Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Geaux Teacher!: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover

Geaux Teacher!: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover:



THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover



Today, New Orleans parent Fiyah Like Ayanna posted the following plea for attention on Facebook. Fiyah showed up to place her child on the Recovery School District Lottery list hoping, she says, for a "B or C school."  (Why not an "A" school?)  This was her experience followed by comments from several others who found themselves in the same predicament.  This is the reality of CHOICE in the 100% charter world of the RSD. 

Fiyah - 

"I am in line to deal with my child's OneApp situation. This is the first day that the process has been open. The line to speak to someone is literally around the corner. There is NO parking and tow trucks are here towing cars. This is a serious problem. I have called WDSU to get news cameras down here. The newsroom said they are busy with the Ray Nagin sentencing. There are only people of color in this monstrous line. Where are the white folks? Could it be that they have all gotten into the schools they requested? My Family who are Education Quality/Equality Activists please come down to help.
They call it the "Public Fool" system, and right now...in this line, I feel like a fool."



Nikki Radicalone - 

"New Orleans parents lined up in the wee hours of the morning, attempting to beat the rush of parents and guardians that would line up to speak with a Recovery School District representative to acquire a space for the children in the 'B and C' schools this upcoming year.



 The 'One App' was supposed to streamline the issues that the parents have been enduring under this 'Slaves choose your master school' model, since the charter schools and the carpetbaggers revamped the school system. However, parents had to endure 
Geaux Teacher!: THIS is CHOICE in the New Orleans RSD Charter Takeover:

Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning | Dennis Van Roekel

Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning | Dennis Van Roekel:



Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning



The average American student and teacher now spend about 30 percent of the school year preparing for and taking standardized tests. This is time that schools could use to achieve their primary purpose of educating students. Instead, they become nothing more than test factories.
American taxpayers send approximately $1.7 billion to the corporate standardized test companies. These funds could go toward educating our youngest learners. They could be spent ensuring students have access to arts, music, and physical education. They could be spent on 21st century technology and updated materials.
No group of students has been more harmed by the failure of high-stakes testing than those in low-income communities. We were all told that the barrage of standardized testing unleashed by No Child Left Behind was necessary to collect critical data on the most underserved students -- including students with disabilities and English language learners -- to help shine a light on educational gaps and drive programs that would boost achievement.
The sad truth is that test-based accountability has not closed the opportunity gaps between affluent and poor schools and students. It has not driven funding and support to the students from historically underfunded communities who need it most. It has not led to an expansion of curricular offerings, but rather a narrowing of them.
NCLB's promise has been proven hollow; its policies have failed.
Despite this failed experiment, the testing obsession continues. We are so addicted to testing that we are now giving students out-of-date standardized tests that are not aligned with what is currently being taught in class. I spent 23 years teaching math to students who were amazingly capable, smart, and perceptive. But even my best student was not omniscient. We simply cannot hold students accountable for material they have not been taught. This is not education. It's malpractice.
Adding insult to injury, students' test scores are used to evaluate teachers who did not Join National Campaign to Put Focus of Public Education on Student Learning | Dennis Van Roekel:

First English Framework Based On Common Core - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

First English Framework Based On Common Core - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education):



State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces State Adoption of First English Framework Based on Common Core




SACRAMENTO—California teachers have new guidance in teaching English language arts under the Common Core State Standards with additional support for English learners, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today as the State Board of Education adopted the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework for California Public Schools (Framework).This is the first time in the nation that a state has adopted dual guidelines in one publication for both English language arts and English language development.
"Bringing together the standards for English language arts and English language development will help give all students—no matter where they come from or where they live—the tools to read, write, and understand all their courses, so they will be ready for college and careers," Torlakson said. "The new Framework addresses the needs of our diverse student population and gives teachers a 'roadmap' for curriculum and instruction under the Common Core."
The Framework provides teachers guidance to teach the standards, which describe the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level. The Framework covers the implementation of the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (PDF; 2MB), as well as the new California English Language Development StandardsAdopted by the State Board of Education in 2010, theCommon Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics are the basis for remodeling California's education system to help students learn step-by-step the real world skills and knowledge that they will need for college and careers.
"California is forging a new path through the adoption of one Framework for two interrelated standards that help ensure all of our students have the ability to read, write, and communicate with competence and confidence across a range of academic content areas," said State Board of Education President Dr. Michael Kirst.
The Framework helps teachers on a range of topics. These include guidance on instructional strategies to strengthen learning for every student, both in classrooms where English language is taught and in collaboration with teachers in other courses. It also contains information on the qualities of effective professional development, technology for instruction and learning, criteria for evaluating instructional materials, and on testing to improve instruction and learning. The Framework provides descriptions of the standards by grade span and level, and includes resources such as classroom instruction vignettes and models that teachers may use to address the diverse needs of their students.
The Framework was created by educators and literacy experts, most of whom are teachers in California classrooms, under the guidance of the state Instructional Quality Commission. Public comments on the draft Framework were collected earlier this year, and were presented to the State Board of Education. The Instructional Quality Commission unanimously recommended the Framework to the Board for adoption.
The Framework is currently available in draft form on the California Department of Education's May-June Draft ELA/ELD Framework Chapters Web page and will soon be updated to reflect its final adoption by the State Board of Education.
# # # #
Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism | Bill Ayers

The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism | Bill Ayers:



The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism



David Brooks, the moderate “human face” of the plutocrats and its dangerous fang faction within the Repulsican Party, trumpeted the need for “a national greatness agenda” in his New York Times column and managed to evoke a grotesquely mangled and romanticized image of the Black Freedom Movement of 50 years ago in an attempt to rally people to a left/right social movement of all the politically disaffected built around the goal of broad revitalization: “Like the civil rights movement, this movement will ask Americans to live up to their best selves.” And our “best selves” is easily summed up by DB: “Love of country.” Yes simple patriotism will, in Brooks’ cosmology, allow Americans to see that sacrificing Social Security benefits “at a time when soldiers and Marines are sacrificing their lives for their country in Afghanistan,” or giving up pensions as an investment in “America’s future greatness,” represent the sensible unifying path forward.
Most Americans (and the whole world besides) think that the US adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan have been and continue to be catastrophic. The vast majority of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan (not the “insurgents” or the Taliban or the “jihadists”) have overwhelmingly opposed the US military presence in their respective lands practically from the start. Any ethical person would tell the government to end its senseless wars for a start, bring those Marines and soldiers home now, and spend those squandered billions on education, health, and the common good.
But Brooks sees the hand writing on the wall: US power is in deep crisis, and the American empire is coming to an end; his solution is to mobilize a nationalistic movement and shred any expectation of a The Big Brain of the Right on American Exceptionalism | Bill Ayers:

NYC Public School Parents: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse

NYC Public School Parents: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse:



Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse



Today's Daily News, and no that it not me screaming in facepaint.

Today's audit from the City Comptroller reinforces the findings in our recent report,Space Crunch, showing that DOE continues to put out misleading data to minimize the worsening crisis of overcrowding in our schools, and has no real plans to deal with it.   See the Juan Gonzalez front page story in the Daily News today about the audit.  The unacceptable level of overcrowding was also delineated in a recent study from the Independent Budget Office. 


Overcrowding has a host of negative impacts on students, including excessive class sizes, high rates of disengagement and disciplinary problems, safety issues, and a sense among students that the system doesn’t care enough about their needs.  More than 330,000 students were in classes of 30 or more last year.  We also found that the DOE undercounts the number of students in trailers by many thousands.

Though the audit found that about 1/3 of kids were in overcrowded buildings by looking at the Blue Book’s “historic” 2011-2012 figures, we analyzed more recent “target” figures from 2012-13 and found nearly half of all students were in overcrowded buildings.   

The “target” formula is somewhat more accurate but still underestimates the actual level of overcrowding in schools.  This means more than 480,000 students were in extremely overstuffed buildings last year. The audit found the same trend line as we did– worsening overcrowding, NYC Public School Parents: Audit on school overcrowding released today confirms our findings that the crisis is getting worse:

Nite Cap 7-9-14 #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 CAP




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Morning Wink 7-9-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform
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YESTERDAY

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