Big Education Ape: Nov 9, 2019

Saturday, November 9, 2019

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 11/9/19 #REDFORED

Big Education Ape

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 11/9/19

TOP POSTS THIS MONTH 11/9/19

POSTS THIS WEEK 11/9/19

TODAY

Extinction is the rule, Survival is the exception. | Live Long and Prosper

by Mike Simpson / 3min

Extinction is the rule, Survival is the exception. Carl Sagan: November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996 For Carl Sagan Day …exercise your critical thinking skills with this collection of quotes. ON CRITICAL THINKING Broca’s Brain Book, 1986 Both Barnum and H. L. Mencken are said to have made the depressing observation that no one ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the American pu

Philadelphia: Kendra Brooks Made History in the Election! | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Philadelphia: Kendra Brooks Made History in the Election! For the first time in 70 years, a third-Party Candidate was elected to the City Council in Philadelphia. Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party just won a seat that has long been Republican. Working Families Party candidate Kendra Brooks held an insurmountable lead of 10,000 votes over her nearest rival, according to unofficial elect

Houston ISD stays quiet after Texas announces state takeover of district | The Texas Tribune

by Mike Simpson / 1h

After state takeover news, Houston ISD clams up, leaving parents and teachers scrambling for insight The state's announcement that it will seize control of its largest school system has been met with notable silence from Houston ISD administrators and local elected officials. Two days after Texas education officials announced plans to seize control of the state’s largest public school system, th

Why the Denver school board ‘flipped’ and what might happen next

by Mike Simpson / 2h

Why the Denver school board ‘flipped’ and what might happen next Carried by momentum from February’s teachers strike and a broader backlash against the status quo, candidates opposed to the policies that made Denver Public Schools a national exemplar for education reform now control the school board for the first time. Instead of five members backed by pro-reform organizations and two backed by

Why are we even bargaining sick days? It should be the law. – Fred Klonsky

by Mike Simpson / 2h

WHY ARE WE EVEN BARGAINING SICK DAYS? IT SHOULD BE THE LAW For some reason the change to the Chicago Public School/Chicago Teacher Union contract regarding sick days has popped up as something controversial. The contract that came out of a two week strike by CTU members resulted in a significant increase in the number of sick days that could be banked and applied as pensionable credit. Then CPS

For Sale: SAT-Takers’ Names. Colleges Buy Student Data and Boost Exclusivity - WSJ

by Mike Simpson / 2h

For Sale: SAT-Takers’ Names. Colleges Buy Student Data and Boost Exclusivity For 47 cents, the College Board will sell an individual’s information, feeding admissions frenzy Jori Johnson took the practice SAT test as a high-school student outside Chicago. Brochures later arrived from Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Chicago. The universities’ solicitations piqued her inte

Education Matters: Gary Chartrand's company going bankrupt raises some troubling questions

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Gary Chartrand's company going bankrupt raises some troubling questions From the Jax Daily Record Jacksonville-based Acosta Inc. announced Friday it will file a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan, with a majority of creditors in agreement. The sales and marketing company said the plan will be filed “in the coming weeks.” The plan provides for vendors to be paid in full during

Chaz's School Daze: Time For Charter Schools To Dump Unwanted Students

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Time For Charter Schools To Dump Unwanted Students On October 31st, school funding for the year is based on student enrollment as of that date. Once November sets in, the school funding is set. Its in November that charter schools will start to expel unwanted students and dump them into the public school system since the money is already allocated to the school.. Because of a quirk in how school

When Facts Get In The Way, Change Them

by Mike Simpson / 3h

When Facts Get In The Way, Change Them What can you do, thought Winston, against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself; who gives your arguments a fair hearing and simply persists in his lunacy? ” – 1984 When Six Flags purchased two identical Intamin Impulse Coasters in 2001, they placed one of them in Marine World (now Discovery Kingdom ) in Vallejo, California. The ride’s height su

Do Students in the Big Five, Rural Schools and Low-Wealth Districts Receive the Same Rigorous, Robust, Well-Balanced, Coherent Curriculum as Students in High-Wealth Districts? | Ed In The Apple

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Do Students in the Big Five, Rural Schools and Low-Wealth Districts Receive the Same Rigorous, Robust, Well-Balanced, Coherent Curriculum as Students in High-Wealth Districts? Every month I sit in the audience at the NYS Board of Regents meetings, listen to the discussion/debate over a wide range of issues and tweet – you can follow me @edintheapple. The major topic on every agenda will be Gradu

THIS WEEK Education Research Report

by Mike Simpson / 3h

Education Research Report THIS WEEK Education Research Report High numbers of youth report using prescription opioids in the past year by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 17h A new analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health finds a surprisingly high prevalence of prescription opioid use among youth. As recently as 2015-2016, 21 percent of adolescents and 32 percent of young adults said

This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

by Mike Simpson / 4h

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Census Bureau Unveils Updated Statistics In Schools Website & Resources by Larry Ferlazzo / 45min Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay The U.S. Census, which needs to do anything it can do to make

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all

by Mike Simpson / 4h

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools CLICK HERE TO Pre-order NOW Nancy Bailey: If Only Students Could Sue Betsy DeVos and the Corporate Reformers for the Damage They Have Done

YESTERDAY

Facing lawsuit, DeVos erases student loans for 1,500 - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 19h

Facing lawsuit, DeVos erases student loans for 1,500 Facing a federal lawsuit and mounting criticism, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday said she will forgive loans for more than 1,500 borrowers who attended a pair of for-profit colleges that shut down last year. Students who attended the Art Institute of Colorado and the Illinois Institute of Art from Jan. 20, 2018, through the end of la

D.C. charter school chain faces off against neighborhood

by Mike Simpson / 22h

D.C. charter school chain faces off against neighborhood Cashing in on Kids is In the Public Interest ‘s pick of recent news about the privatization of public education. Not a subscriber? Sign up . Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . San Diego charter school in “meltdown mode.” The San Diego Cooperative Charter School is teetering on the edge of closure after leadership t

Michael Bloomberg, the Billionaire No One Likes, Is Here to F*ck Up 2020 - VICE

by Mike Simpson / 23h

Michael Bloomberg, the Billionaire No One Likes, Is Here to Fuck Up 2020 - VICE Michael Bloomberg, the Billionaire No One Likes, Is Here to F*ck Up 2020 Why not Mike? Well, here's why. Michael Bloomberg is not reading the room. In a Democratic primary featuring not one but two left-wing frontrunners in Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , each of whom has (in their own way) made challenging corp

'It’s unprecedented' | Houston teachers union unsure what’s next after TEA takeover | khou.com

by Mike Simpson / 1d

'It’s unprecedented' | Houston teachers union unsure what’s next after TEA takeover The union's executive VP worries newly appointed leaders could turn campuses over to charter schools or wipe out teachers’ contract protections. Author: Adam Bennett Published: 6:24 PM CST November 7, 2019 Updated: 6:24 PM CST November 7, 2019 HOUSTON — Leaders of the Houston teachers union say they’re unsure how

‘I am a scavenger’: The sometimes desperate things teachers do to get the classroom supplies they need - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 1d

‘I am a scavenger’: The desperate things teachers do to get the classroom supplies they need Like nearly all teachers in America, Becky Cranson spends her own money to buy supplies for her students. Working in a rural school district in Michigan, where 70 percent of her middle school students come from low-income families, she shells out at least $1,000 a year for pencils, books, journals, glue

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Even The State Thinks Florida Virtual School Needs To Shape Up

by Mike Simpson / 1d

FL: Even The State Thinks Florida Virtual School Needs To Shape Up Virtual charter schools have a lousy track record, so bad that even bricks-and-mortar charter advocates have called for them to shape the hell up. Meanwhile, Florida has implemented every reformy method of undercutting public schools that could be imagined. So it's entirely predictable that Florida would have its own cyberschool,

Education Research Report: U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence

by Mike Simpson / 1d

U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence The U.S. Secret Service today released a new report on targeted school violence in the United States. The study, Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. SecretService Analysis of Targeted School Violence , identifies 41 incidents of attacks against K-12 schools in the United States from 2008 to 2017. Researchers with the Secret Service Nation

Kentucky’s New Governor Andy Beshear Prioritizes Funding Public Schools, Strengthening State Pensions, and Protecting Medicaid Eligibility | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Kentucky’s New Governor Andy Beshear Prioritizes Funding Public Schools, Strengthening State Pensions, and Protecting Medicaid Eligibility On Tuesday night, Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was elected governor of Kentucky. By a slim 5,100 vote margin, which may be challenged in Kentucky’s version of a recount, Beshear defeated the state’s current governor, Republican, Matt Bevin. President Donald Trum

Kamala Harris’ Extended-School-Day, Childcare Legislation | deutsch29

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Kamala Harris’ Extended-School-Day, Childcare Legislation US senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has introduced a bill to extend the elementary school day so that it better aligns with the traditonal, 9-to-5 workday in the name of helping low-income parents with child care. The aim is to increase the length of the elementary school day “at least 8 am to 6 pm (or different h

Houston: The Double Standard That Favors Charters | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Houston: The Double Standard That Favors Charters W. J. Gumbert left the following comment about the state takeover of Houston, based on the low test scores of one high school. For the uninitiated, Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick hate public schools. John Arnold is a billionaire who made his money as an energy trader at Enron and now campaigns against public sector pensions and in

Seattle Schools Community Forum: On Washington Middle School; Why That School?

by Mike Simpson / 1d

On Washington Middle School; Why That School? I did not attend last night's Board meeting but it sounded lively. (I had a ticket to hear Anita Hill speak and to the entire audience's great pleasure, Christine Blasey Ford introduced her. Powerful stuff to hear from both of them.) I heard from tweets that the discussion around Washington Middle School, HCC and STEMbyTAF was over an hour long. And

NOV 07

Are Teachers Allowed to Think for Themselves? | gadflyonthewallblog

by Mike Simpson / 1d

Are Teachers Allowed to Think for Themselves? As a public school teacher, I am often told what to do and how to do it . Go teach this class. Report to lunch duty at this time. Monitor this student’s progress in this way, that student’s progress in another way, differentiate the following, document this medical condition, write up this behavior, check for that kind of hall pass, post and teach th

TEA says it will replace Houston ISD’s elected school board - HoustonChronicle.com

by Mike Simpson / 2d

TEA says it will replace Houston ISD’s elected school board Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath notified Houston ISD officials Wednesday that he plans to temporarily strip power from the district’s elected school board and appoint a replacement governance team, a long-anticipated decision resulting from a state investigation into allegations of trustee misconduct and chronically low academi

Jim Hood: Don’t Give Up on Mississippi | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Jim Hood: Don’t Give Up on Mississippi Jim Hood lost the race for governor in Mississippi but he gave it all he has. He gives hope that Mississippi might one day not be a taken-for-granted good-ole-white-boy state. He gives hope that people will one day vote for their own best interest, for the common good, not just thoughtlessly vote for those who don’t care about them or anyone else. This is t

America's Education System: Teaching the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing | Dissident Voice

by Mike Simpson / 2d

America’s Education System: Teaching the Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing Ask students to read for more than a couple of sentences and many will protest that they can’t do it. The most frequent complaint that teachers hear that it’s boring. It is not so much the content of the written material that is at issues here; it is the act of reading itself that is deemed to be boring. What w

What Is the Relationship among NAEP Scores, Educational Policy, and Classroom Practice? | radical eyes for equity

by Mike Simpson / 2d

What Is the Relationship among NAEP Scores, Educational Policy, and Classroom Practice? Annually, the media, public, and political leaders over-react and misrepresent the release of SAT and ACT scores from across the US. Most notably, despite years of warnings from the College Board against the practice, many persist in ranking states by average state scores, ignoring that vastly different popul

Trashing Teachers and Red-Baiting: How a Republican Governor Lost in Kentucky - In These Times

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Trashing Teachers and Red-Baiting: How a Republican Governor Lost in Kentucky Democrat Andy Beshear defeated Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in deep-red Kentucky. The lesson? Attacking teachers and socialism won’t protect the GOP. When Kentucky teachers staged a series of walkouts in February and March, shutting down school districts across the state, their message was clear: Stop the attacks on work

Teaching at D.Tech High School: Government (Part 4) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Teaching at D.Tech High School: Government (Part 4) Spencer is doing his three-minute talk. Since the semester began, every one of the 30-plus seniors in Government signs up for a day to talk about topics important to them. Topics range from singing, sharing art work, dancing, and similar interests. Spencer chose to talk about himself. Eyes focus on Spencer as he tells about his family, life bef

Schools Matter: College Board Is Selling Student Data to Selective Colleges

by Mike Simpson / 2d

College Board Is Selling Student Data to Selective Colleges As a reward for his devotion to corporate power during the creation of Common Core, David Coleman was handed the plum job as CEO for the College Board , where his work to shape college applicants in the image desired by Bill Gates could continue, unimpeded. Now Coleman's greed has joined forces with the greed of America's richest univer

Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain (But Not Mine!) | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain (But Not Mine!) When I was in the early grades in the Houston public schools, we learned penmanship. At the time, we dipped our quill pens into an inkwell. It was messy, at least for me. At some point we switched to pens that had ink reserves, and you filled them up and wrote with ink. That was better than dipping the quill. Then a new writing tec

CURMUDGUCATION: Hanushek Offers Teachers A Grand Bargain

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Hanushek Offers Teachers A Grand Bargain If there is anything we don't lack in the education sphere, it's economists who know all about how to make education work real betterer. Two faves are Raj Chetty and Eric Hanushek, who have both pushed some super-great ideas. You probably remember the one about how the right first grade teacher can mean you'll make umpty-zillion more dollars in your lifet

Big Win for Denver Public Schools | tultican

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Big Win for Denver Public Schools By Thomas Ultican 11/7/2019 Denver voters rejected the portfolio model of school management on Tuesday. Candidates endorsed by the teachers union were the victors and the “corporate school reform” candidates lost. Leading up to the election, the education focused publication Chalkbeat pointed out , “If candidates backed by the Denver teachers union win at least

Call to Action: Weigh In On Changes to COPPA | Truth in American Education

by Mike Simpson / 2d

Call to Action: Weigh In On Changes to COPPA A federal law protecting children under the age of 13, The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (or COPPA), is about to be weakened by the FTC. Parents, teachers, those who care about children should pay attention. If you think parents should have a say in how their young child’s information is collected and shared and used on the internet

“My Grandchildren Started Out Loving School” | The Merrow Report

by Mike Simpson / 2d

“My Grandchildren Started Out Loving School” “My grandchildren started out loving school at 4 years old, but have now grown to dislike it, as have so many children who are deprived of the arts, recess, and true learning.” That’s one sentence from a very moving letter from someone who read last week’s post in which I reached out to Maria Montessori, John Dewey and Aristotle to get their reactions

NOV 06

John Thompson: Why School Integration Matters | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 3d

John Thompson: Why School Integration Matters John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, reviews an important recent book. It is ironic that the evidence for the value of integration grows at the same pace as resegregation. Surely we can agree with Malcolm Forbes on one thing: schools should nurture “the art of thinking individually together.” Can we agree that the path to such a

Donate to Help Us Keep DeVos in the Hot Seat in 2020 - Network For Public Education

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Donate to Help Us Keep DeVos in the Hot Seat in 2020 This holiday season please remember to give a gift to save public education by donating to NPE. We cannot do the work we do without your financial support. Last year, we put Betsy DeVos in the hot seat when it was time to defend her budget. Our major investigative report on the federal Charter Schools Program, Asleep at the Wheel , was quoted

How PTA Fundraising Makes Schools Less Equal - The Atlantic

by Mike Simpson / 3d

The Power of a Wealthy PTA Thanks to parents’ donations, some public schools can afford shiny extras like coding classes, camping trips, and classroom iPads. Parent-teacher associations, or PTAs, are generally considered quaint and charming at best, and innocuous at worst. Run by volunteers, they are known for organizing bake sales and holiday parties, and buying gifts for Teacher Appreciation D

Andre Perry: As Republicans stress political fiction over facts, students’ math and reading scores fall

by Mike Simpson / 3d

As Republicans stress political fiction over facts, students’ math and reading scores fall As Republicans stress political fiction over facts, students’ math and reading scores fall GOP remedy for the decline? More of the policies that may have prompted it L ast week, the National Center for Education Statistics released the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for mathematics

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: How The State Supports Discrimination By Charters

by Mike Simpson / 3d

FL: How The State Supports Discrimination By Charters A Florida news station has heard from the state's department of education exactly how charter schools can discriminate against students with special needs. Part of the charter sales pitch has always been a claim that charters offer alternatives to all students. Just look at this happy blurb from the National Alliance for Public [sic] Charter

Education Matters: The FLDOE admits they rig the game for charters and charters are allowed to discriminate.

by Mike Simpson / 3d

The FLDOE admits they rig the game for charters and charters are allowed to discriminate. You know it’s funny after these revelations, I thought there would be a bigger outcry. More people would be upset and maybe Tallahassee would want to do something to make the playing ground level, but thus far they have been met with a collective shrug. In Jacksonville it was reported that an autistic boy w

NANCY BAILEY: The Failure of Betsy DeVos and 30 Years of Corporate Influence on Public Schools!

by Mike Simpson / 3d

The Failure of Betsy DeVos and 30 Years of Corporate Influence on Public Schools! The Failure of Betsy DeVos and 30 Years of Corporate Influence on Public Schools! Frustrated by public schools? Look no further than the corporate education reformers and what they have done to public education. Education Secretary DeVos and her corporate billionaire friends have been chipping away at the fabric of

Breaking: Did Kentucky teachers turn out Bevins? What next? – Fred Klonsky

by Mike Simpson / 3d

BREAKING: DID KENTUCKY TEACHERS TURN OUT BEVINS? WHAT NEXT? Randy Wieck is a Kentucky teacher and pension activist. He sent this special to this blog as the Kentucky vote was still being counted. If the election results hold for the Governor’s race in Kentucky – Democrat Andy Beshear seems to hold a 5100 vote lead, and IF incumbent Matt Bevin recognizes the result (always in doubt with autocrats

EdChoice Voucher Expansion in Ohio Creates a New Kind of School Funding Inequity | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 3d

EdChoice Voucher Expansion in Ohio Creates a New Kind of School Funding Inequity Steve Dyer’s new Innovation Ohio report on Ohio’s FY 2020-20121 state budget begins: “When Governor Mike DeWine signed HB 166 into law, he approved a budget that lawmakers had packed full of little-noticed gifts to those who seek to erode support for traditional public schools through a proliferation of charter and

NYC Educator: Another Day, Another Vilification of Teacher Tenure.

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Another Day, Another Vilification of Teacher Tenure. Sometimes there's so much to say, I'm puzzled just how to begin. I'll say this, though, We have a President of the United States who dozens of women have accused of rape, virtually wiping his ass with the US Constitution, attacking the free press, and the New York Post is attacking teacher tenure . Here's the argument, which I've heard a milli

With A Brooklyn Accent: Memories of Another Election Three Years Ago- And My Game Plan for Resisting the Trump Presidency

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Memories of Another Election Three Years Ago- And My Game Plan for Resisting the Trump Presidency As I woke up this morning, I had vivid memories of this time three years ago when the country woke up to learn that Donald Trump had been elected President The impact at Fordham, in particular, stood out in my mind. In the days following the election,white nationalist flyers were posted all over the

NOV 05

Screen Time Linked to Lower Brain Development in Kids | PEOPLE.com

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Screen Time Linked to Lower Brain Development in Preschoolers, MRIs Show The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids have limited screen use due to the possible cognitive behavioral risks A new study has found an association between excessive screen use and a lower level of brain development among preschool-aged children. The study, which was published on Monday in the journal JAMA P

NEW FROM JEFF BRYANT: Ed Politics | Fighting back against the school privatization agenda

by Mike Simpson / 3d

Ed Politics | Fighting back against the school privatization agenda CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT Ed Politics | Fighting back against the school privatization agenda

Investigations Unearth Systemic Corruption in K-12 School Leadership—and Students and Teachers Lose Out - Progressive.org

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Investigations Unearth Systemic Corruption in K-12 School Leadership—and Students and Teachers Lose Out Revelations of corruption in business and government are becoming an everyday affair, with example after example of people in leadership positions using elevated status for personal gain rather than for the public good. The deluge of stories about lying and cheating politicians , industry lobb

Giving schools an honest grade - The Washington Post

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Were public schools better way back when? Giving today’s schools an honest grade By James Harvey and Jack McKay Roland Chevalier, a former superintendent in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, liked to describe what he called the “piñata theory” of school reform: Keep beating the schools until good things fall out of them. It’s discouraging. A steady stream of censure, carping, derogation, and dispara

Will Texas be the first for African American studies? | Cloaking Inequity

by Mike Simpson / 4d

WILL TEXAS BE THE FIRST FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES? Public comments for statewide adoption of African American Studies will be Wednesday, November 13th. I encourage anyone with interest in the course to speak before our Board on the importance of adoption and maintaining factual integrity. The curriculum framework can be found here https://www.ginatxsboe1.com/aas.html Public comments will be c

The new CTU contract, sick days and pensions. – Fred Klonsky

by Mike Simpson / 4d

THE NEW CTU CONTRACT, SICK DAYS AND PENSIONS I don’t buy the story that Mayor Lightfoot is Rahm 2.0, plus I supported the teachers and the CTU’s strike demands. One of the changes to the contract is the ability to accumulate sick days. Teachers can now count the days as pensionable. Under their new contract, Chicago Teachers Union members would be able to accrue more than six times as many unuse

Louisiana Educator: Common Core and Ed Reform; Overwhelming Evidence of Failure

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Common Core and Ed Reform; Overwhelming Evidence of Failure Louisiana adopted Common Core standards sight unseen. Louisiana adopted the Common Core State Standards in 2010, before they were even written, partly because the Louisiana power brokers (LABI) and some out-of state billionaires said "the children could not wait". Strong medicine was needed to cure the ills of public education. Our refo

Teaching at D.Tech High School: Chemistry (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Teaching at D.Tech High School: Chemistry (Part 3) I enter the classroom after Greg Fenner has begun the lesson. Thirty-one students sit at eight scattered tables in a large room adorned with the essential Periodic Table of Elements. A cart filled with tablets sits at one side of the room. Each table seats four students comprising a team for activities and homework that the teacher assigns durin

Resisting the Silver Bullet in Literacy Instruction (and Dyslexia): “there is no certifiably best method for teaching children who experience reading difficulty” | radical eyes for equity

by Mike Simpson / 4d

Resisting the Silver Bullet in Literacy Instruction (and Dyslexia): “there is no certifiably best method for teaching children who experience reading difficulty” The Mind, Explained episode 1, Memory , introduces readers to some disorienting facts about human memory, transported in the soothing and authoritative voice-over by Emma Stone. The episode shares a 9-11 memory from a young woman, recal

A new ranking system for L.A. schools? Board to consider 1-to-5 scale - Los Angeles Times

by Mike Simpson / 4d

A new ranking system for L.A. schools? Board to consider 1-to-5 scale By HOWARD BLUME Los Angeles Unified is considering its first-ever plan to provide a rating scale for public schools and privately run charters, a move aimed at giving parents and educators simple and accessible analysis of campus performance, documents reviewed by The Times show. If it moves forward, the effort to rate schools

Audio: A Lesson From Indiana About L.A.'s Proposed School Rating System | 89.3 KPCC

by Mike Simpson / 4d

A Lesson From Indiana About L.A.'s Proposed School Rating System L.A. Unified School District officials have been developing a system to give each of its schools a grade — a single, overall rating of its academic performance. But the idea has been controversial, and on Tuesday, the LAUSD board could vote to end the project. Big Education Ape: State School Rankings and School Report Cards Drive R

NOV 04

When Facts Get In The Way, Change Them - Carl J. Petersen - Medium

by Mike Simpson / 5d

When Facts Get In The Way, Change Them “ What can you do, thought Winston, against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself; who gives your arguments a fair hearing and simply persists in his lunacy? ” - 1984 When Six Flags purchased two identical Intamin Impulse Coasters in 2001, they placed one of them in Marine World (now Discovery Kingdom ) in Vallejo, California. The ride’s height

NH Dem on House Education Committee Says "F--- Private and Religious Schools!" – InsideSources

by Mike Simpson / 5d

NH Dem on House Education Committee Says “F— Private and Religious Schools!” Democratic State Rep. Tamara Meyer Le has a message for New Hampshire’s private and religious schools: “F*** you.” Literally. In an October 20th Facebook post, the Seacoast progressive and member of the House Education Committee used the profanity in a diatribe on her public FB page regarding her 8th-grade daughter’s fr

How Gaggle Surveils Every Document, Email, Chat, And Picture That Students Create

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Gaggle Knows Everything About Teens And Kids In School Gaggle monitors the work and communications of almost 5 million students in the US, and schools are paying big money for its services. Hundreds of company documents unveil a sprawling surveillance industrial complex that targets kids who can’t opt out. This is part of a BuzzFeed News package on schools and social media surveillance. Read mor

Everything Wrong With Detroit's New Teacher Evaluation Scheme - Teacher Habits

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Everything Wrong With Detroit’s New Teacher Evaluation Scheme Add Detroit to the growing list of states and districts looking to revamp their teacher evaluation systems. Test-based accountability reached mania-like proportions during the Arne Duncan years but has slowly abated, with 34 states now requiring the use of test scores to evaluate teachers, down from a high of 43 in 2015. Maine made ne

Don’t Give Them Your Power! | Teacher in a strange land

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Don’t Give Them Your Power! | Teacher in a strange land Don’t Give Them Your Power! Here’s an eye-catching headline: Middle School Student On A Trip To DC Spat On A Black Person At The African American History Museum. And the follow-up, somehow even more depressing : The principal of the Connecticut middle school said she did not believe the incident was racially motivated. There’s more rationali

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: House Speaker Mike Turzai Is Upset, Again

by Mike Simpson / 5d

PA: House Speaker Mike Turzai Is Upset, Again PA House Speaker Mike Turzai is not a huge fan of public schools, and especially not the teachers who work. He was happy to host Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos when she visited Harrisburg. It was that visit that yielded the special moment when Turzai told some protesting teachers that they were special interests who are part of a monopoly and tha

Kentucky Parent: Why Voters Tomorrow Should Oust Privatizer Matt Bevin and Save Our Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Kentucky Parent: Why Voters Tomorrow Should Oust Privatizer Matt Bevin and Save Our Public Schools Gay Adelmann, the mother of a recent graduate of the Jefferson County Public Schools, writes here to explain why voters in Kentucky should get rid of Matt Bevin and elect Andy Beshear as Governor. She writes: “During Kentucky’s past two legislative sessions, Gov. Matt Bevin lashed out at the record

Now can we talk about state school funding? Judicial challenges to equity and adequacy and the evidence based model. – Fred Klonsky

by Mike Simpson / 5d

NOW CAN WE TALK ABOUT STATE SCHOOL FUNDING? JUDICIAL CHALLENGES TO EQUITY AND ADEQUACY AND THE EVIDENCE BASED MODEL The Illinois Constitution seems pretty clear about the role of the state in funding local schools. In the current version adopted in 1970, the education clause (Article X, Section 1) of the Illinois Constitution states: A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the education

5 Things Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Screwed Up This Month | Fatherly

by Mike Simpson / 5d

5 Things Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Ruined This Month Betsy DeVos runs her DoE like a messy episode of "House Hunters International." What the hell is happening at The Department of Education? T he kookiest corner of Washington, run by billionaire Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos , who has ties to Blackwater and not one — but several — private yachts in her family name, has a lot happe

Fourteen Years Later, Andrea Gabor Examines the Meaning of the 2005 Seizure of New Orleans’ Public Schools | janresseger

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Fourteen Years Later, Andrea Gabor Examines the Meaning of the 2005 Seizure of New Orleans’ Public Schools When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in September of 2005, I was serving in the Justice & Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination, as the point person tracking and staffing work in UCC congregations to support justice in public education. M

Seattle Schools Community Forum: NAEP, Part Two

by Mike Simpson / 5d

NAEP, Part Two My first thread explained how the results from the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress were flat and not inspiring. The key takeaway - aside from not much improvement - is that the gap between students at the top and those at the bottom is growing (even as those at the bottom are doing better). Let's see reactions from other public education outlets, keeping in mind t

John White’s 2019 LA NAEP and ACT Failure | deutsch29

by Mike Simpson / 5d

John White’s 2019 LA NAEP and ACT Failure On October 30, 2019, the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores were made public. After seven years of John White as Louisiana’s state superintendent, the results were so unsavory White and his Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) that his Louisiana 2019 NAEP Results Summary does not include a single actual NAEP scaled score.

Why Is “Growth Data” Risky? – redqueeninla

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Why Is “Growth Data” Risky? Because it is a model that predicts the future. It is not a metric, it is not direct data or a measurement. It is a calculated estimate which is very sensitive to initial conditions and assumptions. And assumptions are informed by the biases and ideology of those crafting the model. If everyone’s biases and ideology were perfectly aligned then modeling concerns might

Does Louisiana Really Lead The Nation In 8th Grade Math Gains? | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Does Louisiana Really Lead The Nation In 8th Grade Math Gains? The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for the 2019 tests were released on October 30th. Unlike state tests for which the cutoff scores can be manipulated for political purposes, the NAEP does seem to be somewhat unbiased. So the NAEP, sometimes called ‘The Nation’s Report Card’ does offer an interesting

A Conservative Push to Make Trans Kids and School Sports the Next Battleground in the Culture War - The New York Times

by Mike Simpson / 5d

A Conservative Push to Make Trans Kids and School Sports the Next Battleground in the Culture War The Kentucky governor’s race has turned into a kind of testing ground to see how transgender issues could rally support for President Trump. ARLINGTON, Va. — From the 12th floor of a glass office tower in the Washington suburbs, a campaign to sway the governor’s race in Kentucky on Tuesday is being

Wendy Lecker: Dalio’s secret pet project - StamfordAdvocate

by Mike Simpson / 5d

Wendy Lecker: Dalio’s secret pet project Ray Dalio is well known in Connecticut as head of a profitable hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates — whose profits have been fueled in part by generous state tax breaks and subsidies. His Dalio Foundation has been involved in Connecticut charter and public schools, with mixed reviews from the communities involved. Dalio’s newest venture is the Partnership

NOV 03

White House approves LGBTQ discrimination - YouTube #LicenseToDiscriminate

by Mike Simpson / 5d

White House approves LGBTQ discrimination - YouTube White House approves LGBTQ discrimination #LicenseToDiscriminate Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced on Friday his department got the go-ahead from the White House to roll back longstanding protections for LGBTQ people, effective immediately. Since 1964, The Civil Rights Act has banned discrimination based on race, gender, or

Seattle Schools Community Forum: District Getting Tough on Non-Vaccinated Students

by Mike Simpson / 5d

District Getting Tough on Non-Vaccinated Students From KUOW : Seattle Public Schools said it is missing immunization records for about one in ten students. The district sent letters to about 5,700 students’ families Oct. 28th notifying them that they will be barred from school beginning Jan. 8th if they still lack proof of the required immunizations, exemptions, or evidence that they are in the

The Really Scary Thing about Queen Betsy | I Love You but You're Going to Hell

by Mike Simpson / 5d

The Really Scary Thing about Queen Betsy I know it’s too late for Halloween, but here’s something scary to think about: As Jack Schneider argued this week at the History of Education Society annual meeting, the reason Betsy DeVos flubs so many basic questions in interviews is not because she is dim. It is not because she is a tony socialite out of her depth, or as Stephen Colbert described her,

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: It's November Already Edition (11/3)

by Mike Simpson / 6d

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: It's November Already Edition (11/3) ICYMI: It's November Already Edition (11/3) One storm front pushes through and all of a sudden it's much less like summer and much more like winter. But when it's cold outside, that's a good time to hunker down inside and read. Remember to share, folks. Schools and Surveillance Buzzfeed offers a package of pieces about some of the creepy

TONIGHT! Party for Eclectablog & The GOTMFV Show – Now with MORE sponsors! | Eclectablog

by Mike Simpson / 6d

TONIGHT! Party for Eclectablog & The GOTMFV Show – Now with MORE sponsors! Tonight is our 2019 annual fundraiser for Eclectablog and The GOTMFV Show podcast. Our theme this year is “Words That Can Save Democracy” and we have a very special guest. Anat Shenker-Osorio is a political communications expert whose research with Prof. Ian Haney-Lopez, DEMOS, and AFSCME is transforming how people commun

There's a national labor uprising happening right now that the media isn't reporting | Salon.com

by Mike Simpson / 6d

There's a national labor uprising happening right now that the media isn't reporting Decades of wealth concentration and corporate domination leave unions no other choice As the national press corps fixates on the coming and goings of President Trump as if it were the only story, the American labor movement is rising up, informed by almost a half-century of wage suppression made possible by unch

Ed Notes Online: Parsing Randi on Health Care - From Under Assault

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Parsing Randi on Health Care - From Under Assault This is a great post from a former ICEUFT colleague who blogs as Under Assault. She exposes the details of Randi's faux Medicare for All speaking out of 5 sides of her mouth. I keep wondering about the arguments our union leaders are making in favor of private insurance and arguing for the ability to bargain on health care in contracts when it is

It's Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A VERY BUSY DAY | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 TODAY The Berlin Wall Fell Thirty Years Ago This Week – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources by Larry Ferlazzo / 37min Shugert / Pixabay The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is on Nov. 9th. There are many related resources at The Best Sites To Learn About Walls That Separate Us . Than

Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement Chicago teachers and staff returned to the classrooms Friday after more than two weeks on strike. Their walkout lasted longer than the city’s landmark 2012 strike, as well as those in Los Angeles and Oakland earlier this year. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike also lasted long enough for the sea

EdAction in Congress November 3, 2019 - Education Votes

by Mike Simpson / 6d

EdAction in Congress November 3, 2019 NEA-supported College Affordability Act headed for the floor The College Affordability Act (H.R. 4674), a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), cleared the House Education and Labor Committee in a 28-22 party-line vote last week. The next stop is the floor. NEA supports the bil l and successfully advocated for expanding eligibility

Arthur Camins: Take Back Our Government. Start with Public Schools. | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Arthur Camins: Take Back Our Government. Start with Public Schools. Arthur Camins retired after a career as a teacher, a professor, a scientist, and director of a lab in charge of innovation. In this post , he lays out the great mission of our era: take back our government, restore our democracy of the people. Start with public schools. An excerpt: Public schools are the bedrocks of democracy an

NYC Educator: Unmeasurable

by Mike Simpson / 6d

Unmeasurable We all suffer through Danielson and her nonsense to one degree or another. Some of us have supervisors who aren't crazy, and honestly you can't ask for more than that. All of us feel the pressure regardless. Then there are the grades and tests. Not enough are passing. It must be your fault, says the supervisor. Well, it isn't my fault. All I do is walk around and pass judgment on yo

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