Monday, May 5, 2014

Morning Wink 5-5-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2


BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS




LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-5-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: NYC Parents, Elected Officials To Protest Preferential Treatment for Charters on May 6Another protest against the law sponsored by Governor Cuomo to give preferential treatment to the billionaire-sponsored charter schools. the Cuomo law was enacted at the same time that New York City’s public schools are overcrowded, with class siz
5-5-14 Ed Notes Online
Ed Notes Online: Charter WaitList Balderdash Exposed - Show Us the NamesWAIT, WAIT. DON’T MISLEAD ME! - NINE REASONS TO BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT CHARTER WAITLIST NUMBERS.”I have always challenged the charter lobby wait-list bullshit - challenging them to show is the names. They won't. So with the lobby releasing info today that there are billions and billions of parents clamoring to get their children i
5-5-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman: What's Happening With B4K?So, at the first glance, it looks like B4K is up to their old tricks again: putting money from billionaires David Tepper and Alan Fournier into local politics under the guise of education reform. They've done it before in Jersey City and Perth Amboy; now it's Trenton.But hang on -- something seems different...TRENTON — A nonprofit that gives free backpacks
5-5-14 Wait What?
Wait What?: Re-posting Malloy’s Teacher evaluation system is fundamentally and fatally flawedPublic education advocate Wendy Lecker’s latest column is reaching a national audience thanks to Diane Ravitch’s blog. Here is a re-post of Saturday’s Wait, What? post about Lecker’s commentary piece. In her latest MUST READ commentary piece, fellow public education advocate, Wendy Lecker, lays out the fac
5-5-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: Virginia’s SOL exams: what students need to know to pass (and graduate on time)Today is the day when Virginia students will start running what teacher Mary Tedrow calls the state’s ” testing gauntlet” which seems to test endurance at least as much as knowledge. In this post, Tedrow looks at the sample questions of Standards of Learning tests and explains what students need to kno
5-5-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: “There is school choice and there is the destruction of public education choice”A teacher and candidate for Marion School Board, Diane Schrier writes in the Ocala Star Banner: Marion County has been lucky so far, as we’ve managed to be able to keep out most of these orga
5-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Learn About Mother’s Day & Conjunctions In My Latest NY Times Post For ELLsLearn about Mother’s Day AND conjunctions in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. It includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. You might also be interested in my previous forty NY Times posts for ELLs. You might a
5-5-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: John, Glen, Ken and I discuss. What should we do about Quinn and Rauner?John Dillon, Glen Brown, Ken Previti and I are all retired teachers, activists, advocates for pension justice and bloggers. Today we discuss the issue of what our union and the members of the Illinois Education Association, should
5-5-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: “TAKING BACK OUR SCHOOLS” May 17th  Come and bring your families, your friends, and your colleagues to NYC on May 17th to show the world how we are    from corporate “reformers”.http://saveourschoolsmarch.org/event/nyc-metro-spring-action/1 by David Greene / 9min hide  //  saveGuest Post: Joining Forces for Education report back from the CSUN Parents’ ForumBy Ellen Lubic, Directo
5-5-14 The Whole Child Blog — Revisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann Tomlinson — Whole Child Education
Revisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann Tomlinson — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGRevisiting The Differentiated Classroom: Looking Back and Ahead with Carol Ann TomlinsonMay 5, 2014 by Klea ScharbergIn the 15 years since the first edition of The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners was published, many things have chan
5-5-13 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION: An Educated Person"Don't you think there are things that every educated person should know?"I hear this fairly often, generally in response to my stated disinterest in having Common Core standards in particular and  national education standards ever in general. It's an eye-opening question for me , because even just a few years ago, I'm pretty sure I would have answered y
5-5-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: Another Saham From Andrew CuomoRemember when Cuomo parachuted in to save the TWU/MTA contract deal?Turns out the whole thing was orchestrated by Cuomo's office to make him look the "hero":If the latest episode of the MTA-TWU drama seemed a bit scripted, it’s for good reason. It was scripted. In what might be dubbed the “Fairy Tale of Albany” or the “White Knight fr
Common Core is latest front in decades-long education wars | EdSource Today
Common Core is latest front in decades-long education wars | EdSource Today: Common Core is latest front in decades-long education warsMay 4th, 2014 | 1 Comment | By Peter Schrag / commentary16It’s déjà vu all over again.Peter SchragNearly 20 years ago, after the Clinton administration proposed a program of voluntary national student testing, Chester Finn, then a senior fellow at the conservative
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part Two | deutsch29
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part Two | deutsch29: The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part TwoMay 5, 2014In 2008, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Achieve, Inc., released a report, Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-class Education.The report promotes a now all-too-familiar spectrum of so-called “reforms
NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common Core | Truth in American Education
NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common Core | Truth in American Education: NGA Chair Gov. Mary Fallin Target of Campaign to End Common CoreFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on May 5, 2014 • 0 Comments34101American Principles Project, Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America, Home School Legal Defense Association and several other grassroots conservative
Piketty in the Pines Going camping with the 1% | EduShyster
Piketty in the Pines | EduShyster: Piketty in the PinesGoing camping with the 1%Reader: even upon today’s comically overpopulated education reform landscape, the men of Democrats for Education Reform or DFER (say it with me; Dee Furr) stand alone. That’s because, with thier unapologetic ties to all things hedge fundy, DFER man’s net worth towers above even his well-off reform-minded peers. Also, t
Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about Them | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about Them | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Failing Schools: Conflicts over How to Write, Talk, and Make Films about ThemI have been a social studies teacher for 14 years in schools that were black and poor. Even before test scores determined whether a school was failing, the three urban schools I taught in we
GUEST: Christie aims at unions | Bob Braun's Ledger
GUEST: Christie aims at unions | Bob Braun's Ledger: GUEST: Christie aims at unionsWill he eat unions now?By Becca FieldsA budget crisis—that’s what the main-stream media are calling it. A shortfall of $800 million in THIS year’s state budget that has to be resolved by June 30, a matter of weeks.  But the real crisis isn’t simply a collection of numbers on a ledger book. The real crisis is the opp
New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of Us | janresseger
New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of Us | janresseger: New York City’s New Teachers’ Contract Matters—To All of UsPosted on May 5, 2014 by janressegerThe Rev. John Thomas, former General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, is now a professor and administrator at Chicago Theological Seminary, where he writes a blog.  Last Thursday, the 1st of May, the Rev. Tho
Release: New Report On Charter Industry Exposes $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds Meant For Children Instead Lost To Fraud, Waste & Abuse - Integrity in Education
Blog - Integrity in Education: Release: New Report On Charter Industry Exposes $100 Million in Taxpayer Funds Meant For Children Instead Lost To Fraud, Waste & AbuseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014CONTACT:Kyle Serrette: KSerrette@populardemocracy.org, 202-304-8027Sabrina Stevens: media@integrityineducation.org, 720-295-0238A new report released today reveals that fraudulent charter operators
Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schools
Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schools: Government actions, unintended outcomes with S&Ls, schoolsFast-forward to 1997 and the passage of the Pennsylvania Charter School Law: Act 22. This effectively deregulated the public educational system. Act 22 made the financial crisis facing the Philadelphia School District inevitable.If you want to see how seemingly logical gove
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?: Week in Class Week 31: Is WYSWIG?This was the second week back from Spring Break. I didn’t write after the first week (Week 30) because as things were “sub-optimal” that week, and I really wasn’t in the mood to voluntarily call up memories of what had happened, let alone reflect on it. This week started off much better. Ho
NYC Educator: How Much Does This Contract Cost?
NYC Educator: How Much Does This Contract Cost?: How Much Does This Contract Cost?There were no givebacks in the 2008-2010 round of contract bargaining for FDNY, NYPD, or DSNY. They got 4% one year, and 4% the next. That was pretty much it.UFT, on the other hand, went to Albany to help write a draconian junk science law that makes every teacher in the state subject to VAM, which AFT President Rand
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES: WEEKEND QUOTABLESLouis C.K."Well, the way I understand it, if a school’s kids don’t test well, they burn the school down. It’s pretty high-pressure." -- Actually, Louis C.K. was right about Common Core — RavitchWashington school board member tells Arne Duncan..."You can keep the waiver. And regarding your failure letter – I have litt

YESTERDAY

Geaux Teacher!: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?
Geaux Teacher!: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?: John a White Misrepresents Eureka Math?How can we believe anything John White says when he has misrepresented so much.  John White is NOT telling the truth about Eureka Math -the Common Core aligned math curriculum he has chosen for Louisiana.  Why has he said publicly on several occasions that Eureka Math was developed by LSU?  Is it becaus
Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: "Public education is not for sale!" | NYSUT.org
Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: "Public education is not for sale!" | NYSUT.org: Roaring in the rain at Lake Placid: 'Public education is not for sale!'Author: Liza FrenetteSource: NYSUT CommunicationsCaption: "Picket in the Pines felt more like Maid of the Mist," said one activist in a tweet, "but everyone left today with big smiles!" Photos on this page by Karen
Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip Hotline | Reclaim Reform
Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip Hotline | Reclaim Reform: Teacher Alert: The Case of the Missing Corruption-Tip HotlinePosted on May 4, 2014by Ken PrevitiThere seems to be a state-by-state Race to the Top for corruption, theft and fraud against teachers.The grossest form of theft is wage theft from active and retired teachers.Steal a percentage of every teacher’s paycheck by
Teachers Under Attack The Walton Family: Welfare Frauds and Destroyers of Public Education 2014 Medley #11 | Live Long and Prosper
2014 Medley #11 | Live Long and Prosper: Teachers Under AttackThe Walton Family: Welfare Frauds and Destroyers of Public EducationTEACHERS UNDER ATTACKBetter preparing our nation’s educatorsArne Duncan spoke with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell last month. The interview was proof that the privatization of public education and the destruction of the teaching profession is a bipartisan effort. The liberal l
NYC Public School Parents: How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job"
NYC Public School Parents: How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job": How DFER and the charter lobby hijacked our politicians, who are allowing them to hijack our public schools in an "inside job"Today, hundreds of parents and teachers stood in the rain, protesting the first day of Camp Philos
Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s End | Lefty Parent
Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s End | Lefty Parent: Coop’s Childhood Part 6 – Childhood’s EndMay 4th, 2014 at 16:48My mom rose to the occasion after the divorce with my dad. Though she continued to have a great deal of unresolved anger towards him, and ongoing worries about paying the bills, plus other disruptions in her life, it seems it was perhaps the first real opportunity in that life t
5-4-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This WeekMonday, May 5th Community meeting with Director McLaren from 6-7:30 pm at the High Point Community Center.Tuesday, May 6thSpecial Education Advisory and Advocacy Council (SEEAC) Meeting starting at 6:30 pm at JSCEE in room 2700.Wednesday, May 7thSchool Board meeting starting at 4:15 pm.  Agenda- I see from the Personnel report that there is
5-4-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman: The One Thing You Must Remember During NJ's Testing SeasonTomorrow, the 2014 NJASK testing season continues as Grades 5 and 6 give up a week of instruction -- all so politicians can moan and charter schools can brag and teachers can be fired and tablets can be sold.It's all about the kids, dontcha know...Let me make my little contribution to the chaos: here are three graphs to keep
Louisiana’s Texbook Selection Shenanigans | Crazy Crawfish's Blog
Louisiana’s Texbook Selection Shenanigans | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsLouisiana’s Texbook Selection ShenanigansPosted on May 4, 20140I was recently contacted to investigate some the selection process used by LDOE to select their textbook vendors for the upcoming school year. I was informed that LDOE had chosen only a single vendor for Tier 1 stat
Nite Cap 5-4-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPCommon Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill GatesCommon Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: Common Core Tests: Education
Common Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates
Common Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special Needs | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: Common Core Tests: Educational Malpractice for Students with Special NeedsPosted on May 4, 2014by Teachers'LettersToBillGatesDear Mr. and Mrs Gates:This is what is gong on in every county across the country as students with disabilities are forced to take tests they are not yet ready for a
Breaking News: Houston Teachers Suing over their District’s EVAAS Use |
Breaking News: Houston Teachers Suing over their District’s EVAAS Use |: Breaking News: Houston Teachers Suing over their District’s EVAAS Use It’s time!! While lawsuits are emerging across the nation (namely three in Tennessee and one in Florida), one significant and potentially huge lawsuit was just filed in federal court this past Wednesday in Houston on behalf of seven teachers working in the
Corporate Reformers Say Money Doesn’t Matter in Public Schools. The Facts Say Otherwise. | NEA Today
Corporate Reformers Say Money Doesn’t Matter in Public Schools. The Facts Say Otherwise. | NEA Today: Corporate Reformers Say Money Doesn’t Matter in Public Schools. The Facts Say Otherwise.May 4, 2014 by twalker  Filed under Education Funding, Featured News, Top StoriesLeave a CommentBy Tim WalkerOne of the most destructive myths propagated by so-called education “reformers” is that fully funding
Teachers, be silent no more! TLtBG will be signed, sealed, delivered to Bill and Melinda Gates at #EducatingGates June 26th! | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates
Teachers, be silent no more! TLtBG will be signed, sealed, delivered to Bill and Melinda Gates at #EducatingGates June 26th! | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: Teachers, be silent no more! TLtBG will be signed, sealed, delivered to Bill and Melinda Gates at #EducatingGates June 26th!Posted on May 4, 2014by Teachers'LettersToBillGatesDear Teachers,Katie and I have formally endorsed the Washington B
5-4-13 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION: A Real RaceMy wife is a runner. I love my wife. That's why I woke up this morning at 4:45 in a Pittsburgh hotel.We did this last year, but last year she ran the full marathon; this year she's a first-year first-grade teacher who lacks the time to train, to put in the 147 hours of prep required for six-year-olds, and to occasionally hang out with me. So this year she ran the half ma
5-4-14 Ed Notes Online Week
Ed Notes Online: Advice to MORE on Contract StrategyNorm, you strike me as a realist. What are your thoughts on getting this voted down?... Roseanne McCosh PS 8xRoseanne asks a good question. Before trying to respond I want to lay down some historical points because being out of schools for a decade I don't have the best feel for the mood of the members, other than the fact that some old supporter
Leaders: Strive to be the Weak Link | Connected Principals
Leaders: Strive to be the Weak Link | Connected Principals: Leaders: Strive to be the Weak Linkby Sam LeDeaux • May 4, 2014 • 0 CommentsMany have leadership titles, but our true leaders exhibit leadership behaviors. Some are listed here. Certainly not an exhaustive list, nor set in stone; but led to some great candid discussion and sharing–which is what learning and education should be all about!
WaBATS are Leading a Movement: #EducatingGates Foundation Rally – June 26th! | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates
WaBATS are Leading a Movement: #EducatingGates Foundation Rally – June 26th! | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates: WaBATS are Leading a Movement: #EducatingGates Foundation Rally – June 26th!Posted on May 4, 2014by Teachers'LettersToBillGatesDear Bill and Melinda,Katie and I would like to extend an invitation to both of you to join us at the Gates Foundation in a movement started by teachers and host
The Republicans of Democrats for Education Reform
The Republicans of Democrats for Education Reform:  What is Democrats for Education Reform?Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is an education privatization group started by hedge fund managers who wanted to influence Democrats' education policies just as the Wal-Mart family had influenced Republicans'. In the words of one of DFER's founders, in order to get Democrats to emulate Republicans on e
Geaux Teacher!: Whose Responsibility Is Education?
Geaux Teacher!: Whose Responsibility Is Education?: Whose Responsibility Is Education?I am an educator and a parent/grandparent.  I understand how children learn, how to teach them to learn, why they learn differently and why some face huge obstacles to learning.  My knowledge and understanding are based on research, training and experience.  I have no interest in nor authority to develop pedagogy
Front Page Seattle Times Article on SEA election: “Politics plays role in teachers union vote for president” | I AM AN EDUCATOR
Front Page Seattle Times Article on SEA election: “Politics plays role in teachers union vote for president” | I AM AN EDUCATOR: Front Page Seattle Times Article on SEA election: “Politics plays role in teachers union vote for president”By I AM AN EDUCATOR on May 4, 2014The Seattle Times ran an important front page article today on the current election in the Seattle Education Association (SEA), “
5-4-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: UFT Contract - What Will The Rank And File Do?Most of the bloggers in the New York City education blogosphere have been critical or outright contemptuous of the contract proposal between the UFT and the city that was announced on Thursday.Once it became apparent that no more than 2% compensation would hit the salary step ladder this calendar year if the contract is passed, i
5-4-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: ‘Today was the first day I was ever ashamed to be a teacher’Students around the country are taking high-stakes Common Core-aligned standardized tests now and some teachers are expressing unhappiness about having to administer them.  Some are refusing to administer them and others are going public with their concerns about the nature of the tests and the emphasis being placed on t
5-4-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Did Step Up for Students Buy Florida Voucher Expansion?At some point, the Republican-dominated Florida senate was going to be able to impose their will on expanding Florida’s voucher system. Few legislators have fought against what’s now become a clear effort by Republic
5-4-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Video: “Hans Rosling – fossil fuel distribution in two minutes”I’m adding this video to The Best Hans Rosling Videos:by Larry Ferlazzo / 59min  Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… 5-3-14 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLarry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF T
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-4-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Legislating morality? Criminalizing bad behavior? :: CARSON MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MOVE TO OUTLINE BULLYINGBy Michael Finnegan, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1umicmB Carson Mayor Jim Dear said, "Many kids don't even understand the concepts behind bullying and how people manipulate and take advantage of other kids." (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles T
5-4-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week
With A Brooklyn Accent: The "Sit and Stare" Policies used against Test Resistors are Daily Practice in Many Charter SchoolsFor the past year, I have been working with, and trying to get legal representation for, parents whose children have been forced to "sit and stare" during standardized tests they have refused to take. This punitive policy has outraged parents and Test Refus
Open Letters To ‘B-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 3: Michael Petrilli | Gary Rubinstein's Blog
Open Letters To ‘B-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 3: Michael Petrilli | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: Open Letters To ‘B-List’ Reformers I Know. Part 3: Michael PetrilliPosted on May 3, 2014by garyrubinsteinWith social media, I suppose I can say that I ‘know’ someone if we’ve sent tweets to each other over the years.  This is the case with Michael Petrilli.  He is executive vice president of The Fordham I
Morning Wink 5-4-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS5-4-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Sunday reads.This week teachers at Brooklyn’s International High School at Prospect Heights said no to pointless and testing. Veteran New York teacher and un