Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 8-1-13 #BATsACT #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


Nite Cap UPDATE

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE


CORPORATE ED REFORM




Steal Like A Teacher: Thoughts on Austin Kleon’s Creativity
Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist This summer, I’ve decided to dust off a few books I’ve had waiting in my bookshelf. One of those was Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, a quick guide for creatives who have no idea where to start developing their inner artist. Some of the principles can apply if we heed one of Austin’s major warnings: Nobody is born with a style or a voice. We don’t come out o


Special Big Education Ape Salute to Tony Bennett Greatest Hits- rags to riches
Special Big Education Ape Salute to Tony Bennett Greatest Hits- rags to riches School Report Cards? Not In Our Name. | Parents United for Public EducationSchool Report Cards? Not In Our Name. | Parents United for Public Education: School Report Cards? Not In Our Name.Posted on July 31, 2013 by REBECCAPOYOUROWLeave a commentLet Tony Bennett Grade Your $choolLike many Philadelphia public school pare


National Bennetts In Jail Day
The pillaging of public education tax money for the profit a few private corporations, hedge funds, and their multimillionaire/billionaire owners is criminal. Tony Bennett, Florida Commissioner of Schools, cheated on high stakes test scores for the charter schools in Indiana owned by his wealthy campaign owner buddy. In addition his wife is being paid in Florida by the same company that Bennett aw




Control for this!
Last night my wife had a totally different idea than I about how to handle a parenting situation.  I insisted that my “Dad way” was needed.  My wife simply looked at me (the wrong way) and I decided to loudly (yell) say that I “was sick of being undermined when it comes to being a […]


Tony Bennett: Songs in the Key of C, No Wait, A
Here's my two cents about the Tony Bennett grade changing story that Tom LoBianco broke. This was hard to write--with blogging there can be so much pressure to be timely that conflicts with my wanting to read and carefully consider everything on the subject. I'll do my best here.My initial concern was that the liberal media would treat this merely as a "bad actor" case, you know: Look how corrupt

Bob Sidle in Florida: Bennett Resigns, Angrily
At his resignation press conference, Tony Bennett said the stories in the media about his actions in Indiana were “malicious and unfounded.” He said that Governor Rick Scott and powerbroker Jeb Bush wanted him to stay, but he didn’t want anything to distract from educating the kids of Florida. Bob Sidle, who reported the story in his blog, wondered why Bennett was so quick to resign: “Bennett’s qu

Tony Bennett resigns Florida education post amid scandal
A national leader in the Republican effort to overhaul public education resigned as Florida education commissioner Thursday, amid allegations that when he ran Indiana’s schools, he changed the state grade of a charter school founded by a prominent GOP donor. Read full article >>    

Walls That Separate Us Even In Death…
New York Times columnist Charles Blow sent this image on Twitter of the still segregated cemetery where his family is buried. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Walls That Separate Us. Satellite image of the segregated cemetery. Chain link fence runs next to horizontal paved walk. Whts abv, blks below pic.twitter.com/PwM2i83wxm — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) August 2, 2013


Florida’s Education Chief Quits Amid Report That He Changed a School’s Rating
Florida’s commissioner of education resigned after news reports said he had changed the grade of an Indiana charter school whose founder donated to a campaign of his.    


Georgia opts out of PARCC
By Kimberly Brooks, leader of PAA-Atlanta/GA/Atlanta Public Schools News in Georgia applauds the success of delaying/opt-out of the PARCC consortium-designed Common Core assessments. While I believe that this article deserves recognition, there is much more work to be done. For starters, the Georgia Department of Education has yet to be composed of a staff that would accommodate such a great respo


Performance assessments may not be ‘reliable’ or ‘valid.’ So what?
In a comment on Dan Willingham’s recent post, I said we have plenty of alternatives that have been offered, over and over again, to counteract our current over-reliance on – and unfounded belief in – the ‘magic’ of bubble sheet test scores. Such alternatives include portfolios, embedded assessments, essays, performance assessments, public exhibitions, greater use of formative assessments (in the

Immigration Reform Could Lead to Surge of Adult Learners
Teachers at California’s adult schools expressed their concern over the requirement to learn English included in the immigration reform package approved in the Senate, given that it would increase the number of students at institutions that are already suffering from budget cuts. “One of the concerns we have is that, insofar as we’re growing and trying to add more classes and hire more teachers, t

L.A. Unified teachers ratings should be disclosed, judge rules
The performance ratings of individual teachers in the city school district are matters of keen public interest and should be released to the Los Angeles Times, a judge ordered Thursday.

Bill Sent To President: H.R.1911 Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new loans made on or after July 1, 2013, to direct the Secretary of Education to convene the Advisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary Education Data to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary education transparency at the Federal level, and for other purposes.July 31, 2013: Presented to President.


Has DR Alison Coviello; PhD and Principal Mismanged $250,000 Worth of Computers?
So does DR Alison Coviello; PhD and Principal of PS 154 put students first or her needs, her does nihilistic, win and always be right attitude come first? This question was put to the readers of this blog on July 31, 2013. Tonight, we ask that question again along with a new question. Does DR Alison Coviello; PhD and Principal have it out for me and has she conspired to ruin my career? As several


The smoking gun. In this video, the Civic Committee’s Ty Fahner admits he colluded with the bond rating agencies to destroy Illinois pensions.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHV2Gte4aWw&feature=youtu.be] Thanks to Tim Furman for providing this video segment. There is nothing the fat cats in Illinois won’t do to destroy public employee pensions. The Civic Committee’s Ty Fahner demonstrated this when he spoke to a gathering of the Chicago Union League Club last month. Fahner openly admits that he colluded with the bond rating agencies