Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-10

Parents catching up under No Child Left Behind - Featured Stories - Modbee.com

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Parents catching up under No Child Left Behind - Featured Stories - Modbee.com:Parents catching up under No Child Left BehindBy Nan Austin naustin@modbee.com E-Mail Printreprint or license0 CommentsText Size: Parents were supposed to get power under the No Child Left Behind Act to recognize failing schools and choose to leave them or help fix them.But too often all the schools in low-income neighborhoods are on federal watch lists. Few parents move their children to higher performing schools when given the ... more »

State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers? | Get Schooled

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State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers? | Get Schooled:State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers?6:18 pm January 9, 2012, by Maureen DowneyI am perplexed why the first official state press release on an education reform bill out of the Georgia Senate quotes an official from StudentsFirst, the education advocacy group created by former Washington school chancellor Michelle ... more »

Diane Ravitch To Discuss NY School Reform in Cobble Hill - Carroll Gardens, NY Patch

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Diane Ravitch To Discuss NY School Reform in Cobble Hill - Carroll Gardens, NY Patch:Diane Ravitch To Discuss NY School Reform in Cobble HillThe bestselling author will be speaking at PS 29 on Tuesday, January 10.By Gwen RuelleEmail the authorJanuary 9, 2012 Email Print Comment Upload Photos and VideosDiane Ravitch will be discussing her newest bestseller, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, tommorrow evening at PS 29 in Cobble ... more »

What’s missing from education reform debate - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

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What’s missing from education reform debate - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:What’s missing from education reform debateby Valerie StraussThis was written by Mark Naison, professor of African and African American Studies at Fordham University in New York and chair of the department of African and African-American Studies. He is also co-director of the Urban Studies Program, African-American History 20th Century. This first appeared on the blog With A Brooklyn Accent.Read full article Virginia governor pushes questionable ed reformsValerie ... more »

Schools Matter: Why not try the obvious first?

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Schools Matter: Why not try the obvious first?:Why not try the obvious first?by skrashenWhy not try the obvious first?Sent to the Chicago Tribune, Jan 9, 2012According to one principal, students need a longer school day so they can catch up in reading (“Chicago schools to begin longer days Monday,” Jan 9).We can get much bigger gains spending less money and with much less work, with an approach that children will like a lot better than staying in school longer: Invest ... more »

Florida’s budget solution: Ban the kids - Fred Grimm - MiamiHerald.com

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Florida’s budget solution: Ban the kids - Fred Grimm - MiamiHerald.com:Florida’s budget solution: Ban the kids BY FRED GRIMMFGRIMM@MIAMIHERALD.COMMiamiHerald.com/columnistsPondering the budget Gov. Scott sent to the Legislature, I’m overcome with something similar to the sentiment suffered by adults in the lobby of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.One admires the soaring thatched ceiling, huge wooden beams, hard-carved furnishings, faux African artifacts and the wild (or at least wildish) animals roaming the grounds, and lament that this could be one of the ... more »

What’s Wrong With Walcott? « JD2718

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What’s Wrong With Walcott? « JD2718:What’s Wrong With Walcott?by jd2718by Lynne Winderbaum, retired ESL teacher, JFK HS, and former Bronx High School UFT District Rep“I’m not going to remove him, but he knows he cannot have any similar type of comments. He is on a very strict line as far as his behavior,” said Walcott, who added that some school staffers want Chase to remain in his post.Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx-principal-fire-outrageous-machine-comments-photocopier-article-1.1002357#ixzz1iy5ky7opFollowing the deplorable moral standards of his predecessors ... more »

Parents’ Rights in Prince William County Schools « PWC Education Reform Blog

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Parents’ Rights in Prince William County Schools « PWC Education Reform Blog:Parents’ Rights in Prince William County SchoolsJanuary 9, 2012 — pwceducationreformCan parents review the information the public schools hold about them and their children? Can they access their child’s locker? Can the public schools distribute a student’s information outside the local school district without the parents’ consent, for instance to the state or federal Department of Education or other organizations / institutions?The first, can parents review the information PWCS ... more »

School Tech Connect: Low Morale?

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School Tech Connect: Low Morale?:Low Morale?by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I can't imagine why.Can you imagine trying to teach anything worthwhile while having these stupid pacing guides shoved down your

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed Reform Marches On In Washington State

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ed Reform Marches On In Washington State:Ed Reform Marches On In Washington Stateby Melissa WestbrookLisa Macfarlane, who helped co-found LEV, has moved on and is now the head of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) with this modest-sounding goal:"..a political organization focused on encouraging a more productive conversation within the Democratic Party on the need to fundamentally reform public education. DFER operates at all levels of government to educate elected officials and support reform-minded candidates for public ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts #edreform #ows

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Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily BeastBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-7 minutes agoStill “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily Beast:Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted EducationJan 9, 2012 6:53 AM ESTExpecting all students to be college ready is a hopeless utopian goal that inevitably produces test-score inflation and bad results.PrintEmailComments (2)When George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind ... more »

Support PURE! » “Fire Chris Koch”: ISBE chief hid real costs of testing company junkets

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Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » “Fire Chris Koch”: ISBE chief hid real costs of testing company junkets:“Fire Chris Koch”: ISBE chief hid real costs of testing company junketsby adminThe Pearson junket scandal broke — i.e. was actually reported – a few months ago in New York, and the NY state attorney general is now investigating local education officials, but Chicago media seems uninterested in the fact that Illinois State Superintendent Chris Koch also took advantage of ... more »

RheeFirst! » Unsolved Mystery: DC Public Schools Cheating Scandal– I​s there a cover up?

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RheeFirst! » Unsolved Mystery: DC Public Schools Cheating Scandal– I​s there a cover up?:Unsolved Mystery: DC Public Schools Cheating Scandal– I​s there a cover up?by adminWritten by Catharine Evans and Ann Kane for the Potter Williams Report. Read the entire article here.“The Washington DC school system’s failure to hold higher-ups accountable for their 2008-2010 test cheating scandal has led to more speculation that some are intentionally stonewalling attempts to get at the truth. …… Mayor Gray took the opportunity to ... more »

Schools Matter: Chetty Study: "simpleminded, technocratic, dehumanizing and disturbing"

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Schools Matter: Chetty Study: "simpleminded, technocratic, dehumanizing and disturbing":Chetty Study: "simpleminded, technocratic, dehumanizing and disturbing"by Jim HornThe heart of Bruce Baker's first review of the corporate boot-licking conclusions by Chetty Co.:. . . . The authors find that teacher value added scores in their historical data set vary. No surprise. And they find that those variations are correlated to some extent with “other stuff” including income later in life and having reported dependents for females at a young age. There’s ... more »

Talking Title IX on Twitter | ED.gov Blog

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Talking Title IX on Twitter | ED.gov Blog:Talking Title IX on TwitterPosted on January 9, 2012 by Cameron BrenchleyThis year marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the civil rights law that ensures educational institutions that receive federal funding do not discriminate on the basis of sex. Secretary Duncan has said that Title IX is “one of the great civil rights success stories in education.” To kick off the anniversary year, Secretary Duncan and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn ... more »

No honor among thieves. Wing-nuts defend Romney when it comes to job destruction. « Fred Klonsky

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No honor among thieves. Wing-nuts defend Romney when it comes to job destruction. « Fred Klonsky:No honor among thieves. Wing-nuts defend Romney when it comes to job destruction.by Fred KlonskySome of the crazy right-wingers in the GOP would rather lose the White House than elect Mitt Romney, in spite of his claim of being conservative. He’s just not conservative enough for the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.But when Newt Gingrich came out with a blistering video on the ... more »

HechingerEd Blog | The reliability problem in grading teachers

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HechingerEd Blog | The reliability problem in grading teachers:The reliability problem in grading teachersby Sarah GarlandA new study underwritten by the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation (which is among the funders of The Hechinger Report) tackles the question of whether the new teacher evaluation systems going into effect in school districts across the country are accurate and reliable in identifying which teachers are good and which are not. The researchers found that the new evaluation systems are likely to be more ... more »

In Case You Missed It: A State suspension, A Cuomo commission, and a lot of 2012 tension « EdVox

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In Case You Missed It: A State suspension, A Cuomo commission, and a lot of 2012 tension « EdVox:In Case You Missed It: A State suspension, A Cuomo commission, and a lot of 2012 tensionby edvoxnyTuesdayAfter months of back-and-forth, warnings by State officials, and a breakdown in talks about a teacher evaluation system that ended with City DOE refusing to negotiate further with the teachers union, the State education commissioner suspended payments of federal grants to struggling schools across New ... more »

WATCH OUT FINLAND, HERE COMES ILLINOIS ! « Teachers Fight Back

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WATCH OUT FINLAND, HERE COMES ILLINOIS ! « Teachers Fight Back:WATCH OUT FINLAND, HERE COMES ILLINOIS !by alkleenI was looking at the wording of the goals for the new curriculum in Illinois, the “Common Core Curriculum”, (which by the way is about the 1,876th curriculum change in the last 40 years), but then again, who’s keeping score? One of the curriculum statements reads, “the standards were developed while considering the standards of top performing countries”. So, one of the goals ... more »

Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily Beast

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Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted Education - The Daily Beast:Still “Lying to Children”: How No Child Left Behind Corrupted EducationJan 9, 2012 6:53 AM ESTExpecting all students to be college ready is a hopeless utopian goal that inevitably produces test-score inflation and bad results.PrintEmailComments (2)When George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind legislation into law 10 years ago this week, it seemed like the perfect expression of his brand of “compassionate conservatism,” while also ... more »

Rahm catches hell for closing libraries. “Uh. It’s the union’s fault.” « Fred Klonsky

Rahm catches hell for closing libraries. “Uh. It’s the union’s fault.” « Fred Klonsky:

Rahm catches hell for closing libraries. “Uh. It’s the union’s fault.”

by Fred Klonsky

After a week of catching hell for his plan to close Chicago’s branch libraries on Mondays, Mayor Emanuel figured out that the way out of his mess was to blame the union.

Sun-Times:

Chicago Public Libraries were closed for business on Monday for the first time in recent memory after the latest in a string of disputes between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and organized labor.

No wonder Michelle Obama hates Rahm.

Catch the Emanuel logic on this one.

If the unions only had agreed to close the libraries half a day on Monday AND half a day on Friday, the libraries

Waiting for Superman to Fix All These Shitty Parents | Mr. Teachbad

Waiting for Superman to Fix All These Shitty Parents | Mr. Teachbad:

Waiting for Superman to Fix All These Shitty Parents

Herein you will find Part II of my review of the block­buster film Wait­ing For Super­man. Part I can be found here. Part II of the review first appeared, in more or less this form, as a guest post at White Group Math­e­mat­ics.

At a cer­tain level, it makes no dif­fer­ence whether par­ents are will­fully neg­li­gent, stu­pid, or gen­uinely inca­pable of being good par­ents due to forces beyond their con­trol. At the end of the day, you’re just a shitty par­ent and other peo­ple have to deal with your kids. For a living.

And that’s a big prob­lem if you are a child of such a par­ent. With shitty par­ents you miss out on a whole bunch of use­ful habits and ori­en­ta­tions that, hav­ing not learned, will mess you up more and more with each pass­ing year. You will offend and gen­er­ally dis­en­fran­chise your­self with more and more peo­ple

Support PURE! » PSAT for 1-10-12: Do this, read this, watch this

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 1-10-12: Do this, read this, watch this:

PSAT for 1-10-12: Do this, read this, watch this

by admin

There’s so much going on in public education right now (thanks to everyone who has been active and activist, fighting the war against our public schools) that I have had a hard time keeping up – so, for Public Schools Action Tuesday today, here’s a quick round up for you, to help you stay in the forefront of the battle!

Do this:

• Sign petition to save Crane HS.
• Talk to your alderman about the need for more library time, not less, and more freedom of speech and assembly, not less.
• Plan to attend the next Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force meeting Thursday, Jan. 12, 5 to 7 pm,

Schools Matter: Guest Post: NCLB's Faith-Based Reforms, a Post Mortem

Schools Matter: Guest Post: NCLB's Faith-Based Reforms, a Post Mortem:

Guest Post: NCLB's Faith-Based Reforms, a Post Mortem

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

By John Thompson

No Child Left Behind, like the War in Iraq and "Voo Doo" economics is a part of the American tradition of "the Power of Positive Thinking." If teachers really believed that "every child can learn," said the law's authors, revitalized schools would undo the legacies of Jim Crow and poverty. It is thus fitting that we celebrate NCLB's tenth anniversary with the words of Adlai Stevenson, "I find Saint Paul appealing and Saint Peale appalling."

Educationally, NCLB was a faith-based law that attributed schools' problems to "the benign bigotry of low expectations." It proclaimed that "No Excuses!," "High Expectations!," and an attitude of "Whatever It Takes!" could undo concentrations of poverty. An unholy coalition (or should I say an overly holy coalition?) of the left and the right agreed that the horrific