Friday, November 27, 2015

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/27/15



CORPORATE ED REFORM



Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Black Friday Protest: '16 Shots. Stop the cover-up!'
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Black Friday Protest: '16 Shots. Stop the cover-up!': Black Friday Protest: '16 Shots. Stop the cover-up!'When Black Friday comesI'll stand down by the doorAnd catch the grey men when theyDive from the fourteenth floor -Steely DanThe first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping madness, but to financial crisis: specifically, the c
Why Oregon teachers have concerns about standardized testing (OPINION) | OregonLive.com
Why Oregon teachers have concerns about standardized testing (OPINION) | OregonLive.com: Why Oregon teachers have concerns about standardized testing (OPINION)By Hanna VaanderingRecently, The Oregonian/OregonLive ran a story with the headline: "Oregon teachers despise the Smarter Balanced tests, survey says." The story was referring to the 164 pages of thoughtful, reasoned responses we —
Help NPE STOP Damaging New Provisions in ESEA Reauthorization Bill - Action Network
Help NPE STOP Damaging New Provisions in ESEA Reauthorization Bill - Action Network: Help NPE STOP Damaging New Provisions in ESEA Reauthorization BillThe new ESEA bill will be released in full on Monday, November 30, and is likely to be voted on by the House on December 2 and the following week in the Senate. We believe that this bill is a smallimprovement over the highly punitive No Child Left B
To build a better teacher, Harvard launches program aimed at quality - The Washington Post
To build a better teacher, Harvard launches program aimed at quality - The Washington Post: To build a better teacher, Harvard launches program aimed at qualityAs the country debates the best way to improve the quality of teachers in struggling public schools, Harvard University is launching a training program it hopes will serve as a national model.Starting in January, about two dozen Harvard sen
Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: Human Relations, Charter School Style
Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: Human Relations, Charter School Style: Human Relations, Charter School StyleMy Inbox for October 27, 2015, contained the usual collection of SPAM, ads, and offers to transfer millions of dollars to the U.S. from a prince in Nigeria. But one letter was most unexpected and not in the least routine. A teacher at Challenge Charter School in Glendale, Arizona, wro
CURMUDGUCATION: Can Competency Based Education Be Stopped?
CURMUDGUCATION: Can Competency Based Education Be Stopped?: Can Competency Based Education Be Stopped?Over at StopCommonCoreNYS, you can find the most up-to-date cataloging of the analysis of, reaction to, and outcry over Competency Based Education.Critics are correct in saying that CBE has been coming down the pike for a while. Pearson released an 88-page opus about the Assessment Renaissance alm
Tomorrow’s Teachers? | Live Long and Prosper
Tomorrow’s Teachers? | Live Long and Prosper:Tomorrow’s Teachers?WHO WILL STAFF TOMORROW’S CLASSROOMS?A Not Quitting LetterEarlier this month blogger Peter Greene struck back against the increasingly frequent “teacher quits via internet post” genre. He wrote a “not quitting” letter to an imaginary school board.So I will stay here, and I will do what I consider– in my professional opinion– to do wh
A Newark teacher offers a Thanksgiving lesson | Bob Braun's Ledger
A Newark teacher offers a Thanksgiving lesson | Bob Braun's Ledger: A Newark teacher offers a Thanksgiving lessonSusan Palmucci is a Newark teacher. First grade at the Cleveland School. In the city’s schools for 24 years. But forget her job for a moment. Think of her in a way many people don’t think of teachers–as a woman, as a person who saw an immediate, emergency need and did what she could to
Teachers Know Bullies: Trump Is One - Living in Dialogue
Teachers Know Bullies: Trump Is One - Living in Dialogue: Teachers Know Bullies: Trump Is One By Anthony Cody.A teacher sees the best and the worst in behavior any given year. And one of the most important jobs we have as teachers is to create a community of learners in our classrooms – teaching students to help one another academically, and also as friends. These two things go together. People le
CURMUDGUCATION: Is the Teacher Shortage Real?
CURMUDGUCATION: Is the Teacher Shortage Real?: Is the Teacher Shortage Real?We talk a lot about the current teacher shortage. I've posted about it numerous times. But the question remains-- is there really a teacher shortage?A study released this month by the National Center for Educational Statistics suggests that everything we think we know about the Great Teacher Shortage is wrong. Or at least,
If you liked "Alice's Restaurant", you're gonna love...APPR in NY State
If you liked "Alice's Restaurant", you're gonna love...
A heart wrenching story from a teacher in Tennessee.  Could have been Connecticut or anywhere… - Wait What?
A heart wrenching story from a teacher in Tennessee.  Could have been Connecticut or anywhere… - Wait What?: A heart wrenching story from a teacher in Tennessee.  Could have been Connecticut or anywhere…Read the story posted by a Tennessee teacher yesterday.  Then convert what will undoubtedly be your sadness and anger into action.Election Day 2016 is just over 11 months away.This time, use your v
Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections | The Progressive
Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections | The Progressive: Teach for America 2, Parents 4: A Tale of Two Elections Teach for America scored big in Minnesota recently, with an Election Day, under-the-radar purchase of two suburban Minneapolis school board seats.Purchase might be a strong word, but Teach for America and its affiliates definitely threw moneyed support behind Richfield
Geaux Teacher!: Wake Up Teachers! Your Profession is Being Made Redundant
Geaux Teacher!: Wake Up Teachers! Your Profession is Being Made Redundant: Wake Up Teachers! Your Profession is Being Made RedundantWake up teachers. Your profession is being made redundant w discussions like this from Brookings. http://brook.gs/1jnE27BMore importantly, children are being left behind as "reform" addresses everything but learning! Once again yet another article focused on
Past Chester Community Charter testing head disciplined in cheating scandal | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Past Chester Community Charter testing head disciplined in cheating scandal | Philadelphia Public School Notebook: Past Chester Community Charter testing head disciplined in cheating scandalThe state's largest bricks-and-mortar charter is operated for profit by a GOP power broker. Its test scores plunged in 2012 when security measures were tightened.A former testing coordinator at Chester Communit
Louisiana Educator: Educators and Parents Thankful
Louisiana Educator: Educators and Parents Thankful: Educators and Parents ThankfulHappy Thanksgiving! Many educators and parents I have spoken to recently are very thankful that we have a chance to restore sanity, dignity, professionalism, and a positive balanced curriculum in our public schools. The election of John Bel Edwards as our governor gives us a great opportunity to truly improve Louisia
NYC Educator: Why Is Reformy Andy Cuomo Backing Down on Junk Science?
NYC Educator: Why Is Reformy Andy Cuomo Backing Down on Junk Science?: Why Is Reformy Andy Cuomo Backing Down on Junk Science?Like everyone who pays attention, I was pretty amazed to read in the NY Times that Governor Andrew Cuomo is looking to tamp down his teacher evaluation mandate. After all, hadn't he said that the new system, the one he backed and pushed, was "baloney?" He was clea
When A 4-Day School Week Might Cost More Than It Saves : NPR Ed : NPR
When A 4-Day School Week Might Cost More Than It Saves : NPR Ed : NPR: When A 4-Day School Week Might Cost More Than It SavesFirst thing Friday morning, Bill Florence is getting his two kids, Chloe, 11, and Austen, 8, ready to head out the door."Did you guys brush your teeth?" he asks. "Yes," they moan.Monday through Thursday Chloe and Austen catch the bus to Peralta Trail Elem
Principal to N.Y. Gov. Cuomo: Stop spreading a false narrative about public education - The Washington Post
Principal to N.Y. Gov. Cuomo: Stop spreading a false narrative about public education - The Washington Post: Principal to N.Y. Gov. Cuomo: Stop spreading a false narrative about public educationJamaal Bowman is the principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action Middle school in the Bronx.  The school’s website says that the mission of the school is to graduate “self-aware, hard-working and
Ranking Finland's Schools Proves That They're All Equal - The Atlantic
Ranking Finland's Schools Proves That They're All Equal - The Atlantic: The Place Where Ranking Schools Proves They're Actually EqualWhy one journalist wanted to grade Finland’s schoolsIn Finland you’re not supposed to wonder—let alone ask out loud—if one school is better than another. That’s because all Finnish schools are designed to be equal.We Finns are very proud of our equal education system
Thankful For You [Luz and Ale] | The Jose Vilson
Thankful For You [Luz and Ale] | The Jose Vilson: Thankful For You [Luz and Ale]I don’t often speak about my personal life because, well, that’s not what I do. It’s weird. I teach. I speak. I write. I activate.But I’m also a man with a family at home.So this is a note to say that I’m thankful for my family we’ve made in Harlem. Luz and Alejandro are my life source. I do my best to not give off the
Read Me, Please! My favorites from 2015. - Lily's Blackboard
Read Me, Please! My favorites from 2015. - Lily's Blackboard: Read Me, Please! My favorites from 2015.If you’re like me, you have a small stack of magazines you’ve promise yourself you’ll get to…eventually. You just can’t seem to find the time to read the cover story that made you buy the magazine or the news article that piqued your interest or the webpage that you bookmarked.And it’s understanda
Finding the sweet spot of reason in evaluating schools and teachers - LA Times
Finding the sweet spot of reason in evaluating schools and teachers - LA Times: Finding the sweet spot of reason in evaluating schools and teachersThird grade students at West Homer Elementary School in Homer, Alaska act out an interpretive dance to the sound of a storyteller and percussion on Nov. 13. (Annie Rosenthal / Associated Press)The pendulum of American public education policy is swinging
Can Teachers Unions Help Online Charter Schools?
Can Teachers Unions Help Online Charter Schools?:Can Teachers Unions Help Online Charter Schools?After a lengthy battle, California teachers have won the right to form a union in their online charter school network.In a major win for the movement to organize charter schools, a California state labor board recently ruled that teachers working for the state’s largest online charter network could for

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Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/26/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: ThankfulnessCURMUDGUCATION: Thankfulness: ThankfulnessThanksgiving is, well, problematic as a holiday. At least as a celebration of anything historic, because the related history is complicated, and if there's anything Americans hate, it's sorting our way through complicated history. We like our history sorted out into nice clear good guys and bad guys; unfortuna