BIG EDUCATION APE 2ND BANANA
RECAP OF LAST WEEK'S BEST POST
UPDATE: PSAT for 4-30-13, Part 2: Sign this student’s petition! + School closings “another trauma,” say child mental health professionals Support PURE!
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » School closings “another trauma,” say child mental health professionals: PSAT for 4-30-13, Part 2: Sign this student’s petition! by admin [image: psat_logo]He has asked twice, very nicely, and he is right on target: Stop tying teacher evaluation to test scores! He’s Aaron Shafer, a senior at Miami University of Ohio, and his petition says, “Standardized tests are not a sound or fair way to evaluate teachers. The higher the stakes we give these tests, the more we will see test prep and test cheating, which goes against the po... more »
No Rich Child Left Behind - NYTimes.com
No Rich Child Left Behind - NYTimes.com: No Rich Child Left BehindBy SEAN F. REARDON Here’s a fact that may not surprise you: the children of the rich perform better in school, on average, than children from middle-class or poor families. Students growing up in richer families have better grades and higher standardized test scores, on average, than poorer students; they also have higher rates of participation in extracurricular activities and school leadership positions, higher graduation rates and higher rates of college enrollment and completion. Whether you think it deeply unj... more »
UPDATE: More Enlightened than Duncan + Would you sign this? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
Would you sign this? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Tupac Shakur, 17, More Enlightened than Duncan MAY 3, 2013 BY PLTHOMASEDD LEAVE A COMMENT Thanks to Stephanie Rivera for posting; see some of the video below in transcript HERE. Tell it on the mountain: - Would you sign this? by Chris Cerrone [image: Screen shot 2013-05-02 at 8.18.15 PM] Teachers and administrators across New York State were told to sign this “Confidentiality Agreement” before scoring the recent ELA and Math State Assessments. Are the exams that are used to judge students, teachers, and schoo... more »
How closing schools hurts neighborhoods
How closing schools hurts neighborhoods: How closing schools hurts neighborhoods Posted by Valerie Strauss on March 6, 2013 at 6:00 am 0 Comments More [image: (thenotebook.org)] (thenotebook.org) On Thursday, the Philadelphia school district’s governing board, the School Reform Commission, will be voting on the most massive one-time downsizing of the system ever proposed. The district’s recently revised plan, which has encountered widespread community and teacher opposition, calls for closing 29 out of 239 district schools next fall – a step down from the original proposal to shutte... more »
Rhee, Stargel Got Some ‘Splainin’ to do About Those Parent Trigger Petition Signatures | Scathing Purple Musings
Rhee, Stargel Got Some ‘Splainin’ to do About Those Parent Trigger Petition Signatures | Scathing Purple Musings: Rhee, Stargel Got Some ‘Splainin’ to do About Those Parent Trigger Petition Signatures by Bob Sikes Yes, they did: 9 No, they didn’t: 9 (Updates as responses arrive) Kathleen McGrory’s story that appeared in the *Miami Herald *on Friday included revelations that two people on the list of Parent Trigger supporters Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst submitted to Lakeland Senator Kelli Stargel never signed the petition. One confirmed that she did. Scathing Purple Musings... more »
2nd Banana 4-27-13 Recap of Last Week's Best Post
BIG EDUCATION APE 2ND BANANA
RECAP OF LAST WEEK'S BEST POST
Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher
Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning? by Nancy Flanagan In three decades of classroom teaching, I was a participant in hundreds of parent meetings convened because there were concerns about a student's academic performance. These meetings invariably ended by creating an action plan, with everyone present making promises about What Will Happen Next. More often than not, parents and teachers agreed to additional duties: Daily planner checks at home. Weekly written prog... more »
Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing | EdSource Today
Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing | EdSource Today: Duncan admits flaws in current standardized testing - by Jane Meredith Adams by Jane Meredith Adams SAN FRANCISCO – Secretary of Education Arne Duncan acknowledged serious flaws in the standardized tests that currently drive American schools, telling an audience of education researchers on Tuesday that the tests are an inadequate gauge of student and teacher performance. Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Duncan criticized “high-stakes testing where children’s lives ... more »
Race to the Top Initiative Getting Mixed Reviews on the Road - Higher Education
Race to the Top Initiative Getting Mixed Reviews on the Road - Higher Education: *Race to the Top Initiative Getting Mixed Reviews on the Road* *AN FRANCISCO —* Although the Obama administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top initiative to reform public schools continues to weather criticism, there are no plans to suspend or slow down the signature program, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday. Duncan addressed participants of the annual American Educational Research Association conference. At times, his remarks drew boisterous applause from a standing room-only crowd... more »
Diane in the Evening 5-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Mess That Is Obama’s Education Policy by dianerav Valerie Strauss does an excellent job of deconstructing the disaster of Obama’s education policy. Remember when candidate Obama in 2008 spoke of hope and change. That kicked many educators to believe that NonChild Left Behind would be ended, tossed into the dustbin of history, where it belongs. Sadly, President Obama built his Race to the Tip right on the flawed foundation of NCLB, and made teaching to the test a necessity. As the for-profit charters prolife... more »
Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 5-3-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
*Nite Cap UPDATE* *UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE* ** *CORPORATE ED REFORM* *Kent State Survivors Seek New Probe Of 1970 Shootings* [image: Kent_state_massacre] Kent State, 40 years on: the shredding of constitutional liberty still goes on | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago Kent State, 40 years on: the shredding of constitutional liberty still goes on | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: Kent State, 40 years on: the shredding of constitutional liberty still goes on To this day, military repression permeates the US. But as history has ... more »
Steve Cohen: From Closing the Achievement Gap to Closing the Opportunity Gap - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
Steve Cohen: From Closing the Achievement Gap to Closing the Opportunity Gap - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Steve Cohen: From Closing the Achievement Gap to Closing the Opportunity Gap by Anthony Cody *Guest post by Steve Cohen.* On Monday, when teachers headed back to classrooms, 15,000 other educators descended on San Francisco's upscale Union Square hotels for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting. Feeling a tad overwhelmed by 2,400 sessions, I braved my way to the Westin St. Francis where an audience of about 250 gathered for a sess... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Computerized Testing Disaster Preview
Jersey Jazzman: Computerized Testing Disaster Preview: Computerized Testing Disaster Preview by Duke It's going to be so feakin' awesome when we finally get all the kids taking all those Common Core and PARCC and state-level standardized tests on computers! Because - *considering they must all take them at the same time* - what could possibly go wrong? *School testing came to a halt statewide early Monday because the CTB/McGraw-Hill testing company servers in New Jersey crashed* around 9 a.m., state education officials said. In the last week of Oklahoma's April testing window, ... more »
Diane in the Evening 5-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Will Common Core Make Kids Smarter? by dianerav Arthur Goldstein teaches high school in Queens, New York. Many of his students are English language learners. He blogs at NYC Educator. His blog is one of the best in the nation. He wrote the following for readers of this blog: How Smart Will Common Core Make Our Kids? Judging from the editorials in the papers, you’d think Common Core was the best thing since sliced bread. Actually, sliced bread is highly overrated, as anyone with fresh artisan bread and a good kn... more »
How Parent Trigger Opponents Claimed #ParentEmpowerment As Their Own | StateImpact Florida
How Parent Trigger Opponents Claimed #ParentEmpowerment As Their Own | StateImpact Florida: How Parent Trigger Opponents Claimed #ParentEmpowerment As Their Own MAY 3, 2013 | 10:45 AMBY JOHN O'CONNOR - Comment - Email - - @GATORBONBC / TWITTER Just over 24 hours ago, the Tallahassee-based Foundation for Florida’s Future sent out an email asking parent trigger backers to tweet their support. The bill died in the Florida Senate earlier this week on a 20-20 tie vote — for the second year in a row. The bill would allow parents at schools earning a failing grade... more »
UPDATE: Missouri Education Watchdog: The Delphi Technique Did Not Work at the Lindbergh DESE Meeting. People Were "Mad As Hell and They Were Not Going to Take This Anymore".
Missouri Education Watchdog: The Delphi Technique Did Not Work at the Lindbergh DESE Meeting. People Were "Mad As Hell and They Were Not Going to Take This Anymore".: STL Today Article on DESE Common Core Meeting at Lindbergh School District by stlgretchen From stltoday and *Critics question Common Core education standards at St. Louis County meeting:* It didn’t take long for the crowd packed into a Lindbergh School District meeting room Thursday to become irritated with the woman giving them an overview of the Common Core Standards. Maureen Clancy-May, an area supervisor with Mi... more »
Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center
Best of the Ed Blogs | National Education Policy Center: The Mess That Is Obama’s Education Policy Best of the Ed Blogs Diane Ravitch May 3, 2013 Best of the Ed Blogs *Best of the Ed Blogs* features a frequently updated selection of interesting and insightful blog posts on education policy. The views expressed by the bloggers on our blog roll are thoughtful, original, and entirely their own. We hope you make *Best of the Ed Blogs* your first stop for concise takes on today's most important education topics. The Mess That Is Obama’s Education Policy Best of the Ed Blogs Diane Ravi... more »
MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Spread the Word by dianerav The public has been sold a bill of goods about what is needed to improve our schools. We see misinformation on television. We hear it from our leaders in both parties. It is hard to explain the real issues in our schools when the media bombards the public with the corporate reform narrative. Once in a while, some insightful journalist breaks through the media blanket. Here is some good news: I just came across an article posted a whil... more »
California looks to Ontario schools’ reformer for guidance | EdSource Today
California looks to Ontario schools’ reformer for guidance | EdSource Today: California looks to Ontario schools’ reformer for guidance - by John Fensterwald by John Fensterwald Michael Fullan may be coming soon to a school district near you. The man credited with transforming the Canadian province of Ontario into one of the world’s most effective school systems is ready to help California do the same. Fullan, though, would lead the state in a sharply different direction from the forced march that federal officials in Washington, D.C., have led over the past decade. [image: Michae... more »
Grading the teachers’ teachers | Hechinger Report
Grading the teachers’ teachers | Hechinger Report: Grading the teachers’ teachers By Sarah Carr Gerald Carlson’s heart sank when he received word several years ago that a controversial statistical analysis had decreed his program one of Louisiana’s weakest in preparing educators to teach English language arts. “We thought we had a good program,” said Carlson, dean of the education school at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “We were shocked when we saw the results.” Carlson has since worked with his staff to revamp the school’s curriculum: adding a new class in reading and E... more »
UPDATE: More Enlightened than Duncan + Would you sign this? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
Would you sign this? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Tupac Shakur, 17, More Enlightened than Duncan MAY 3, 2013 BY PLTHOMASEDD LEAVE A COMMENT Thanks to Stephanie Rivera for posting; see some of the video below in transcript HERE. Tell it on the mountain: - Would you sign this? by Chris Cerrone [image: Screen shot 2013-05-02 at 8.18.15 PM] Teachers and administrators across New York State were told to sign this “Confidentiality Agreement” before scoring the recent ELA and Math State Assessments. Are the exams that are used to judge students, teachers, and schoo... more »
UPDATE: $20 a month Social Security? + The shame of Illinois House Representative | Fred Klonsky
The shame of Illinois House Representative Robyn Gabel. | Fred Klonsky: $20 a month Social Security? “I’m stunned.” by Fred Klonsky *Fred,* *I’m concerned when I read the following: “By the way, even though I paid into Social Security for 25 years before I began teaching, my Social Security benefit will be $20 a month.”* *What? How can that possibly be? I’m not questioning your veracity and I’m most definitely in strong agreement with your viewpoints. But I’m incredulous that this could really be accurate.* *How do you work at a job for 25 years and only receive $20 per month in So... more »
Diane in the Evening 5-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Mess That Is Obama’s Education Policy by dianerav Valerie Strauss does an excellent job of deconstructing the disaster of Obama’s education policy. Remember when candidate Obama in 2008 spoke of hope and change. That kicked many educators to believe that NonChild Left Behind would be ended, tossed into the dustbin of history, where it belongs. Sadly, President Obama built his Race to the Tip right on the flawed foundation of NCLB, and made teaching to the test a necessity. As the for-profit charters prolife... more »
Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th | Truth in American Education
Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th | Truth in American Education: Rally Against Common Core in Topeka, KS on May 8th by truthed [image: Kansas-State-Capitol-2] From Kansans Against Common Core: *Kansans Against Common Core Rally in Topeka at the Capitol on May 8th* *with special guest and Common Core expert* *Shane Vander Hart* *From Truth in American Education* *2-4pm on the South Lawn* *We are very happy to have Common Core expert Shane Vander Hart with Truth in American Education joining us and speaking about Common Core.* *Shane Vander Hart* is the Editor-in-Chief o... more »
Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author | NEA Today
Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author | NEA Today: Religious Right Using After-School Bible Clubs to Undermine Public Education, Says Author by twalker *By Tim Walker* For many anti-public education activists, maybe, as the saying goes, “nothing succeeds like failure.” Pushing extremist agendas is often more about undermining, or even dismantling, the institution they claim they want to “reform.” *Journalist Katherine Stewart *sees such a dynamic at work with the Religious Right and its aggressive and increasingly successful cam... more »
