Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, March 9, 2013

@ the chalk face

@ the chalk face:


@TCF on Blog Talk Radio


Give me your tired test prep assignments, your poor #CCSS homework examples…

newsign
… your huddled students yearning to learn free from corporate education reform. Here At the Chalkface we have had several articles that have been widely read and shared recently:http://atthechalkface.com/2012/12/12/is-your-child-getting-a-worksheet-education/http://atthechalkface.com/2013/03/05/kindergarteners-get-ready-to-confront-the-new-economy/http://atthechalkface.com/2013/03/06/guess-the-grade-level-of-this-common-core-homework/ The theme of these pieces is test preparation and Common Core worksheets/homework assignments.  These articles are examples of the harm corporate education reform [...]



School Closings: The dislocation of America’s unwanted.

Timothy D. Slekar at @ the chalk face - 6 minutes ago
Last night I attended the “People’s Board Meeting” in Chicago and heard powerful testimony from parents concerning school closings. Why do we move poor and minority kids out of neighborhood schools and then turn the buildings into Charter schools? This school closing thing just smells of racism/classism. Someone has to say it! “STOP hurting our [...]

Behold, it appears legit, the court docket for the AFT president

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 21 minutes ago
She actually was arrested at a protest event in Philadelphia on March 7th, for disorderly conduct. Although, I mean, the threshold is likely rather low for that charge. Nevertheless, Ms. Weingarten will need to be back in Philly later this month. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: arrest, philadelphia, philly, protest, weingarten

Put on your spy goggles, it’s #commoncore time!!

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 47 minutes ago
This is very exciting ladies and gentlemen. We’d like to introduce to you to a new installment of Common Core homework. This comes to us from the parent of a wee-little kindergartener. Behold, folks, this is what we’ve all been waiting for. If you thought little boys and girls were getting educated before, well, then [...]

Is #TFA a cult?

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 1 day ago
Anecdotal, but interesting, nonetheless: Just received confirmation from a former student that during training, TFA tells is Corps members not to interact with veteran teachers at the schools they are placed in and not to eat in the Faculty Cafeteria because those teachers are “jaded.” Wow. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: [...]

@thinkprogress makes the progressive case against higher tuition costs. Careful. #highered

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 1 day ago
Progressives frequently lament the increasing costs of higher education, as Think Progress does here. Young persons are saddled with debt and this is a very troubling situation. As a faculty member, I have a somewhat different perspective. I suppose it’s easy, from a student’s perspective, to criticize all aspects of a university for rising tuition [...]

Give me your tired test prep assignments, your poor #CCSS homework examples…

Chris Cerrone at @ the chalk face - 1 day ago
… your huddled students yearning to learn free from corporate education reform. Here At the Chalkface we have had several articles that have been widely read and shared recently: http://atthechalkface.com/2012/12/12/is-your-child-getting-a-worksheet-education/ http://atthechalkface.com/2013/03/05/kindergarteners-get-ready-to-confront-the-new-economy/ http://atthechalkface.com/2013/03/06/guess-the-grade-level-of-this-common-core-homework/ The theme of these pieces is test preparation and Common Core worksheets/homework assignments. These articles are examples of the harm corporate e...more »

The crowd at #SXSWedu and #edtech could ultimately learn from this.

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 2 days ago
A great article from the NYT on Sunday comes at a pretty good time, given the passing of SXSW in Austin, TX these last few days. I was, of course, not in Texas, but I followed conversations and happenings online related to education, or the hashtag #SXSWedu. You get the impression that a lot of [...]

Rank, RANK amateurism from #PARCC tools and #commoncore

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 2 days ago
I’ve commented on this previously. And one more here. I had forwarded to me an email message about PARCC releasing some kind of planning tools to get ready for the big assessments. I decided to examine the prototypes again to see if there was anything different. They’re the SAME things they released in November when I [...]

The Algebra of the Market: “Equality” Does Not Equal “Equity”

plthomasedd at @ the chalk face - 2 days ago
Let’s start with a graphic and Question 1: Do Student X and Student Y below have EQUAL opportunities to move the boulder? The answer is obvious, “Yes.” Now, let’s go one step further and consider this: In the free market (both the U.S. economy and the “free market” of ideas within schools), capital (economic, social, [...]

Guess the grade level of this Common Core homework.

Chris Cerrone at @ the chalk face - 2 days ago
Scroll down beyond my brief rant to find the answer. Let me start off by saying that I believe in challenging my 7th grade students and want the same for my own children. There is a significant difference between getting kids to strive beyond the basics and crossing the line to complete a task that [...]

Large Monopoly board planned for #occupy2.0 in DC, #optout

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 3 days ago
This is just a blank diagram of the giant education reform Monopoly board I’m going to paint on canvas. I plan on rolling it out for people to play during the event. Working out all of the spaces, suggestions in the comments would be helpful. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: education [...]

Students walking out of #TCAP in Colorado, #stuvoice

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 3 days ago
Student power, need we say more. Students are doing what students can do, stepping aside during a state-mandated test that means nothing. If you’re in Colorado, consider supporting them. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: colorado, students, tcap, testing, walkout

Pittsburgh deputy superintendent said …. And #edweek followed up by…?

Timothy D. Slekar at @ the chalk face - 3 days ago
I know at some point I’m going to drive readers away with my constant picking at EdWeek. So let me just say this. When someone makes a claim about research that is either contextless or just outright wrong I believe that the journalist, should at a minimum, point out the complexities associated with such statements. [...]

Details on #sequestration and #edreform… blah, blah, blah

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 3 days ago
Both poles of the political spectrum have been trying to game the impacts of the sequester. I wanted to take a closer look at its effects in education, particularly in the state where I reside, Maryland. Fortunately for us plebes, documents are available detailing the impact of the sequester in each state. Here’s Maryland’s, for [...]

Kindergarteners: Get Ready to “Confront the New Economy”

Kris Nielsen at @ the chalk face - 3 days ago
Earlier today, I had a short Twitter conversation with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. It went something like this: Randi: not the implementation or roll out, but the [Common] core is key to helping kids confront new economy Me: It will help them face the new economy. Not in a good [...]

Special episode of At the Chalk Face coming up at 5PM EST with Carol Burris

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 4 days ago
You can listen via this link. Live tweet or join us in the chat room. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: appr, at the chalk face, carol burris, new york, principals

Does #edweek add any value?

Timothy D. Slekar at @ the chalk face - 4 days ago
Someone has to say it! Stop calling experiments that use value added data “research” unless you are willing to state up front that “the findings you are about to see have absolutely NO VALUE in understanding the complicated work of teaching and learning.” Just today, EdWeek let us know that, New teachers become much more [...]

This blog is pretty smartly written, quid faciunt #highered

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 4 days ago
Came across this. Largely faculty issues in higher education. Smart stuff. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: Denver, faculty, higher education

May the odds be ever in your favor, #commoncore

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 4 days ago
So, now we are at least clear on one item. The President of a large educators’ union concurs that the Common Core Curriculum, imposed upon public schools in nearly all states, means to prepare young persons to simply “confront the new economy.” This occurs while the affluent amongst us, who will not experience anything like [...]

#Sequestration #edreform, the “cartoon”

Chalk Face, PhD at @ the chalk face - 4 days ago
Maybe it speaks for itself. Filed under: CHALK FACE: General News & Commentary Tagged: budget, Duncan, education reform, Obama, sequestration