Friday, March 15, 2013

Diane in the Evening 3-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:






New Florida Law=$$ for For-Profit Charters

Coach Bob Sikes reports:
“Floridians have not witnessed such an avalanche of legislation intended to shift tax payer dollars which once went to public schools to the education for profit industry.”
Charter industry supporters said they wanted to “ease the financial burden on charter schools.”
State funding will be very generous to for-profit charter corporations. One of the most successful at winning 


Paul Thomas: Ravitch Right, Tucker Wrong

Paul Thomas rejects Marc Tucker’s critique of my view on the Common Core.
I agree with Paul.
So there.

Louisiana Teacher: “I Quit!”

Abby Breaux, a 25-year veteran teacher in Louisiana, wrote an open letter to the state board of education to explain why she was quitting.
It is a powerful letter that demonstrates the complete disconnect between the people on the state board who make the rules and the teachers in the classroom who must live with them.
Is Louisiana determined to get rid of experienced teachers? Who will take their places?


Marc Tucker Says I Am Wrong About Common Core

Marc Tucker says I am wrong for saying I cannot support the Common Core.
Unlike me, he says they need no field testing, no trial.
He doesn’t worry–as I do–that they are developmentally inappropriate for the early grades.
He doesn’t worry–as I do–that the rigor-rigor-rigor that is so widely hailed might widen the achievement gap and 

Why This Reader Loves Bruce Baker

Brian Ford writes to express his admiration for Bruce Baker’s work. Baker is at Rutgers in New Jersey. He has published many valuable statistical analyses of school finance, charter schools, and the teaching profession. He is especially good at debunking inflated claims.
Brian Ford writes:
I always liked Bruce Baker, but now he is a bit of hero for me after his recommendations in his

A Teacher Asks: What Is the Goal of Common Core?

A comment from a teacher.
She writes:
I work with gifted students in an affluent district and I’m quite concerned with Common Core. Diane’s article points out some very serious flaws in how this is being foisted on states and thus, schools, teachers and the children in them. The students I work with will likely do well regardless, but I sense CC is created specifically to

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Florida Teacher: A Fruitless Pursuit of My VAM Rating by dianerav Please read the link in this comment. Kafkateach has been trying, again and again, to find out what her VAM score for 2011-2012 was. No one will tell her. No one knows. It is being calculated. It is being recalculated. If it takes two years to find out what your evaluation score is, what value does VAM add? Will someone be sure to let Arne Duncan and Bill Gates know? She writes: *The new and impro... more »