Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Private homeschooling groups — aka "pandemic pods" — gain popularity, but who gets left behind? | Salon.com

Private homeschooling groups — aka "pandemic pods" — gain popularity, but who gets left behind? | Salon.com

Private homeschooling groups — aka "pandemic pods" — gain popularity, but who gets left behind?
"We have all these rules in place so we can make sure that this 'bubble' basically doesn't pop," says one parent




Madeline Gregg knew back in March, after the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, that her 6-year-old daughter Evi probably wouldn't be physically attending first grade this upcoming school year. 


When Evi was 14 months old, she was diagnosed with fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disorder resulting in impaired bone marrow function, which leads to a decrease in the production of all blood cells. For that reason, Gregg said, exposure to the flu is enough to result in Evi's hospitalization. 
"So when school was initially canceled," she said, "it was a no-brainer that she wouldn't be going back to school until the majority of people are vaccinated [for the novel coronavirus]." 
While vaccines can take years to research and develop, according to the New York Times, 27 vaccines for the virus are already in human trials and scientists are "racing to produce a safe and effective vaccine by next year." 
But that leaves many school district leaders, educators and parents, including Gregg, in a position where they have to determine whether in-person education is the right choice for their students — and what the alternatives actually look like. 
In Gregg's case, she contacted the parent of another immunocompromised child from Evi's kindergarten class in Louisville, Ky., to see if they would want to "pod together." 
"And my mom, who is a retired teacher, will be homeschooling the girls three days a week for three hours a day on those days," Gregg said. "So not only will they be able to get out of the house, and have a safe environment, which is my mom's house, where we have all these rules in place so we can make sure that this 'bubble' basically doesn't pop, but they'll be able to see each other and play." 
The concept of "pandemic pods" has garnered a lot of interest over the last several weeks, the idea CONTINUE READING: Private homeschooling groups — aka "pandemic pods" — gain popularity, but who gets left behind? | Salon.com

Laurie Garrett: Most Schools Will Not Be Able to Open | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laurie Garrett: Most Schools Will Not Be Able to Open | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laurie Garrett: Most Schools Will Not Be Able to Open



Laurie Garrett is a Pulitzer Prize winning science writer. This article in Foreign Affairs explains why Trump and DeVos’s demand to reopen the schools for full-time, in-person schooling in a few weeks will fail. The schools don’t have the money to meet the necessary safety requirements. The less affluent the community, the less money is available to reduce class sizes and make the schools safe.
The article makes excellent points and contains a useful summary of research. I urge you to read it.
But be warned: it has the worst, most misleading headline I have ever seen in any article. I don’t hold writers responsible for headlines. I wonder whether the person who wrote it read the article.
The schools are neither a moral nor a medical catastrophe. It would have been more accurate to say that the federal government’s treatment of the schools is a moral and medical catastrophe. After all, we have a president who scoffs at science. Who can trust their CONTINUE READING: Laurie Garrett: Most Schools Will Not Be Able to Open | Diane Ravitch's blog

EdAction in Congress July 26, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress July 26, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress July 26, 2020



Clock is ticking, yet McConnell continues to delay COVID-19 response

As the new school year approaches and COVID-19 surges, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the GOP are hurting students, educators, and communities by keeping parents in limbo and schools scrambling to come up with contingency plans. McConnell refuses to take up the HEROES Act, passed by the House more than two months ago, and still has not come up with a bill of his own. The GOP is in such disarray the legislation could be released piecemeal, as a series of bills—a continuation of the failed, fractured approach that has prevailed when America needs bipartisan, bicameral cooperation to conquer and contain COVID-19.
From what we know, the GOP’s legislation will fall far short of what is needed. McConnell wants to limit spending to $1 trillion (one-third the amount provided by the HEROES Act), scale back stimulus checks, and reduce unemployment benefits. Several provisions strongly opposed by NEA could also be included like linking the receipt of education funding to in-person instruction without regard for safety, voucher schemes or set-aside programs that fund private schools at the expense of public schools, and waiving liability for providing safe teaching and learning conditions.
The GOP’s legislation will not include the $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments that is part of the HEROES Act—crucial if we are to avoid layoffs of educators, resume in-person instruction safely, and provide meaningful online instruction. If the economic damage from COVID-19 goes unchecked, nearly 2 million educators—one-fifth of the workforce—could lose their jobs over the next three years. These job losses would profoundly impact the 50 million students who attend public schools, their families, and communities—especially low-income students whose schools rely on Title I funding to lower class sizes, hire specialists, and offer a rich curriculum.
“Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has done absolutely nothing but stall the HEROES Act, go on a prolonged summer vacation, and squander critical time to safely and equitably reopen school buildings. And now he seems set on introducing a partisan bill that he knows won’t even pass in the Senate where he controls a majority,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia.
To help reopen schools and campuses safely, NEA is urging Congress to provide at least $175 billion to stabilize education funding, directed funding for personal protective equipment (PPE), at least $4 billion to equip students with hot spots and devices to help narrow the digital divide and close the homework gap, relief for student loan borrowers, and more. TAKE ACTION 

Comments due July 31 on DeVos rule that robs schools of resources

There’s still time to weigh in on a new rule from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that is diverting COVID-19 relief funding from high-poverty public schools to private schools, contrary to congressional intent. As a lawsuit filed by the NAACP says, “The Rule is as immoral as it is illegal. In a moment of crisis—when public school districts are called upon to educate their students in unprecedented circumstances, to protect their students and staff from disease, and to feed families who have been plunged into poverty, all with decimated state and local revenues—it is unconscionable for [DeVos] to siphon away the CARES Act’s desperately needed funds for the benefit of more affluent private-school students.”
The CARES Act explicitly requires districts to provide private schools with services in the “same manner” as Title I, which uses the number of low-income students in each school to allocate funds. Under the new DeVos rule, districts may instead base allocations on the total private school population—a change that could rob under-resourced public schools of hundreds of millions of dollars. In Michigan, for example, private schools would get four times as much—$21.6 million instead of the $5.1 million worth of services the Title I funding formula would provide, according to the Mackinac Center for Public PolicyTAKE ACTION

Cheers and Jeers

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)introduced an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to improve accountability and transparency in the 1033 program, which transfers surplus military equipment to local law enforcement. Even though a majority of senators voted YES, the amendment was not adopted—under Senate rules, it needed 60 votes.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) introduced the ESP Family Leave Act to ensure the education support professionals who keep schools running effectively for our children can access leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) gave floor speeches urging support for a bill to strengthen the Defense Production Act—which could be used to require production of personal protective equipment—and called for unanimous consent to pass it.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) opposed the bill to strengthen the Defense Production Act, dashing hopes of passing it by unanimous consent.

Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced the School Choice Now Act, which would create a voucher program that provides federal tax credits for private school tuition and home schooling expenses.
EdAction in Congress July 26, 2020 - Education Votes

Preview SFUSD's plans for students and families this fall 2020 - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Preview SFUSD's plans for students and families this fall 2020 - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Preview SFUSD’s plans for students and families this fall 2020



Commissioners and staff have been listening to with families, and students and educators with educators to create an improved learning experience for students this fall and more support and communication with families. Below are several places you can find information about our upcoming meeting.

Joint Select Committee – July 24, 2020

Last Friday I attended a Joint Select Committee Meeting with city officials on the Board of Supervisors and SF City College. We were joined by staff from the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF).
We all have so many questions about health safety, and education and the fall. I’m sharing this video from last Friday’s SF Joint Select Committee where San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education Commissioners, City College Trustees, and City Supervisors.
Topics discussed in the SFUSD portion of the meeting include: 
  • Health and safety challenges in opening schools related to cleaning transportation and staffing, 
  • Information on how SFUSD has gathered input to inform improvements in distance learning this fall along with changes to state requirements, and
  • Creative ideas about how we might leverage outdoor space in our schools and possibly adjacent parks. 
With so much to discuss, it was a long meeting worth watching with three other presentations on the agenda. Areas of interest for SFUSD parents covered later in the meeting include:

Introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Covid Economic Reset – Wrench in the Gears

Introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Covid Economic Reset – Wrench in the Gears

Introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution & The Covid Economic Reset



In mid-May 2020,  Jason Bosch, documentary filmmaker and activist from Denver, came to Philadelphia to pick my brain about the things I’ve been researching for the past five years. He’s in the process of editing that footage into a series of videos covering  issues related to racialized technology, global finance, the Covid lockdowns, digital identity, and the rise of human capital data markets.
Below are the first two installments in this series. A lot of this is ground I have covered in previous posts, but I sense the conversational nature of this exchange may make some of this information more approachable.
Very grateful to Jason for sharing his talents. Phone videos can only take you so far.

Part One

Part Two


Indiana: A Profile in Courage | Diane Ravitch's blog

Indiana: A Profile in Courage | Diane Ravitch's blog

Indiana: A Profile in Courage



Steve Hinnefeld writes here about a rare act of courage in a red state. Indiana State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick defied Betsy DeVos and has refused to hand out money from the CARES Act to private schools, without regard to need.
Superintendent McCormick told DeVos to stuff it. For her courage and independence, she goes on the blog’s honor roll.
Hinnefeld writes:
The good news: In Indiana, at least, public school districts won’t need to worry about Betsy DeVos diverting their anticipated funding to private schools.
DeVos, the U.S. secretary of education, may still succeed in her scheme to use the act to boost funding for even the wealthiest private schools. But the Indiana Department of Education will make up any funds that are lost to public schools.


“The CARES Act was intended to assist those most in need …,” Indiana Superintendent of Public Education Jennifer McCormick told school officials. “COVID-19 has CONTINUE READING: Indiana: A Profile in Courage | Diane Ravitch's blog

Trump Thinks He Can Win Votes by Stressing School Choice and Fast Reopening | Diane Ravitch's blog

Trump Thinks He Can Win Votes by Stressing School Choice and Fast Reopening | Diane Ravitch's blog

Trump Thinks He Can Win Votes by Stressing School Choice and Fast Reopening



The Washington Post says that Trump has latched on to school choice and a fast reopening as issues that will win back white suburban women, whose support for him has faded.
This may indicate how out of touch he is. Parents move to the suburbs because their property wealth creates good schools. There is no unmet demand in the suburbs for vouchers or charter schools.
Furthermore polls clearly show that parents want their children to return to safe schools. They do not want their children to go to full-time in-person instruction without safeguards in place.
Trump is unaware that vouchers are not popular, that they have lost every state referendum by large margins.
But Republicans won’t let school choice go, even though only a tiny percentage of parents choose to leave public schools, even when choice is easy and free.
The Post writes:
President Trump sees two school issues as key to reelection, and after paying almost no attention to CONTINUE READING: Trump Thinks He Can Win Votes by Stressing School Choice and Fast Reopening | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: The Hybrid Model--Essential Work or Political Hackery?

NYC Educator: The Hybrid Model--Essential Work or Political Hackery?

The Hybrid Model--Essential Work or Political Hackery?



I’m vain. I think my subject, English as a new language, is the most important my students have. As such, I want them to understand structure. Teaching grammar, though, bores my kids to death. I have to find a better way.

One of the things that makes me crazy its the use of the present tense. When one of my students says, “She go to the store,” it makes me want to jump out a window. I’ll feign a heart attack or something to draw attention to my displeasure. I look for novel ways to practice this structure. One activity is a game that replicates an old TV show called What’s My Line. Students pretend to have one job or another, and we practice asking questions to figure out what it is.

Do you work in an office?
Do you need any special diplomas?
Do you work outside?


These are all good questions. I point out others that might guide their yes/ not questions toward an educated guess:

Who works in an office?
Who needs a diploma?


There’s one question I get that I object to, though.

Is your job important?


Grammar isn’t everything. I try to show students that all jobs are important. When I was their age, I worked as a dishwasher. I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty CONTINUE READING: 
NYC Educator: The Hybrid Model--Essential Work or Political Hackery?


glen brown: This Teacher Asks You to Just Please Give Her a Minute by Sera Deo

glen brown: This Teacher Asks You to Just Please Give Her a Minute by Sera Deo

This Teacher Asks You to Just Please Give Her a Minute by Sera Deo



“Give us a minute.
“I spent today removing my personal belongings from my classroom. I’m not alone. This is being required in many districts right now. Chairs. Pillows. Lamps. Bookcases. Books. Nothing but desks and chairs remained. I left my empty classroom and cried all the way home.
“Give us a minute.
“Before you say that parents need to be able to work. That parents need a plan. That parents aren’t teachers. Remember. Most parents aren’t teachers, but most teachers ARE parents. We want what’s best for your kids and OUR kids, too. We are in this together.
“Give us a minute.
“Before you spew your negative personal experience with virtual learning from the spring. Think. Do you have any idea how hard we worked to make it the best it could possibly be? Do you have any idea how it feels to read your words?
“Give us a minute.
“Before you rattle off your ideas about what will work in the fall. Understand. For every idea you have, we know a student and a family who CONTINUE READING: glen brown: This Teacher Asks You to Just Please Give Her a Minute by Sera Deo

George Thomas: An Old Dead White Guy who could use a Statue | JD2718

George Thomas: An Old Dead White Guy who could use a Statue | JD2718

George Thomas: An Old Dead White Guy who could use a Statue



(This is not my usual entry – it’s a bit about a little-known Civil War General – if it’s not your thing, no worries – I’ll be back with regular writing tomorrow. – jd)
I’m all for tearing down confederate statues. I’m all for taking their names off of buildings and bridges and schools? Who the hell put their names on schools?  Slaveholders, racists, subject them to scrutiny, and I’m good with the same treatment if that’s where the discussion goes. And I’m cool with replacing them with abolitionists and revolutionaries, but I’m much cooler replacing them with abstract themes and groups of people – statues of enslaved people freeing themselves, workers on strike, native people refusing to vacate their land. Or how about Emancipation High School, Liberation Federal Building?
History is not a series of names of old famous dead white men, or a series of names of old famous people. Especially in the last century, but I claim further, history is made when the people in the middle or the people at the bottom, nameless, faceless, forgotten, when the majority have had enough, or when the masses move to change things. Wars are won by infantry, not generals. We remember the sweet words of the leaders, but nothing happens with just words – movements of people make change, make history.
But, in a contrary thought, I want to talk about a neglected dead old white guy – George Thomas. Let me make the case – if there’s an old dead white guy we should build even one monument to, it should be him.

Not making the case – Thomas’ early career

George Thomas was from Virginia. His family owned other people. He went to West Point. He fought in the Seminole War in Florida, where the US tried to forcibly remove native people from Florida. He fought in the war against Mexico (and in fact served alongside of Braxton Bragg, whose name CONTINUE READING: George Thomas: An Old Dead White Guy who could use a Statue | JD2718

Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS says they will close schools based on medical advice, well medical advice has been screaming that they should not open! (draft)

Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS says they will close schools based on medical advice, well medical advice has been screaming that they should not open! (draft)

DCPS says they will close schools based on medical advice, well medical advice has been screaming that they should not open! (draft)



When you were a kid, and mom told you no, did you over go ask dad because you knew he would give you the answer you wanted? What about with a business, ever got been told an answer you didn't like ever to call back later to talk to someone else to get a different answer? I feel like that is DCPS they don't like the answers from one medical expert they go to the next, whatever they can do to follow through with Greene's reckless decision to open school to brick and learning.

DCPS says they will close schools if the medical experts say to close schools well the medical field has been screaming to close schools, and they just haven't been listening.

It is sad to say, but the CDC and the state and local health departments have been compromised. I wish health wasn't politicized, but in the age of Trump, it is where we find ourselves.  

Since that is the case we have to look elsewhere.

Here is what the American Association of pediatricians says,

From Click Orlando,

 Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday defended his plan to reopen schools for the upcoming academic year, even as the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on Thursday sent a letter to his office, asking CONTINUE READING: Mr. G for District 3: Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters: DCPS says they will close schools based on medical advice, well medical advice has been screaming that they should not open! (draft)

Are New York City Schools Opening in September? Principal and Teacher Unions Are Doubtful | Ed In The Apple

Are New York City Schools Opening in September? Principal and Teacher Unions Are Doubtful | Ed In The Apple

Are New York City Schools Opening in September? Principal and Teacher Unions Are Doubtful



This has not been a good week for the Richard Carranza, the NYC School Chancellor.
The light at the end of the tunnel might be an oncoming locomotive.
New York City has a $9 billion deficit this fiscal year and serious deficits over the next few years; layoffs, unemployment, a loss of services, homelessness, a bleak future facing the city unless the city “re-opens,” and let’s add “reopens safely.”
report  from the NYC Independent Budget Office (IBO) concludes,
New York City is facing nearly unprecedented challenges as it struggles to maintain budget balance, protect vital services, and provide a safe and healthy environment for individuals who want to live, work, or visit here.
While the contagion rate (# of positive tests) remains very low in New York it is surging across the country.  The states that reopened too soon are seeing staggering surges in COVID contagion.
See NYS contagion rate here, Florida here, Texas here and California here.
Reopening businesses, and let’s add “safely” will increase tax revenues and ease CONTINUE READING: Are New York City Schools Opening in September? Principal and Teacher Unions Are Doubtful | Ed In The Apple

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

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


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


Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/07/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_25.html


Just Sent-Out Free Monthly Email Newsletter
geralt / Pixabay I’ve just mailed out the August issue of my very simple free monthly email newsletter . It has over 3,000 subscribers, and you can subscribe here . Of course, you can also join the eighteen thousand others who subscribe to this blog daily. Here Are 8 Ways You Can Subscribe For Free…
“Q&A Collections: Education Policy Issues”
Q&A Collections: Education Policy Issues is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. All Classroom Q&A posts on Education Policy Issues (from the past nine years!) are described and linked to in this compilation post. Here’s an excerpt from one of them:
Most Popular Posts On This Blog Over The Years
kalhh / Pixabay I realized today that, though I have been publishing lists of the most popular posts from this blog weekly and yearly (at least for the past several years), I hadn’t brought those annual lists together. I thought readers might, or might not, find them interesting, so here they are: THE TEN MOST POPULAR POSTS IN 2020 – SO FAR THE MOST POPULAR POSTS FROM THIS BLOG IN 2019 – PART TWO
July’s Best Lists – There Are Now 2,186 Of Them!
Here’s my regular round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 2,186 of them categorized here ): HERE ARE DETAILED – & TENTATIVE – DISTANCE LEARNING PLANS FOR ALL MY FALL CLASSES A LOOK BACK: 2020’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART ONE TERRIBLE NEWS: JOHN LEWIS HAS PASSED – LEARN ABOUT HIS LIFE THE TEN MOST POPULAR POSTS IN 2020 – SO FAR THE BEST RESOURCES ON INSTRUCTION
Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week
Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. Of course, this is a crazy time for “classroom” instruction…. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON INSTRUCTION IN 2020 – PART ONE. Here are this week’s picks: 3 Brain-Based Strategies That Encourage Deeper Thinking is from Edutopia. Si
July’s Most Popular Posts
As regular readers know, at the end of each week I share the five most popular posts from the previous seven days. I thought people might find it interesting to see a list of the ten most popular posts from the previous thirty days. You might also be interested in It’s The Thirteenth Anniversary Of This Blog – Here Are The Forty All-Time Most Popular Posts. Not to mention A LOOK BACK: 2020’S BEST
Two Excellent Video Collections Sharing Guidance About Teaching Remotely
Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST VIDEO TUTORIALS ON TEACHING REMOTELY – PLEASE SUGGEST MORE! : K-12 Online Teaching Academy is from San Jose State University. To tell you the truth, I can’t figure out who actually brought this How-To Distance Teach Tutorials collection together, but it looks good.
Sunday’s Three Must-Read Articles About Reopening School In The Fall
Here are today’s additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL , and they are all from The New York Times: ‘Online School Is Not the End of the World’ ‘Home-Schooling Won’t Kill Us. Covid-19 Might.’ A Visit To The Classrooms The Kids Left Behind.
Wow – Check out This Three Minute Film By A Ninth-Grader About Distance Learning & Quarantine
jdblack / Pixabay Marian Dingle shared this video on Twitter. It’s by ninth-grader Liv McNeil. You can read about her and the film at “For a minute-long sequence, I cut together 480 clips”: This 15-year-old director’s short film about quarantine is going viral .
Here’s The Video Of The Keynote I Gave At The VirtuEL Conference Today: “We will find a way or make one: Overcoming COVID-19 challenges facing ELLs & their teachers”
mohamed_hassan / Pixabay The VirtuEL Conference took place today – it provides lots of great professional development sessions by ELL educators for ELL educators. This one was its fourth annual one. And, they invited me to give the keynote, which you can watch below. You can access all of today’s great sessions, and there are a lot of them (in addition to sessions from previous years, here . I’ll
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
BiljaST / Pixabay Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO. A
Here’s Our Chapter On Distance Learning With ELLs & It’s Free To Download (No Registration Required!)
Our publisher has just released the Distance Learning chapter from our upcoming book, The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide, 2nd edition . Please remember that is is a draft , so it hasn’t gone through the usual proofreading 
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007