Poor Students Struggle as Class Plays a Greater Role in Success - NYTimes.com

Poor Students Struggle as Class Plays a Greater Role in Success - NYTimes.com:

Poor Students Struggle as Class Plays a Greater Role in Success

by By JASON DePARLE

For Poor Strivers, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall

Michael Stravato for The New York Times

Angelica Gonzales, admitted to Emory, hoped to be the first college graduate in her family.

By JASON DePARLE

Published: December 22, 2012

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GALVESTON, Tex. — Angelica Gonzales marched through high school in Goth armor — black boots, chains and cargo pants — but undermined her pose of alienation with a place on the honor roll. She nicknamed herself after a metal band and vowed to become the first in her family to earn a college degree.

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Affluent Students Have an Advantage and the Gap Is Widening

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Michael Stravato for The New York Times

From left, Melissa O’Neal, Bianca Gonzalez and Angelica Gonzales met up in Galveston, Tex. They were in a college-prep program for low-income students.

“I don’t want to work at Walmart” like her mother, she wrote to a school counselor.

Weekends and summers were devoted to a college-readiness program, where her best friends, Melissa O’Neal and Bianca Gonzalez, shared her drive to “get off the island” — escape the prospect of dead-end lives in luckless Galveston. Melissa, an eighth-grade valedictorian, seethed over her mother’s boyfriends and drinking, and Bianca’s bubbly innocence hid the trauma of her father’s death. They stuck together so much that a tutor called them the “triplets.”

Low-income strivers face uphill climbs, especially at Ball High School, where a third of the girls’ class failed to graduate on schedule. But by the time the triplets donned mortarboards in the class of 2008, their story seemed to validate the promise of education as the great equalizer.

Angelica, a daughter of a struggling Mexican immigrant, was headed to Emory University. Bianca enrolled in community college, and Melissa left for Texas State University, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s alma mater.

“It felt like we were taking off, from one life to another,” Melissa said. “It felt like, ‘Here 

Mixed Reaction to Call for Armed Guards in Schools

by By MOTOKO RICH

Teachers, parents and police reacted to a National Rifle Association proposal for armed security, some concerned about school culture and others worried about who might get shot

Have a Very Rephormy Christmas | EduShyster

Have a Very Rephormy Christmas | EduShyster:

Have a Very Rephormy Christmas

by edushyster2012

And an excellent and innovative new year…
Still looking for the purrfect gift for that extra excellent and innovative someone in your life? Not to worry. EduShyster has assembled an assembly of offerings guaranteed to sent test scores soaring all through the holidays and into 2013. So from my rephorm family to yours: ¡feliz navidad and a very prospero año!

Nothing says “you’re proficient” like a Galvanic bracelet from the Gates collection of great ideas.

Just for her, a Galvanic Gates-let
Nothing tells the lady in your life “you’re proficient” like a Galvanic bracelet from the exclusive Gates Collection of 

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris on the Regents proposal for three different kinds of diplomas

NYC Public School Parents: Carol Burris on the Regents proposal for three different kinds of diplomas:

Carol Burris on the Regents proposal for three different kinds of diplomas

by Leonie Haimson

Congratulations to Carol Burris, co-author of the principal lettercritiquing the APPR, the new NY state teacher evaluation system. Her school, South Side HS in Rockville Center, was just named the second best high school in the state, according to US News and World Report, and it is one of few non-selective relatively diverse schools on the list.

Here is her explanation:  "We do great things by challenging all kids, supporting them and not sorting them."  It also can't hurt that her school has average class sizes of 17 (in math) to 23  (in social studies), according to its NYS report card.   Carol adds:

The typical class sizes for math, science and English are a bit higher than shown because we have every other day support classes in those subjects for kids who need them and those are twelve or fewer. We also keep our repeater classes (kids who 

Diane in the Evening 12-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Uses and Abuses of Online Learning

by dianerav

The school district in Manchester, New Hampshire, is considering online classes–not blended learning–as Acosta-saving device. The idea is to put kids online and lay off teachers. Anyone who deals with children and adolescents knows that face-to-face contact, human-to-human relationships are very important. Something’s,

Do We Care About Children?

by dianerav

This teacher asks, how can we show that we really care about children?

Why Armed Guards Change Nothing

by dianerav

A reader explains why armed guards will not end the violence:
As my own experience with troubled children, and as pointed out in the PBS ‘After Newtown’ program of 12/21/2012 pointed out:
(1) the shooters tend to be young males who largely fantasize about the shooting long before they act,
(2) they strongly tend to do active research of their act before doing so,
(3) they see this as a way to end their misery

Outrageous Treatment of Children with Special Needs

by dianerav

In Louisiana, this mother reports, her 17-year-old autistic son will be required to take the ACT and EOC (end-of-course exams).
As she writes, “These children are also being forced to take the EOC. or “end of course” tests for high school courses that they have never taken. Allow me to reiterate. They are forced to take high-stakes, final exams for classes in which they have never been enrolled because they cannot meet the prerequisites.”
What will this prove, she wonders? Will it prove that her son’s school is a very bad school with very low test 

On TIMSS: Black Students in Mass. Do as Well as Finland!

by dianerav

The Daily Howler is all over the media for its sour reporting about the latest international test (TIMSS). He finds that they reverted to their “doom and gloom” scenario without bothering to dig into the data.
He dug into the data and found lots to cheer about.
In this post, Bob Somerby parses the data and discovers that black students in Massachusetts did as well as 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-22-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Secret Document Leaked: Chicago Plans to Close Nearly 100 Schools by dianerav The Chicago Tribune obtained a copy of a secret document describing the plan of Chicago Public Schools to close 95 schools, mostly in minority neighborhoods. The plan was dated September 10. This represents a dramatic elimination of public schools in Chicago. The city says it will slow down charter growth, at least this year, but there can be little doubt that the school closings will create a growing pool of displaced students ... more »

Stop Special Needs Vouchers in Wisconsin! : blue cheddar

Stop Special Needs Vouchers in Wisconsin! : blue cheddar:

Stop Special Needs Vouchers in Wisconsin!

by AnnieJo

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in Wisconsin since February 2011, and in Michigan just this month, it’s that what gets passed in the statehouse after the election can be devastatingly different than what was promised or campaigned upon or even hinted at before. We’ve also been hit with the following corollary: these things can happen with blinding speed. Since the Nov. 6, 2012 election, the Walker administration has made no secret of their priority-plans to expand school vouchers in Wisconsin beyond the current voucher-cities of Milwaukee and Racine, but so far there hasn’t been a peep about a certain piece of voucher legislation that deservedly failed during the last legislative session: the ALEC-sourced “Special Needs Scholarship Program Act,” AB110/SB486. But just because they haven’t said anything, doesn’t mean it’s not coming. There’s a consistent expectation 

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky

Saturday coffee. « Fred Klonsky:

Saturday coffee.

by Fred Klonsky

Katy Hogan and Mike James of the Heartland Cafe.

When I saw my old friend Mike James last Sunday it was after Representative Kelly Cassidy had appeared onLive from the Heartland, the radio show (WLUW 88.7 FM) that he and Katy Hogan do each Saturday morning at the venerable Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park.
Cassidy is a co-sponsor of HB6258, Democrat Elaine Nekritz’s bill that would cut teacher pension cost of living increases and eventually turn our defined benefit system into the equivalent of a 401K.
Mike is an old sixties radical guy and now an active progressive Democrat. He has a soft spot in his heart  for other local progressive Dems and who can blame him.
Me, I guess. When they go after old people’s promised pensions.
Me being one of those old people myself.
So I asked Mike for equal time. Which he graciously and

Common Core Toolkit for Principals: Part 1 | Connected Principals

Common Core Toolkit for Principals: Part 1 | Connected Principals:

Common Core Toolkit for Principals: Part 1

by Gerald Aungst

As part of my district’s plan to realign our curriculum with the Common Core State Standards (which we are calling the C4 Project, for Cheltenham Common Core Curriculum), I will be developing a Toolkit for Principals. Each month, I will prepare a four-part package of resources and activities they can use both for their own professional development and as part of faculty meetings with their staff members. The four parts each month will be

1. Think: a warm up article, blog post, or video to set the stage for a faculty discussion
2. Share: two activities principals can use with staff members during the month in faculty or team meetings
3. Test Drive: A key instructional practice that teachers can try out in their classrooms without expectations
4. Explore: Links to other resources with more information for those who want to dig deeper

Though these kits will be geared heavily towards the particular needs of our own district, I thought others might 

uwec hmong students respond to racist "problems" sign

uwec hmong students respond to racist "problems" sign:

uwec hmong students respond to racist "problems" sign

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this note that was posted in a dorm bathrooom stall by someone who obviously had some "problems" with her Hmong floor-mates at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

I recently heard from Mai Neng Vang, the resident assistant on the floor where the sign was posted. After waiting a month to see whether and how school officials would react, she and her peers decided to write a public statement to the university administration and the greater UWEC community.

Here's the letter:

December 17, 2012
Dear UWEC administrators, students, faculty, staff, and the community at large:
As a group of concerned and directly-affected student leaders, we, the undersigned, want to address a recent incident here at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. We would like to share our interpretations of the incident and its aftermath, as well as our concerns and hopes for moving forward.

On November 20, 2012, two days before Thanksgiving Break, four 8.5x11 posters 

Conflicting State and Federal Standards for Educational Performance

Conflicting State and Federal Standards for Educational Performance:

Conflicting State and Federal Standards for Educational Performance

By Michael Higham | 12/22/2012 | Education, Headline, Issues, Role of Government

Read Time: 2 - 4 minutes

 

Credit: businessweek.com

Student achievement is a priority for educators and the government that oversees its schools. Within the conversation of education standards is the discussion of state and federal roles in evaluating school performance. California and the federal government have two different evaluation methods to determine whether a school is meeting certain standards or not. This has caused confusion at the local level.

California uses the Academic Performance Index (API) to evaluate a school’s performance. API focuses on accounting for relative gains in school performance and serves as a model for growth. An API score is dependent upon performance from previous years, and awards points for improvement. The API is not an individual tracking system that monitors students, but 

Campbell Brown's Despicable Newtown Rant:

Campbell Brown's Despicable Newtown Rant

By Peter Hart 11 Comments

digg

Former CNN/NBC anchor Campbell Brown demonstrates that "both sides do it" false balance is not just a problem with campaign journalism.  In a new post at the Daily Beast(12/21/12),  she explained that most reactions to the Newtown massacre have been touching and inspiring. But, she writes,

there have also been very unfortunate, even callous and disgusting, statements made by individuals who cannot help but use a slaughter of more than two dozen people, most of whom are children, to advance their ideology.

We see it on both sides.

Oh, here we go.

On the right, the examples are obvious: Brown mentions James Dobson linking the shooting to same-sex marriage and abortion, while Mike Huckabee pointed 

Editorial: Court right to hit lawmakers over education mandate | Editorials | The Seattle Times

Editorial: Court right to hit lawmakers over education mandate | Editorials | The Seattle Times:

Editorial: Court right to hit lawmakers over education mandate

The state Supreme Court is underwhelmed with the Legislature’s efforts so far to make good on the McCleary funding mandate. Rightly so.

STATE lawmakers must do more than bicker in task-force meetings to make progress on its court-ordered mandate to fully fund a 21st-century public-education system.

That should mean a robust system from early learning to higher education.

The state’s Joint Task Force on Education Funding has fixated more on revenue and less on important education goals and reforms. Its last meeting ended with unimpressive recommendations. Efforts to decouple revenue from accountability should cease.

The state Supreme Court is monitoring the Legislature’s progress on education funding under its year-old McCleary v. State ruling. Justices are underwhelmed with the progress so far, a point made fully in the court’s terse takedown of the Legislature filed Thursday as a court order.

The court’s landmark education-funding ruling 

More than 2,000 attend candlelight vigil in Newtown

SIGN the Sandy Hook Elementary School Global Sympathy Card | causes.com:

PETITION: SIGN the Sandy Hook Elementary School Global Sympathy Card  24 DAYS LEFT  

PEOPLE SIGNED THE PETITION     2,370,233

More than 2,000 attend candlelight vigil in Newtown

More than 2,000 Newtown residents met on a soccer field tonight to remember the victims - and bring comfort to one another.

NEWTOWN, Conn. - Thousands of townspeople – many in tears – gathered together at a candlelight vigil on a local soccer field Friday night to honor and remember the 27 victims in last week's elementary school massacre.STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Massacre of children will not be forgotten, residents say
• Teddy bears, leis, candles mark solemn event
• "I have seen the spirt of Newtown"

A bell sounded after each victim's name was solemnly read, as residents clutched teddy bears and held candles that flickered on a cold, damp night.

Police estimate that more than 2,000 came to the event. Artificial trees decorated with paper angels stood near a stage at the front of the field – each angel wearing a lei shipped on ice from Hawaii, said vigil organizer Sarah Ferris, 20.

Newtown's Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said that the shooting "shattered" the Newtown community's "sense of safety."

FULL COVERAGE: Victims of Newtown massacre

FULL COVERAGE: Connecticut school shooting

Robinson said she wondered how such a tragedy could occur in Newtown, and praised the many workers who came forward in the past week to establish a new school in Monroe, Conn., for students in the tragedy.

"Out of the ashes of an indescribable event, I have seen the spirit of Newtown," Robinson said.

Satire, Sarcasm and Swearing: My Journey | Mr. Teachbad

Satire, Sarcasm and Swearing: My Journey | Mr. Teachbad:

Satire, Sarcasm and Swearing: My Journey

by teachbad

To close out the year, give myself a lit­tle break, and cel­e­brate three mag­i­cal years of Mr. Teachbad’s Blog of Teacher Dis­gruntle­ment, I’ve decided to post a lit­tle retrospective.

What fol­lows are the Top Ten most-read posts from each year of Teachbad’s glo­ri­ous his­tory. I tried pick­ing my per­sonal favorite Top Ten, but it soon became clear that would be even more self-indulgent and time-consuming than this was. Let me know if you think I have pro­gressed or declined.

Thanks for read­ing and I hope you all have a great break, enjoy­ing friends and family.

Mean­while, if you’re jonesing for some­thing fresh and dif­fer­ent, you could try this. Last week I posted this on my Face­book page:

I would like to argue that right-wing gov­ern­ment para­noia jack-off fan­tasies should no longer be the most influ­en­tial force in the national debate over gun con­trol policy.

What fol­lowed was a some­what coher­ent and some­times thought­ful dis­cus­sion of gun con­trol, which was quickly swal­lowed up in a sea of anti-gun peo­ple call­ing pro-gun peo­ple stu­pid and pro-gun peo­ple called anti-gun peo­ple pussies. It ended, and I really wouldn’t have pre­dicted this in the begin­ning, with me mak­ing a spir­ited defense of my pimp and wish­ing Merry Christ­mas to a hos­tile red­neck. (If you decide to read this thread, please don’t respond to some­one named King William. We don’t need him to reen­gage. Thank you.)

And now to the Archives:

2010

Maybe You’re Just Not High School Mate­r­ial Jan­u­ary 13

Fire Bad Teach­ers (But Who’s Bad?) March 11

Teacher Finally Apol­o­gizes: Achieve­ment Gap My Fault Octo­ber 7 Fake Edu­ca­tion News

Jersey Jazzman: See? Tenure Cases CAN Be Easy!

Jersey Jazzman: See? Tenure Cases CAN Be Easy!:

See? Tenure Cases CAN Be Easy!

by Duke

What do you mean, I'm not scary anymore?!

That wasn't so very difficult, was it?

A Vineland teacher caught running naked through an apartment complex on a dare is the first tenure case resolved under a new law designed to reduce the time it takes for such cases.

In the past, tenure cases had dragged on for a year or more. 

Mark C. Bringhurst did lose his job, but representatives of both the state teacher’s union and the school boards association said the new procedure did protect his right of due process while resolving the case in a timely manner. It took less than four months from the time charges were filed with the state. [emphasis mine]

Apparently, this was the second time the guy was caught streaking, so it was time to go, even if it took place outside of school (yes, as a matter of fact, I do believe teachers should be held to a higher standard in their