Saturday, December 22, 2012

Diane in the Evening 12-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:





Uses and Abuses of Online Learning

The school district in Manchester, New Hampshire, is considering online classes–not blended learning–as Acosta-saving device. The idea is to put kids online and lay off teachers. Anyone who deals with children and adolescents knows that face-to-face contact, human-to-human relationships are very important. Something’s,


Do We Care About Children?

This teacher asks, how can we show that we really care about children?

Why Armed Guards Change Nothing

A reader explains why armed guards will not end the violence:
As my own experience with troubled children, and as pointed out in the PBS ‘After Newtown’ program of 12/21/2012 pointed out:
(1) the shooters tend to be young males who largely fantasize about the shooting long before they act,
(2) they strongly tend to do active research of their act before doing so,
(3) they see this as a way to end their misery

Outrageous Treatment of Children with Special Needs

In Louisiana, this mother reports, her 17-year-old autistic son will be required to take the ACT and EOC (end-of-course exams).
As she writes, “These children are also being forced to take the EOC. or “end of course” tests for high school courses that they have never taken. Allow me to reiterate. They are forced to take high-stakes, final exams for classes in which they have never been enrolled because they cannot meet the prerequisites.”
What will this prove, she wonders? Will it prove that her son’s school is a very bad school with very low test 

On TIMSS: Black Students in Mass. Do as Well as Finland!

The Daily Howler is all over the media for its sour reporting about the latest international test (TIMSS). He finds that they reverted to their “doom and gloom” scenario without bothering to dig into the data.
He dug into the data and found lots to cheer about.
In this post, Bob Somerby parses the data and discovers that black students in Massachusetts did as well as 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Secret Document Leaked: Chicago Plans to Close Nearly 100 Schools by dianerav The Chicago Tribune obtained a copy of a secret document describing the plan of Chicago Public Schools to close 95 schools, mostly in minority neighborhoods. The plan was dated September 10. This represents a dramatic elimination of public schools in Chicago. The city says it will slow down charter growth, at least this year, but there can be little doubt that the school closings will create a growing pool of displaced students ... more »