Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager | Bob Braun's Ledger

Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager | Bob Braun's Ledger:



Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager

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The Decider and The Punk
The Decider and The Punk

Gov. Chris Christie, arguably the most powerful man in New Jersey, yesterday ridiculed a high school senior for asking a perfectly reasonable question: Why won’t he come to Newark to hold one of his “town hall” meetings? He dismissed the question as “ridiculous” and then mocked the student for asking it.
The encounter occurred in politically safe Belmar and was captured on a video available from YouTube. Kristin Towkaniuk, a senior at Science Park High School and president of the Newark Students Union, asked why Christie has never held a town hall meeting—he has held more than 120 since taking office in 2010—in the state’s largest city.
The governor immediately went on the defensive, saying that, if the question implied he was ignoring Newark, then it was “ridiculous.” He inadvertently touched a sore spot by suggesting that anyone who believed he was ignoring Newark should talk to Cory Booker, he former mayor.
Booker, an ideological Republican who pretends to be a Democrat, has been a staunch Christie ally ever since the Governor took office. He and Christie conspired—openly, it turns out—to bring the incompetent Cami Anderson to the city as school superintendent (she was a Booker political operative) and to make Newark “the charter school capital of New Jersey,” according to a recent article in The New Yorker.  Christie and Booker worked together to manipulate last year’s senate election so that Booker Christie, bully and punk, puts down a Newark teenager | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw | deutsch29

Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw | deutsch29:



Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw

July 30, 2014



Late in the evening on July 29, 2014, I completely finished writing my book on the history, development, and promotion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The manuscript is with the publisher. I promise that the book will make for quite the illuminating read.
At this point, publication looks like it will be in April 2015.
Proponents of CCSS like to call it “state led.”
What if the state is divided against itself over CCSS? What then?
As the 2014-15 school year rapidly approaches, we are discovering as much in Louisiana.
Why, on the very day that I finished my CCSS book, July 29, 2014, the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) held a special meeting to decide how to approach suing Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (let’s just get that intention out in the open and call the overall point of the meeting what it was). In short, Jindal does not want BESE to utilize any tests or even individual items created by or in cooperation with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).  BESE President Chas Roemer and State Superintendent John White want to continue with PARCC and believe that this is their right in the official capacities that they hold. (For background, read here, and here, and here, and here.)
A major problem with insisting that Louisiana education be tied to either CCSS or PARCC is that state involvement in both ventures requires states to forego state sovereignty over state educational affairs. For example, the CCSS memorandum of understanding (MOU) that Jindal and former State Superintendent Paul Pastorek signed in May 2009 (and that Jindal canceled on June 18, 2014) stipulates that CCSS revision will be determined in consortium form. Thus, states adopting CCSS agree to forego their individual rights to revise CCSS. CCSS is a group projectowned by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). By design, individual states must forfeit sovereignty to the NGA- and CCSSO-led  “group.”
As for PARCC involvement and the forfeiting of state sovereignty: On the day of Three Lawsuits: BESE, White Out on a Limb and Wielding a Saw | deutsch29:

Arne Gets An Earful! By Mark Naison

Arne Duncan Meets BATS:



Arne Gets An Earful!

arne duncan meets batsArne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS at US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Gets an Earful!

On July 28, 2014, following the BAT Rally outside the US Department of Education, a delegation of BATS went up to the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to share some of the main issues that BATS had with Department Policy. Representing the BATS were Marla Kilfoyle, General Manager of BATS. Dr Yohuru Williams of Fairfield University, Chicago BAM (Badass Moms) leader Shoneice Reynolds and her son Asean Johnson, Tennessee BAT leader Larry Proffitt, and me — Dr Mark Naison, co founder of BATS. The meeting had been set up by Marla Kilfoyle through an official of the Department of Education’s Office of Communications.
Arne Duncan was not originally scheduled to attend the meeting, but dropped in unexpectedly in the middle. What follows is my account of the meeting, including the dialogue with Mr. Duncan, along with some reflections on what it all means. How much of what transpired will lead to further communication and action, and how much represented a “smoke and mirrors” game by officials of the Department remains to be seen.
After going through security, we were escorted to a conference room in the US Ed Department’s Office of Civil Rights, where we were met by 9 people, including a senior staff member of the Office of Civil Rights, James Kim, who chaired the meeting, along with staff members from the Offices of Communications and Community Outreach and several student interns with the Department. Mr Kim, who chaired the meeting, was very cordial and asked us if we could present our major concerns, saying he hoped we could find areas of agreement as well as areas where we disagreed, and that a dialogue could develop which would hopefully continue after the meetings.
When Mr. Kim asked if someone would present the groups major concerns, I stepped forward, I decided to do so in a manner which would focus attention on Department of Education policies that maximized educational inequality and violated the civil rights of students, parents and teachers in inner city and Arne Duncan Meets BATS:

Arne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:



Arne Duncan Drops in Unexpectedly on Meeting With BATS at US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Gets an Earful! (w/ added reflections by Larry Proffitt and Marla Kilfoyle)

By:  Dr. Mark Naison 

   On July 28, 2014, following the  BAT Rally outside the US Department of Education, a delegation of BATS went up to  the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to share some of the main issues that BATS had with  Department Policy.  Representing the BATS were Marla Kilfoyle, General Manager of BATS. Dr Yohuru Williams of Fairfield University, Chicago BAM (Badass Moms) leader  Shoneice Reynolds and her son Asean Johnson, Tennessee BAT leader Larry Proffitt, and Dr Mark Naison, co founder of BATS. The meeting had been set up by Marla Kilfoyle through an official of the Department of Education’s Office of Communications.

  Arne Duncan was not originally scheduled to attend the meeting, but dropped in unexpectedly in the middle. What follows  is my  account of the meeting, including the dialogue with Mr. Duncan, along with and some reflections on what it all means.  How much of what transpired will lead to further communication and action, and how much represented a “smoke and mirrors” game by officials of the Department remains to be seen.

   After going through security, we were escorted to a conference room in the
US Ed Department’s Office of Civil Rights, where we were met by 9 people, including a senior staff member of the Office of Civil Rights, James Kim, who chaired the meeting, along with staff members from the Offices of Communications and Community Outreach and several student interns with the Department.  Mr Kim, who chaired the meeting, was very cordial and asked us if we could present our major concerns, saying he hoped we could find areas of agreement as well as areas where we disagreed, and that a dialogue could  develop which would hopefully continue after the meetings.

    When Mr. Kim asked if someone would present the groups major concerns, I stepped forward, I decided to do so in a manner which would focus attention  on Department of Education policies that  maximized educational  inequality and violated the civil rights of students, parents and teachers in inner city and working class communities.   Using my own experiences in the Bronx as a reference point, I said that BATS were deeply concerned with how Race to the Top Policies, which required rating schools and teachers on the basis of student test scores, closing allegedly “failing schools,” and  preferring charter schools over public schools had the following consequences:

    Leading  teachers in vulnerable neighborhoods to “teach to the test” to the detriment of activities which fostered student creativity.
   Leading to the use of recess time, gym time, and after school time to test prep, Badass Teachers Association:

Surprise announcement!!!! BATs will be conducting a National Teacher's Congress in DC in 2015!! We will vote on the date and we will swarm the Capitol!!!! STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO!!

7-30-14 Teacher Appreciation | WagTheDog

Teacher Appreciation | WagTheDog:







What Makes A Good Teacher?
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.  ~ Carl Jung


Learning To Care
If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. ~ Atticus Finch, ( Gregory Peck) “To Kill A Mockingbird”    
Teacher Appreciation



Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog
Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog: Standards Are Expectations of LearningMany ed reformers who are not experienced educators don’t understand that The Common Core State Standards are cognitive goals and expectations of student learning or “growth”.The Standards demand a fixed set of grade level cognitive skills and abilities that must be acquired by students, rather than imparted 

“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns |

“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns |:



“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns







As per a recent article in The Tennessean, it seems yet another teacher has resigned, this time from the 1st grade – a grade in which teacher-level value-added normally does not “count.” This teacher, a 15-year career 1st grade teacher, was recently categorized as “ineffective” in terms of “adding value” to her students’ learning and achievement, as her district added a new test to start holding primary grade teachers accountable for their value-added as well. To read her full letter of resignation and the conditions driving her decision, click here (http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/sumner/2014/06/03/defines-ineffective-teacher/9918539/)
Thirty-five percent of her evaluation score was based on student growth or value-added as determined by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), often called outside the state of Tennessee (where it was originally developed) the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). Both of these systems should be of increasing familiarity to readers/followers of this blog.
But given a different test recently introduced to help evaluate more teachers like her, again in the primary grades for which no other state-level tests exist (like in grades 3-8), just this year she “received a growth score of 1, [after which she] was placed on a list of ineffective teachers needing additional coaching.” Ironically, the person to serve as her mentor, to help her become better than an “ineffective teacher,” was her own student teacher from a few years prior. It seems her new teacher mentor was not able to increase her former-mentor’s effectiveness in due time, however.
But here’s the real issue: In this case, and exponentially growing numbers of cases like this across the country, the district decided to use a national versus state test (i.e., the SAT 10) which can (but should not) be used to test students in kindergarten and 1st“Ineffective,” Veteran, Primary Grade Teacher in Tennessee Resigns |:


Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update) - The Washington Post

Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update) - The Washington Post:



Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update)



(Update: Adding comment from Brown’s group)
Campbell Brown doesn’t hide her disdain for teachers unions. She has frequently railed against them, and formed an anti-union advocacy group that filed a lawsuit in New York this week seeking to eliminate job protections for teachers in the state.
That’s why it is somewhat amusing that her group, the Partnership for Educational Justice, describes itself on its Web site with the very same language of the slogan branding the current educational campaign of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers union.
Here’s the AFT’s logo for its “Reclaiming the Promise” campaign:


(AFT)

AFT President Randi Weingarten wrote last year in this piece on Huffington Post that “reclaiming the promise of public education” was vital for the future of the country .
Now take a look at an explanation of the Brown group mission, taken from its Web site (emphasis is mine):

About Us

We’re committed to reclaiming the promise of public education for all students. Our passionate team of parent leaders, education advocates and legal experts empowers local communities to strengthen their schools by pursuing common sense policy changes. We provide the resources and support families need to get the schools they deserve.
Partnership for Educational Justice
222 Broadway, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10038
Campbell Brown may be surprised that she has something in common with Randi Weingarten.
I asked the Partnership for Educational Justice for a comment about this and the following comment came back in an e-mail from Executive Director Campbell Brown’s anti-union group uses union slogan (update) - The Washington Post:

Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. | Gatsby In L.A.

Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. | Gatsby In L.A.:



Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love.








 Remember my friend Lauren the English teacher? The one my former student Gerardo said had turned his life around because she just refused to give up on him?

I just found out that 16 of her students from last year passed the AP English Literature exam. Four of them scored “4’s.”
In the case of Lauren’s class, we are talking about students from one of the highest-poverty communities in Los Angeles, who until high school had attended some of the most infamously terrible schools in Los Angeles, many of whom came into 9th grade reading well below grade level. The AP English Lit exam, for those of you who haven’t taken it, relies heavily on a student’s knowledge of the entire body of English and American Literature. Of the many things I learned this year, one of them is that students who live in very high-poverty communities like South L.A. or Watts live in a kind of isolation that segregates them from exposure to other socioeconomic groups, which makes tests like the AP Lit exam, which tests upper-middle-class cultural knowledge as much as writing skills, particularly difficult. I’ve actually never heard of such a large number of kids passing the AP Lit exam at a school in a high-poverty community.
I know, because Lauren is incredibly modest, that she is going to want to kill me for writing about her, but she’s going to have to deal with it, because what she did is amazing—and it helps me understand the most important lesson I learned all year, which is that great teaching is much, much more than a set of techniques. I know that Lauren has Lesson 5: Love is the Answer. And Also Skills. But Also Love. | Gatsby In L.A.:

7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform Model Education Opportunity Network by Jeff Bryant

7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform Model:



Education Opportunity Network -







7/30/2014 – Dishonest Case for New Orleans School Reform Model


THIS WEEK: Children’s Well-Being Suffers … Teacher Pay Stinks … Moms Winning Common Core War … School Library Cutbacks Hurt … Longer School Days No Solution

TOP STORY

The Dishonest Case for The New Orleans School Reform Model

By Jeff Bryant

“Anyone who wants to have a genuinely honest discussion about education policy based on the real facts of the matter … needs to constantly question what policy leaders and their scribes in the press are foisting off as ‘information’ … An especially egregious example of dishonest conversation is the way school administration in New Orleans … is now being marketed to the entire country as a ‘solution’ for public education.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

Children’s Well-Being Reflects a Sluggish Economic Recovery

New America Foundation

“The 25th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book … found that on the whole, children today appear better off in terms of education and health than children five or even 25 years ago … but this doesn’t necessarily translate to changes in welfare for America’s most at-risk children … So while children overall may be doing better today than their predecessors, far too many children still aren’t receiving the resources they need … Despite initiatives to expand access to early education … 54% percent (more than half!) of the nation’s 3- and 4-year-olds are still not enrolled in pre-k … 6 of the 8 KIDS COUNT indicators for economic and family well-being have yet to return to pre-recession levels. The official child poverty rate has increased to 23%.”
Read more …

Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says

Education Week

“Teachers not only have bad starting pay in many states, but also that teachers are unlikely to see major salary gains even after several years of teaching … Growth in teacher salaries is especially bad when comparing the U.S. to other developed countries … In only four states – Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York – can teachers max out on the salary schedule above $80,000.”
Read more …

Moms Winning The Common Core War

Politico

“In a series of strategy sessions in recent months, top promoters of the Common Core standards have concluded they’re losing the broader public debate – and need to devise better PR … Standards supporters say they’re at a huge disadvantage in the PR fight because anytime a child brings home a confusing worksheet, gets a bad grade or stresses out about a test, parents can — and do — blame it on the Common Core … Analysts say the opposition also has an edge because it’s tapped into a populist anger that animates both left and right. The self-proclaimed ‘mommy platoons’ organized to take down the standards portray them as an inferior product forced on unsuspecting communities by a cabal of big business and big government elites. Every time supporters come out with sophisticated new promotional material, it only feeds their anger at the big money backing … National polling … found voters more skeptical of the Common Core than they were two years ago. A Pew Research Center report last month found solid opposition among all Republicans, not just tea party members, while support from liberals was fairly anemic, at around 55%. And a recent Siena College poll of likely voters in New York state found 49% want to drop the standards and only 39% want to keep them.”
Read more …

School Librarian Cutbacks Widen Digital Divide

District Administration

“About one-third of public schools do not have a full-time, state-certified librarian … In states that have already tried Common Core exams, as many as 70% of students failed, raising fears of mass retentions among teachers, parents and children … Though physical book collections are shrinking in many districts, the role of librarians or media specialists is expanding. Along with fostering a love of reading, librarians teach students media literacy, in part how to research, analyze information and evaluate sources to determine what is accurate … School libraries with more staff and larger collections lead to stronger academic performance … Students at schools with better funded media centers tend to achieve higher average reading scores, regardless of family income and parent education level.’”
Read more …

Lessons From A School That Scrapped A Longer Student Day And Made Time For Teachers

The Hechinger Report

“Prompted in part by federal incentives to expand learning time for students, districts serving high-poverty populations are leaping into longer school days, without always embracing what research has found: Simply adding time is not enough to raise student performance … A case in New Haven tells a cautionary tale of what can happen when a low-performing school rushes to add time to close that gap. It also reflects the latest focus of the expanded-time movement: making extra time for teachers to learn … Over half a million American students, predominantly in urban areas, now attend public schools with extended learning time, with on average more than 200 extra hours per year.”
Read more …

Nite Cap 7-30-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT



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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Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog
Standards Are Expectations of Learning | WagTheDog: Standards Are Expectations of LearningMany ed reformers who are not experienced educators don’t understand that The Common Core State Standards are cognitive goals and expectations of student learning or “growth”.The Standards demand a fixed set of grade level cognitive skills and abilities that must be acquired by students, rather than imparted 
The Common Core Needs Unicorns and Rainbows | Truth in American Education
The Common Core Needs Unicorns and Rainbows | Truth in American Education: The Common Core Needs Unicorns and RainbowsFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on July 30, 2014 • 0 Comments2113Photo credit: FostersFan-Imp (CC-by-ND 3.0)I had to shake my head reading a piece by Stephanie Simon at Politico entitled “Moms winning the Common Core war.”  The first statement that jumped
Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working Well | janresseger
Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working Well | janresseger: Inventor of Portfolio School Reform Confirms It Isn’t Working WellPosted on July 30, 2014 by janressegerThe portfolio strategy of school reform embodies the idea of school choice. The provision of a range of privatized charter schools and the elimination of assigned school attendance zones are central to the theory,
Hemlock on the Rocks
Hemlock on the Rocks: Symbiotc Relationship of Bill Gates, Arne Duncan and Pearson…and the Takeover1Arne Duncan has embraced Bill Gates' vision of education.  Bill Gates has had a hand in crafting the common core standards and has provided grant money to advance the implementation in schools around the country.  It doesn't apparently matter to Arne Duncan these standards are unproven, untested and
Geaux Teacher!: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.ED
Geaux Teacher!: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.ED: BESE Abdicates Constitutional Authority to PARCC, PEARSON and U.S.EDChas, you continue to say "This is a question of who has authority to write the questions for our test."  You are absolutely correct and it is absolutely clear that PEARSON has been given the authority to write the questions by virtue o
empathyeducates – Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the People
empathyeducates – Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the People: Recover the Recovery School District – Return the Schools to the PeopleA crowd of about 50 showed up for the charter board meeting. photo: Della HasselleIntroductory Essay By Raynard Sanders, Ed.D.The failure of the corporate education reforms in New Orleans has been clearly documented. Of all the school com
NYC Educator: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!
NYC Educator: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!: Before You Buy Campbell's New Line of Soups, Don't Forget to Check the Label!Imagine a line of soups sponsored by Campbell Brown, set to destroy the due-process rights of teachers,cut down the hard-won rights of workersand promote the privatization of education, promising great profits to those very same p
Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges : NPR Ed : NPR
Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges : NPR Ed : NPR: Q&A: Michelle Rhee On Teacher Tenure Challenges In Vergara v. California, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the state's teacher tenure system hurts poor, minority students because they are more likely to end up with "grossly ineffective" teachers. The case focused on three areas: tenure, cumbersome dismissal pol
National Education Association's Lily Eskelsen Garcia on teaching, testing, and fighting back
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Here It Is, A Profession Transformed - The Jose Vilson
Here It Is, A Profession Transformed - The Jose Vilson: Here It Is, A Profession Transformedby JOSE VILSON on JULY 29, 2014in JOSEI just got back from three packed-house events in Chicago, Chapel Hill, and Philadelphia in July. In each space, the energy in the room took me aback because I’m still not used to the idea that a bunch of folks with busy lives want to hear my mouth run for two hours. Ye
15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education Taxes | Reclaim Reform
15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education Taxes | Reclaim Reform: 15-7= Private Profit Taken from Public Education TaxesPosted on July 29, 2014by Ken Previti15-7=8 cannot be copyrighted for profit.This example can be copyrighted for private profit from public education taxes.The content can be copyrighted, the instructional materials (text books, worksheets, computer and online programs, su
The Kvetching of Mona Davids southbronxschool
http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Kvetching of Mona DavidsOh Mona Davids is in an uproar again. Poor, poor, Mona, how her crocodile tears do flow.The Daily News reported today that parents (And rightly so) are upset that the school day has been rescheduled in 450 to accommodate the 80 minutes of PD on Mondays and the 75 minutes of parent involvement on Tuesdays. Surely, Mona is happy with the a
Badass Teachers Association
Badass Teachers Association: BATs July 28, 2014 SpeechBy:  Dr. Yohuru WilliamsMr. Duncan in May of 1894, Jacob Coxey, and his Army marched on Washington DC in the wake of a worldwide depression to petition the government for jobs for the unemployed.  Coxey opened his speech, not too far from here, invoking the promise of American democracy“We choose this place of assemblage” he told his audience,
Nite Cap 7-29-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT
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 CAP7-29-14 Schools Matter All WeekSchools Matter: Evan Bayh Loves Christel DeHaan and Hedge Funders: CORPORATE SCHOOL ALERTby Doug Martin With so many people saying Evan Bayh must come back to Indiana to "save" public education as governor