Big Education Ape - Morning Wink 5-4-13 AM Posts #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 minutes ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Mentor: How to Fix Teach for America by dianerav David Greene mentored many Teach for America teachers. He knows how poorly prepared most of them were for the job of teaching in New York City’s toughest schools. He tried to help them cope. Here he offers good advice to TFA. Could This Be True? by dianerav Beware, this might be a hoax. I hope it is true. If it is true, please share at once with your legislators. Send it to Arne Duncan. Share it with corporate l... more »

Ed Notes Online: Stop Pearson Child Abuse: Get Ready to Rumble - er - Opt Out -- of June Field Tests

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 minutes ago

Ed Notes Online: Stop Pearson Child Abuse: Get Ready to Rumble - er - Opt Out -- of June Field Tests: Stop Pearson Child Abuse: Get Ready to Rumble - er - Opt Out -- of June Field Tests by ed notes online *1,391 NYC schools with June Stand-Alone FT assignments* Thanks to Fred Smith for getting this material together. What are field tests? They are tests given in June to use our kids as guinea pigs for future tests. So kids and teachers are made to go through useless testing for the purpose of Pearson profit -- PPP. Fred points out that the kids and teachers know full well these... more »

Cobb sets back Common Core and possibly state | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 minutes ago

Cobb sets back Common Core and possibly state | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: Get Schooled: Cobb sets back Common Core and possibly state By Maureen Downey When the National Governor’s Association, led by then-Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, and the Council of Chief State School Officers developed a framework of academic standards to raise student performance in math and language arts, they stressed that the effort was state-driven and not in any way a national curriculum, hence the Common Core *State* Standards. They did so to prevent the standards from being politicized. It didn’t work... more »

Daily Kos: Wondering about my personal future

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 minutes ago

Daily Kos: Wondering about my personal future: Wondering about my personal future by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) As my wife Leaves on the Current continues on her journey of recovery from her blood cancer, i have been able to begin exploring going back to work. In the process of exploring various job opportunities, both within and without the walls of a school classroom, I have been trying to sort out what matters to me, how I want to use what productive time and energy I may have left to me as I approach my 67th birthday. Knowing that within less than two months I will atten... more »

Common Core: The Snickers Bar of Education – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 17 minutes ago

Common Core: The Snickers Bar of Education – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Common Core: The Snickers Bar of Education by Kris Nielsen Diane Ravitch, not too long ago, wrote a blog post about her stance regarding the Common Core State Standards, basically suggesting that she could not support them because of their lack of evidence of effectiveness. I also don’t support the Common Core for that reason, but I’m not “agnostic” about them. I have seen more evidence over the past few months than is needed to support my original idea that the Common Core State Standards make ... more »

Schools and farms: learning to become partners Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago

Schools and farms: learning to become partners Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego.com: *Schools and farms: learning to become partners* [image: Kitchen manager Juan Zamorano prepares salads for lunch on Friday at Gompers Preparatory Academy in San Diego, California. He works for the San Diego Unified School District, the county's biggest buyer of regionally sourced produce. / photo by Eduardo Contreras * U-T]*Kitchen manager Juan Zamorano prepares salads for lunch on Friday at Gompers Preparatory Academy in San Diego, California. He works for the San Diego Unified School District, the county... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Video of Lindbergh DESE Common Core Meeting. Crowd Refuses to be Delphied.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: Video of Lindbergh DESE Common Core Meeting. Crowd Refuses to be Delphied.: Video of Lindbergh DESE Common Core Meeting. Crowd Refuses to be Delphied. by stlgretchen Body Language at Lindbergh This is a followup to our reporting on DESE's attempt to use the Delphi technique at the Common Core meeting at Lindbergh School District. We have two videos which show the refusal of the crowd to be divided into groups and asking questions to the officials. Part 1 Officials explain the process and the people refuse to cooperate/collaborate in the process ... more »

Louisiana Educator: The Course Choice Cancer

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago

Louisiana Educator: The Course Choice Cancer: The Course Choice Cancer by Michael Deshotels The campaign is already starting up. There will be millions devoted to marketing alone. Despite the court decision finding Course Choice unconstitutional, Jindal and White have given the green light to for-profit companies to go right ahead with marketing. These are millions that will be taken from Louisiana taxpayers and possibly from the scarce MFP dollars that were once dedicated by the voters and going to our legitimate public schools systems. Check out the following links to ads on Cr... more »

Rebirth: New Orleans -- Documentary Poses a Moral Dilemma - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 minutes ago

Rebirth: New Orleans -- Documentary Poses a Moral Dilemma - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Rebirth: New Orleans -- Documentary Poses a Moral Dilemma by Anthony Cody Thursday night I had a chance to watch John Merrow's new documentary, Rebirth: New Orleans, with an audience at the Education Writers Association seminar at Stanford. The film will soon be available on Netflix. Merrow has done a creditable job in capturing the core elements of the transformation of this district. He does us all a disservice, however, when he concludes the film by declaring this experiment... more »

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 45 minutes ago

Saturday coffee. | Fred Klonsky: Saturday coffee. by Fred Klonsky [image: ls1] When I first met Anne, she lived in an apartment in Roseland on Chicago’s far south side. She made coffee in a Chemex. To keep it warm she poured a couple of inches of water in an old skillet that had no handle anymore. She turned the flame on low and placed the Chemex in the water. Low tech, but perfect. Our coffees of choice were Bustello – Cuban and Puerto Rican style coffee in the yellow can – or Stewarts, which was pretty high-end in those days and was produced locally out of a factory near Cicero ... more »

Kent State

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 56 minutes ago

*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 shown, resistance will always follow - - Share****47 - - - Comments (91) - Willi... more »

Kent State: May 4, 1970 |

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 56 minutes ago

Kent State: May 4, 1970 |: Kent State: May 4, 1970 by Angus Johnston *An excerpt from my dissertation:* President Nixon revealed the US invasion of Cambodia on April 30, 1970, in a televised speech. At a news conference the next day National Student Association president Charles Palmer, flanked by ten collegiate student body presidents, denounced the invasion and Nixon’s “odious disregard of the constitution” and called for his impeachment. The nation’s first student strikes in response to the invasion had already been called by the time Palmer spoke, and by Monday walkouts had be... more »

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-4-13

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 59 minutes ago

*4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:* *4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT* The Madness, unending: FIVE-YEAR-OLD KILLS TWO YEAR-OLD-SISTER WITH RIFLE MARKETED FOR KIDs smf at 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit - 1 day ago Kentucky boy, 5, accidentally shoots to death 2-year-old sister By Michael Muskal, LA Times | http://lat.ms/157LCuu May 1, 2013, 9:25 a.m. :: A 2-year-old Kentucky girl was accidentally killed by her 5-year-old brother who fired a rifle he had been given as a gift, officials said Wednesday. Cumberland County Coroner Gary L. White said an... more »

This Week's Education Research Report 5-4-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 59 minutes ago

Education Research Report* * *THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT* * * Treating preschoolers with ADHD: 90 percent of pediatric specialists not following clinical guidelines Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 48 minutes ago *Some prescribe medication too soon; others not even as a second-line treatment* A recent study by pediatricians from the Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York examined to what extent pediatric physicians adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical guidelines regarding pharmacotherapy in treating young patients with Attention ... more »

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 5-3-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

*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 »

One Teacher's Perspective: Wisconsin's Private School Vouchers Prove Wasteful

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

One Teacher's Perspective: Wisconsin's Private School Vouchers Prove Wasteful: Wisconsin's Private School Vouchers Prove Wasteful by Imagine Wisconsin *John Forester, Director of Government Relations for the School Administrators Alliance (SAA), shares in this blog posting more sound reasoning opposing Wisconsin Governor Walker's private school voucher plan.* Many observers have called Governor Walker’s proposal to expand private school vouchers bad education policy. I agree. But, today, I would like to address voucher expansion from the perspective of fiscal policy. If voucher ad... more »

Lakeridge High goes unranked in national top schools list because test scores were too high | OregonLive.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago

Lakeridge High goes unranked in national top schools list because test scores were too high | OregonLive.com: Lakeridge High goes unranked in national top schools list because test scores were too high by Victoria Edwards, The Oregonian First Lake Oswego schools officials struggled to understand why Lakeridge High School wasn't ranked in U.S. News and World Report's annual list of the country's top high schools. Now they're struggling to explain the answer: Students scored too well on state tests. "We've been doing the best we can to explain what happened here, but it takes a lit... more »

Are We Being Ripped Off? | PWC Education Reform Blog

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 14 hours ago

Are We Being Ripped Off? | PWC Education Reform Blog: Are We Being Ripped Off? by pwceducationreform As of July 1, 2012, PWCS had almost $760 million in bonds outstanding. To date I have never seen anything that accounts for what those bonds are used for. I’ve been trying to track the bonds PWCS has “issued” in the past two years, and I can’t find about $20 million. I have no clue what the bond money was used for, and on one I’ve asked does either. I hope you find that as shocking as I do. I’ve been harping about the need to account for the bonds PWCS “issues” for some time... more »

Why I'm not opting my kids out of standardized tests

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 15 hours ago

Why I'm not opting my kids out of standardized tests: Why I'm not opting my kids out of standardized tests [image: Robert Niles] By Robert Niles Published: April 17, 2013 at 3:02 PM (MST) Some parents around the country are pulling their kids out of federally-mandated standardized tests this spring. They're hoping that by taking an individual stand against high-stakes testing, they can help change the system.[image: Students testing. Photo via Wikimedia Commons]But opting out of testing is the wrong choice. By taking individual stands against testing, parents are *reinforcing* the c... more »

NYC Public School Parents: The Cathie Black Fiasco: Lessons for Confronting Entrenched Power

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago

NYC Public School Parents: The Cathie Black Fiasco: Lessons for Confronting Entrenched Power: The Cathie Black Fiasco: Lessons for Confronting Entrenched Power from NYC Public School Parents by Leonie Haimson *She's BA-A-A-ACK!* *Just Visiting* Nearly 3 years have passed since that quiet afternoon in November 2010 when I glanced at my phone to see the newsflash: *SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR JOEL KLEIN STEPPING DOWN. BLOOMBERG TO APPOINT CATHLEEN P. BLACK, HEARST MAGAZINE, AS REPLACEMENT* The news is always presented so matter-of-factly, so unemotionally. The effect is predictable and com...more »

NYC Educator: The SBO--Make Them an Offer They Can Easily Refuse

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago

NYC Educator: The SBO--Make Them an Offer They Can Easily Refuse: The SBO--Make Them an Offer They Can Easily Refuse by NYC Educator Last week, Ms. Teacher went to work, and noticed there was a ballot box in the check-in room. She had no idea there was going to be a vote, and neither did any of her colleagues. But there it was, and she was handed a ballot. There was an SBO, a proposal to increase the school day, already six hours and fifty minutes, by 37 minutes Monday to Thursday. Ms. Teacher saw nothing about getting paid for the extra time. Then she heard some of her colleagues... more »

Recognizing Exemplary Schools - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago

Recognizing Exemplary Schools - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Establishes Two New Areas for Recognizing Exemplary Schools SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today recognized 19 public schools, which are also 2013 Distinguished Schools, with two new state Exemplary Program Awards for their successful and innovative efforts to promote either the arts or physical activity and nutrition. 'If we want our students to succeed inside and outside the classroom, they need an education that takes the ‘whole child' into ... more »

Pedagogy vs. Andragog | My Island View

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago

Pedagogy vs. Andragog | My Island View: Pedagogy vs. Andragog by tomwhitby Over this last year I have been fortunate to have been sent to many education conferences on behalf of SmartBrief in pursuit of content and guest bloggers for *SmartBlog on Education*. It is a dream job for a retired educator and an education blogger. The intent is to always keep the educator’s voice on SmartBlog authentic and relevant. In that capacity, I have attended and conducted a multitude of workshops on various education topics. Since I am no longer in the classroom, and have no need to apply what... more »

Meet the 2013 National Teacher Hall of Fame Inductees | NEA Today

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 16 hours ago

Meet the 2013 National Teacher Hall of Fame Inductees | NEA Today: Meet the 2013 National Teacher Hall of Fame Inductees by twalker *By Helen Yoshida* On June 14th, five teachers hailing from Maryland, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma will be inducted into the National Teacher Hall of Fame (NTHF). These members of the Class of 2013 were guests at the Department of Education on Friday, where they met with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to discuss educational issues they face in their schools. Following the meeting they were honored at the National Education Association headqua... more »

Parents Across America Update | Seattle Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago

Parents Across America Update | Seattle Education: Parents Across America Update by seattleducation2011 [image: paa_logo] *Parents Across America Action News May 2, 2013* Welcome to PAA Action News, the information and action newsletter of *Parents Across America*. *PAA Action Alert* *[image: alert-icon-red-md]Help a student speak out against using tests to evaluate teachers* Here’s a quick action for the week: Please sign this *petition *posted by Miami University of Ohio student Aaron Shafer. Aaron explains: “Standardized tests are not a sound or fair way to evaluate teachers. T... more »

Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education Executive Director Wendy Katten walked the distance between Earl Elementary and Goodlow Elementary Magnet School in Chicago. Earl is being closed, and its students will be sent to Goodlow where the staff is being replaced by the Earl staff. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago

Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education Executive Director Wendy Katten walked the distance between Earl Elementary and Goodlow Elementary Magnet School in Chicago. Earl is being closed, and its students will be sent to Goodlow where the staff is being replaced by the Earl staff. | Fred Klonsky: Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education Executive Director Wendy Katten walked the distance between Earl Elementary and Goodlow Elementary Magnet School in Chicago. Earl is being closed, and its students will be sent to Goodlow where the staff is being replaced by the Earl staf...more »

Steve Cohen: From Closing the Achievement Gap to Closing the Opportunity Gap - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago

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

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

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 »

Questions about the questions on new Common Core tests

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Questions about the questions on new Common Core tests: Questions about the questions on new Common Core tests Posted by Valerie Strauss on May 3, 2013 at 2:28 pm [image: question-mark]New York state students in several grades recently took new high-stakes accountability tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards (even though there is not yet a Core curriculum in New York schools), and a number of educators who saw the test reported problems with some of the questions. Some questions, they said, appeared to have more than one correct answer and no single obviously correct one;... more »

Ed Notes Online: Randi's "Mid-Course" Babble on Common Core: Who's doing more harm to public education, Glenn Beck or Randi Weingarten?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Ed Notes Online: Randi's "Mid-Course" Babble on Common Core: Who's doing more harm to public education, Glenn Beck or Randi Weingarten?: Randi's "Mid-Course" Babble on Common Core: Who's doing more harm to public education, Glenn Beck or Randi Weingarten? by ed notes online *Can we call for a moratorium on Randi Weingarten? -- Fred Smith* Susan Ohanian asked that intriguing question about Glenn Beck and Randi in the headline. The amount of damage Randi's AFT/UFT capitulation has done to public education is exposed as parents and teachers reacted to Weingarten's worthless words to ... more »

Follow up Question Guide for Ed Writers (on Teacher Evaluation) | School Finance 101

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 19 hours ago

Follow up Question Guide for Ed Writers (on Teacher Evaluation) | School Finance 101: Follow up Question Guide for Ed Writers (on Teacher Evaluation) by schoolfinance101 I was reviewing the past few days of news coverage on NJ teacher evaluations and came across the following quote, which was not-so-amazingly left unchallenged: Cerf said research shows test scores are “far and away” the best gauge of teacher effectiveness, and to not use test score data would be “very anti-child.” http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/state_board_of_education_adjus.html Here’s a reporters’ gu... more »

NPE Friends & Allies | The Network For Public Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

NPE Friends & Allies | The Network For Public Education: [image: The Network For Public Education -] NPE FRIENDS & ALLIES MAY 3, 2013 ------------------------------ Uncategorized **admin **0Comments ** ------------------------------ View NPE Friends & Allies in a full screen map Share this: - Facebook - Twitter - Google +1 - Reddit - Tumblr - Email - Print - Tagged with:

Diane in the Evening 5-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

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 »

Louisiana Educator: Democracy Works!

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Louisiana Educator: Democracy Works!: Democracy Works! by Michael Deshotels We live in a representative democracy. This means that while we do not get to vote on each individual law or regulation, we elect persons to represent us in making important laws and policies. Part of the process is the need for citizens to communicate with those elected representatives and tell them how we want them to vote.*Finally* *this communication part of the system seems to be working much better this year than it did last year for educators.* *HB 57* would have forced current educators to pay an... more »

How Parent Trigger Opponents Claimed #ParentEmpowerment As Their Own | StateImpact Florida

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

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 »

Breaking: Williams elementary and middle school students and parents hold sit-in this morning. No school closings. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Breaking: Williams elementary and middle school students and parents hold sit-in this morning. No school closings. | Fred Klonsky: Breaking: Williams elementary and middle school students and parents hold sit-in this morning. No school closings. by Fred Klonsky [image: 247144_442637495825964_656055087_n] BREAKING NEWS: Williams Elementary, Chicago — Middle School students, parents hold sit-in demonstration to protest school closing OccupyCPS facebook.com/occupyCPS @occupyCPS #occupycps Twitter hashtag: #WilliamsProtest Press contact: Jitu Brown, Greg Goodman At Williams Elementary, M...more »

Mother Crusader: How Do Education Foundations in New Jersey's Top Towns Stack Up To Billionaire Philanthropy? Not So Well.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Mother Crusader: How Do Education Foundations in New Jersey's Top Towns Stack Up To Billionaire Philanthropy? Not So Well.: How Do Education Foundations in New Jersey's Top Towns Stack Up To Billionaire Philanthropy? Not So Well. by darciecima A comment I received on my post Hebrew Charters Hit The Broadway Stage kind of irked me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good debate, and have no problem being challenged. In fact, I welcome it. I just wish anonymous commenters that take the time to do some research and go toe to toe with me would let me know who I have the pleasure of debat... more »

UNO scandal #5: Firing whistleblower for exposing student sexual assault Parents United for Responsible Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 21 hours ago

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » UNO scandal #5: Firing whistleblower for exposing student sexual assault: UNO scandal #5: Firing whistleblower for exposing student sexual assault by admin This one isn’t remotely humorous.[image: justice] Press release *** For Immediate Release May 3, 2013 Contact: Elaine K. B. Siegel, David Corral – 312-583-9970 *Teacher lawsuit v UNO Charter Inc to proceed* *Whistleblower exposed unsafe UNO policies that led to locker room sexual assault* Chicago, IL – In what amounts to a David v Goliath victory, the United States District ... more »

This Week In Education: Thompson: Diane Ravitch Is an Engaged and Bilingual Writer

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

This Week In Education: Thompson: Diane Ravitch Is an Engaged and Bilingual Writer: Thompson: Diane Ravitch Is an Engaged and Bilingual Writer by john thompson [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] I agree and disagree with Alexander’s take on David Brook’s New York Times’ Op Ed,Engaged, or Detached? Brooks argues that today we mostly have engaged writers who are less concerned about persuasion than mobilizing people who already agree with them. Engaged writers can be repetitive as they seek immediate political influence. A detached writer, however, is more like a ... more »

UPDATE: Kentucky’s Common Core Testing Program Hits Major Snag | Truth in American Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Kentucky’s Common Core Testing Program Hits Major Snag | Truth in American Education: Local School Board in Georgia Votes Down Buying Common Core Math Books by Shane Vander Hart This is interesting. From *The Marietta Daily Journal*: State Schools Superintendent John Barge is coming to Cobb County on Saturday to address concerns about the controversial Common Core standards. The announcement of Barge’s visit to Cobb comes on the heels of a 4-3 vote by the Cobb Board of Education last week to reject the purchase of $7.5 million in math textbooks aligned with Common Core. This reject... more »

Jake Frackson – How to be Ecstatic about Rejection Student Voice

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Student Voice: Jake Frackson – How to be Ecstatic about Rejection by Editor Admin That attempted sensitivity in the apology. That choking sound of nonacceptance. That guttural contraction of rejection. When a rejection letter is received, it’s never initially a calculated and reasoned response; more accurately, it’s a longing for ecstasy. Ecstasy, in this context, meaning its intended definition: an out of body experience. It’s flight in its purest form. When people are faced with things that appear subjectively insurmountable, they turn away — away from the rejection, and away f... more »

Market-Oriented Reforms Really Don’t Work. What Should We Do Instead? | Edwize

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Market-Oriented Reforms Really Don’t Work. What Should We Do Instead? | Edwize: Market-Oriented Reforms Really Don’t Work. What Should We Do Instead? by Elaine Weiss *[Editor's note: Guest blogger Elaine Weiss is the national coordinator of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education.]* [image: Elaine Weiss]As many of us have long suspected, the impacts of popular market-oriented reforms are not as positive as their proponents would have us believe. Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee, and then-CEO and now-Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who ran the school systems in New York, Washington, ... more »

UPDATE: Girls and Women - Our Country Needs You Seattle Schools Community Forum: Friday Open Thread

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Friday Open Thread: Free Comic Book Day on Saturday by Melissa Westbrook In case you didn't know. From the Slog: If you don't know the routine: You can stop by any participating comic book store (Seattle has quite a few of them) and pick up some comics, for the low cost of absolutely nothing. And tomorrow's free comic book day is a special one, because *Seattle's newest comic book store will be opening *for business on Capitol Hill for the very first time at 10 am. Yesterday, I stopped by Phoenix Comics for a quick chat with owner Nick Nazar. The ... more »

Your Address, as Get-Into-School Card - NYTimes.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Your Address, as Get-Into-School Card - NYTimes.com: Your Address, as Get-Into-School Card by By MICHELLE HIGGINS Kelly Bare and her husband, Jonathan Cohen, live on the border of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, with Lizzie, 2, and Drew, 5. They are delighted with Public School 705. Moving to a particular neighborhood in order to land a seat at a coveted public school has long been the middle-class modus operandi for obtaining a high-quality education in New York, where placement in many elementary schools is determined by home address. But navigating school zones has become much trick... more »

Rich Boyz 4 Reform | EduShyster

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Rich Boyz 4 Reform | EduShyster: Rich Boyz 4 Reform by edushyster2012 In their first official foray into Massachusetts politics, DFER spent big but came up short. Say you’re a young man who is all about *crushing* the achievement gap and you just happen to have a cool$20K of daddy’s money to plunk down in order to influence an important local election. But who do you support? Do you go with the first-generation Haitian-American who would be the first minority OR woman to represent a part of Boston still scarred from the busing wars of the 1970′s? Or do you go big and bold, backing ... more »

Take it from parents; teenagers are people, not data points - Wait, What?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago

Take it from parents; teenagers are people, not data points - Wait, What?: Take it from parents; teenagers are people, not data points by jonpelto *(A Blog Post by Wendy Lecker, Sarah Darer Littman and Jonathan Pelto)* Ask any parent, high school student or teacher- 11th grade is hell. Aside from the heavy course-load, juniors have to suffer through a litany of standardized tests- and these count: SATs, SAT subject tests, ACTs, APs. Could anyone make junior year any worse? Why yes! Thank President Obama, Secretary Duncan, Governor Malloy, Commissioner Pryor, the State Board of Educ... more »

Reformers: Stop accusing critics of wanting to ‘defend the status quo’

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Reformers: Stop accusing critics of wanting to ‘defend the status quo’: Reformers: Stop accusing critics of wanting to ‘defend the status quo’ by Valerie Strauss [image: (By Scott Olson/Getty Images)] (By Scott Olson/Getty Images) It’s rare to hear a school reformer speak these days without accusing someone of resisting change because they want to “defend the status quo.” No critic of school reform that I know is an actual status quo defender, but that doesn’t ever seem to matter. In this post veteran California teacher David B. Cohen makes the case that it is time — right now — to ... more »

Focusing on Equity and Excellence: The Finnish Experience — Whole Child Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

Focusing on Equity and Excellence: The Finnish Experience — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: Whole Child Virtual Conference]Focusing on Equity and Excellence: The Finnish Experience May 3, 2013 by Whole Child Virtual Conference [image: Whole Child Virtual Conference - 2013] *ASCD's third annual Whole Child Virtual Conference is a free, online event that provides a forum and tools for schools and districts working toward sustainability and changing school cultures to serve the whole child. Built on the theme, "Moving from Implementation to Sustainability to Culture... more »

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, May 3, 2013

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: *Modern School: Robin Hoodwinked by Governor Brown* Education Headlines *Friday, May 3, 2013* Santa Paula school board picks office, meeting locationSanta Paula Unified School District board members moved forward Thursday with plans to convert the current elementary school district office into the unified school district office and also voted to move their meeting location. Group targets some on CVU school boardA group of disgruntled parents and taxpayers will attempt to recall some members of the Coachella Valley Unified school ... more »

Modern School: Robin Hoodwinked by Governor Brown

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Modern School: Robin Hoodwinked by Governor Brown: Robin Hoodwinked by Governor Brown by Michael Dunn The Los Angeles Times is referring to California Governor Jerry Brown as a “Robin Hood” for his plan to redistribute resources from “wealthy” suburban school districts to their poorer urban cousins. Brown has characterized himself as a civil rights hero since the poor urban districts serve predominantly low income communities of color, suggesting that inequitable school funding is the primary cause of the achievement gap. Both the Times and Brown are delusional. Robin Hood robbed ... more »

Parents! Students! Educators! Community Folks! Let's Start to Build the Alternative to Mayoral Control and Privatization of our Public Schools.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: *Parents! Students! Educators! Community Folks! * *Let's Start to Build the Alternative to Mayoral Control and Privatization of our Public Schools. * *Remember: Mayoral Control Sunsets in June 2015. The NY State legislators can either vote to renew Mayoral Control or vote for a better alternative like the People's Board of Education.* * The Coalition for Public Education invites you, your family and friends to come to our first in a series of public forums where we hear from you about what YOU envision a great publ... 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".

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

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

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

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 »

Education “writers” are kind of annoying, or no? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Education “writers” are kind of annoying, or no? – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Education “writers” are kind of annoying, or no? by Chalk Face, PhD I read a fluff piece on the Common Core at Inside Higher Ed. Pretty basic, hits most key players. I checked the author, just a 2009 journalism graduate. She quotes significantly folks from PARCC, SBAC, and other supporters. Mentions a lot about teacher preparation, but no one actually FROM teacher preparation. This has been an issue I’ve had for a while with so-called “Education Writers.”There’s actually a group of them, bu... more »

MORNING UPDATE LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

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 »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: School closings: What's $122 million among friends?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: School closings: What's $122 million among friends?: School closings: What's $122 million among friends? by Mike Klonsky Wait! I thought closing 54 schools, mainly in Chicago black community was supposed to save CPS $560 million in "avoided costs" over 10 years (the figure they gave ABC News was $600 million).Of course, I never believed any of that. But that's because I never believe anything coming from Rahm's liar-in-chief, *Becky Carroll *or school-closing 'crat* Todd Babbitz. *They were born to lie.* * But now, WBEZ has given me one more reason... more »

2nd Banana 4-27-13 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

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2nd Banana 4-6-13 Recap of Last Week's Best Post2nd Banana 3-30-13 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

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2nd Banana 2-2-13 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

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