charter. Public school students in Chicago were shown this advertising for charters, with no critical views included. The parent group is called PURE, or Parents Un... more »

Reynolds board member posts OEA salaries | OregonLive.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Reynolds board member posts OEA salaries | OregonLive.com: [image: mccain.jpg] Reynolds board member posts OEA salaries Reynolds school board member Bruce McCain took a swing at striking teachers today, publishing this post on conservative radio host Victoria Taft’s website. In it, McCain, a lawyer and retired Multnomah County sheriff’s captain, lists the total compensation for Oregon Education Association leaders, including $279,597 in salary and benefits for Executive Director Jerry Carruthers, as reported to the IRS. “OEA reported $22.6 million in total revenue in 2010, ... more »

Books for Teachers: The Death and Life of the Great American School System « Enough of the Cat Talk

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Books for Teachers: The Death and Life of the Great American School System « Enough of the Cat Talk: Books for Teachers: The Death and Life of the Great American School System Diane Ravitch is our national educational historian *par excellence*. I have been reading her books for years, and I am always amazed at how skillfully she argues for a higher quality of education. She is an especially eloquent advocate for a comprehensive national curriculum, which I appreciate. In her latest book, *The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Under... more »

Undermining Special Education? « Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Undermining Special Education? « Diane Ravitch's blog: Undermining Special Education? by dianerav I thought I was done with blogging for the day but then I read a comment on an earlier post. It was very disturbing. If true, it’s frightening to think that the Obama administration plans to “monitor” special education by test scores and to reduce the number of people on the ground. “*For-profit higher education is a $30 billion industry, and it has the wherewithal to call off the regulators.” Exactly. DoEd will reform (translation: eliminate) OSEP’s compliance procedures assuring IDE... more »

This Week's Education Research Report 5-26-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Education Research Report: This Week's Education Research Report IB Primary- and Middle-Years Students Perform Better on International Assessments Than Their Peers at Non-IB Schools Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago A research study completed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), on behalf of the International Baccalaureate (IB), examined student performance among IB and non-IB students on the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA) and determined that IB Primary Years Program (PYP) and IB Middle Years Program (MYP) students, in mo... more »

‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate” | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate” | Scathing Purple Musings: ‘High School Exit Test Scores Have Been Found to Rise, While Graduation Rates Stagnate” by Bob Sikes *Huffington Post *education writer Joy Resmovits interviewed scholars who conducted a National Research Council study which overviewed “incentives and test-based accountability in public schools.” Their conclusions may be the most damaging to test-based reform and NCLB to date. We went ahead, implementing this incredibly expensive and elaborate strategy for changing ...more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG - Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Most Important Story of the Week dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 12 minutes ago Wisconsin has a recall election on June 5. On that date, the voters of the state will decide whether they want Scott Walker to finish out his term or to leave Madison. There are also four Republican state senators on the same ballot. This article in the New York Times magazine explains the issues and [...] The Philadelphia Story dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 hour ago These days, U.S. education is beginning to look lik... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR: SOS EARLY CHILDHOOD WEBINAR by Mike Klonsky Save Our Schools Webinar Early Childhood Educators Say “No!” to Standards and Tests June 1, 2012, 9 PM Eastern Daylight Time [EDT} Please Join Us! *Nancy Carlsson-Paige* is a professor of early childhood education at Lesley University where she has taught teachers for more than 30 years. Professor Carlsson-Paige was a founder of the University’s Center for Peaceable Schools. Since the mid-1980′s, Nancy has written and spoken extensively about the impact of violence, especially i... more »

Geaux Teacher!: PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Geaux Teacher!: PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama: PARENTS ACROSS AMERICA - Letter to Obama by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT) May 25, 2012 *If you want to send your own message to Obama about class size, you can do it via his campaign website.* Dear President Obama: Yesterday, Mitt Romney went to visit a charter school in Philadelphia and got real push back from teachers when he said class size doesn’t matter. A video of their remarks is below. As a principal of a charter school pointed out, “There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definit... more »

Charter school propaganda on a standardized test | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Charter school propaganda on a standardized test | Seattle Education: Charter school propaganda on a standardized test by seattleducation2011 *It seems that the corporate reformers will go to any length to spread their propaganda in an effort to privatize all schools.* *Below is an article in full by a PAA Founding Member Julie Woestehoff that was first published on the blog PURE, Parents United for Responsible Education.* Today, with some help from me, Chicago Sun-Times education reporter Rosalind Rossi exposes yet another standardized testing scandal, this one on a Scantron test t... more »

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN: Top Content Rank1[image: Are you attending ISTE12? Who else will be there?]Are you attending ISTE12? Who else will be there? Posted by Thomas Whitby on May 16, 2012 2[image: Blogging With Upper Elementary]Blogging With Upper Elementary Posted by Katie Eileen on May 24, 2012 3[image: The role of celebration in learning...]The role of celebration in learning... Posted by Sandra Trach on April 3, 2012 4[image: Cricket, cricket, cricket]Cricket, cricket, cricket Posted by Paul on May 20, 2012 5[image: Best Practices and Differentiated Instruction... more »

Daily Kos: Reunion

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Daily Kos: Reunion: Reunion by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) I write this sitting in a small dormitory room at Haverford College, which I entered in 1963, but from which I did not finally graduate until 1973. This weekend is the 45th reunion of my original class. I could, as this is Saturday morning, be writing my usual Saturday morning reflection on teaching. This will serve in its stead, because Haverford College played a significant role in my becoming a teacher, and in how I have always been drawn to my a life of service. This is a reflection on a remarkable group of men wh... more »

Does Ed Secretary Duncan agree with Romney on class size? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Does Ed Secretary Duncan agree with Romney on class size? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: Does Ed Secretary Duncan agree with Romney on class size? By Valerie Strauss This is an open letter written to President Obama by Leonie Haimson, public school parent and executive director of Class Size Matters. She writes about the Obama campaign’s criticism of Mitt Romney for saying that class size isn’t all that important — something, it turns out, Obama administration officials have also said. A version of this letter first appeared on the Parents Across America website. Here’s ... more »

The FCAT Process Taught Them to “Write Like Robots” | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
The FCAT Process Taught Them to “Write Like Robots” | Scathing Purple Musings: The FCAT Process Taught Them to “Write Like Robots” by Bob Sikes One listen to the drivel that’s coming out of Gerard Robinson’s mouth at his “listening” this week demonstrates what we’ve known all along. Top-down ed reformers like Robinson and his handlers don’t do a lot of, well, listening. As the *Miami Herald *wrote last week, “when “stakeholders” are invited to give their input, as teachers, parents and civil rights activists who have challenged the state over its requirements for students with ... more »

Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test « Parents Across America

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test « Parents Across America: Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test by pureparents Today, with some help from me, Chicago Sun-Times education reporter Rosalind Rossiexposes yet another standardized testing scandal, this one on a Scantron test that was used several times in the Chicago Public Schools as part of an interim, or benchmark, reading assessment. Scantron is a national standardized test that CPS has been using for a couple of years as a computerized replacement for the quarterly Learning First and Benchmark Assessment... more »

The in box. “The bill could and should be defeated.” « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
The in box. “The bill could and should be defeated.” « Fred Klonsky: The in box. “The bill could and should be defeated.” by Fred Klonsky Bob Lyons is a member of the TRS Board of Trustees. *“Putting Aside the Constitution” was how one of the Democrat leaders was able to justify what legislators plan to do next. She may have forgotten that to “uphold and protect” that very same document was in her oath of office.* *…Andrew Bodewes, TRS legislative liaison, who serves the same role for the Illinois Teachers Retired Association (IRTA), reported to the TRS Board on the content of th... more »

‘Brainwashing’ passage cut from CPS scholastic test - Chicago Sun-Times

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
‘Brainwashing’ passage cut from CPS scholastic test - Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Brainwashing’ passage cut from CPS scholastic test by ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter May 25, 2012 8:14PM - Reprints - - - 12 - - - [image: Story Image] Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education with a copy of a reading test passage, that she says amounts to pro-charter-school "propaganda. The National testing company ash-canned the passage after Woestehoff, complaints. Tuesday May 22, 2012 I Scott Stewart~Sun-Times ARTICLE EXTRAS [image: ... more »

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TICKETS TO NOWHERE: ROMNEY'S EDUCATION VOUCHERS smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 2 hours ago Themes in the News by UCLA IDEA Week of May 21-25, 2012 | http://bit.ly/LxcVyB 05-25-2012 :: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has begun to lay out his education vision. On Tuesday, Romney announced the names of his education policy advisors, whom Diane Ravitch and others see as "a re-run of the George W. Bush administration" (Diane Ravitch blog, Education Week). A LAUSD TO APPLY FOR PALTRY RttT GRANT... more »

How NOT To Prepare A Student For A Standardized Test | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
How NOT To Prepare A Student For A Standardized Test | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: How NOT To Prepare A Student For A Standardized Test by Larry Ferlazzo Alfie Kohn shared a video on Twitter this morning that a Nebraska school district posted on YouTube as a good example of how a teacher should talk with a student in preparing for a standardized test. This was his tweet: Video of kid being talked at about her scores (“data-based goal setting”): ow.ly/b7UKi. How *not* to do a tchr/stud conference — Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) May 26, 2012 It is an unfortunate video, and here... more »

Geaux Teacher!: IMPORTANT INVITATION

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Geaux Teacher!: IMPORTANT INVITATION: IMPORTANT INVITATION by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT) This is a re-post from Mike Deshotel's blog www.louisianaeducator.blogspot.com/ Friday, May 25, 2012 Romney Adopts Jindal Reform Plan IMPORTANT INVITATION: All readers of The Louisiana Educator are invited to immediately join our new data base of email contacts that I am naming *The Defenders of Public Education.* We need you now! It is 100% free! It is 100% confidential! Just send an email using your preferred email address, and zip code to: * louisianaeducator@gmail.com...more »

Daily Kos: The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Daily Kos: The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform: The States: More Bully Politics of Education Reform byplthomasEdDFollow From South Carolina to New Jersey to Wisconsin—and all across the U.S.—universal public education is under assault by the bully politics of education reform. In my home state of South Carolina, Governor Haley and Superintendent Zais, neither of whom have experience or expertise in education, are seeking to attack unions (although SC is a non-union, right-to-work state), increase education testing through adopting Common Core State Standards, deprofe...more »

The push to privatize education in Philadelphia and beyond | Seattle Education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
The push to privatize education in Philadelphia and beyond | Seattle Education: The push to privatize education in Philadelphia and beyond by seattleducation2011 From Democracy Now: On Wednesday, thousands took part in education protests in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania cities condemning planned spending cuts. In Philadelphia, school officials have proposed a controversial plan to close more than 60 schools in the next five years and potentially privatize those remaining.

Joy Hochstadt Goes Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
http://www.southbronxschool.com: Joy Hochstadt Goes Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher) *As part of being an ethical blogger, I have decided to allow "Lawyer" Joy Hochstadt's email response in regardsto the blog post of May 22, 2012 to be shared amongst the readers of this blog. My comments have been added in red which are purely my opinion and those of the Crack Team.* I did not recognize the name of the guy who so maligned me. Then in his piece, he explained that he met me for 10 minutes. Indeed when I came back from lunch with Ted Smith (p... more »

Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test: Another scandal – charter propaganda on the test by admin Today, with some help from me, Chicago Sun-Times education reporter Rosalind Rossi exposes yet another standardized testing scandal, this one on a Scantron test that was used several times in the Chicago Public Schools as part of an interim, or benchmark, reading assessment. Scantron is a national standardized test that CPS has been using for a couple of years as a computerized replacement for the quarterly Learning Fi... more »