Sunday, February 6, 2011

School Vouchers for All May Be Governor Scott's Plan | TheLedger.com

School Vouchers for All May Be Governor Scott's Plan

Governor's advisers propose massive expansion; critics say it's too much.

By ZAC ANDERSON
NYT REGIONAL MEDIA GROUP

Published: Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 11:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 11:18 p.m.

The struggling economy dropped enrollment to just 48 students at Port Charlotte Adventist School last year, leading worried officials to aggressively promote a state voucher program for low-income students.

Measuring the Worth of Schooling and Medical Therapies: How Objective Are The Metrics? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Measuring the Worth of Schooling and Medical Therapies: How Objective Are The Metrics?

by larrycuban

Choosing the right metric to measure a medical therapy or school effectiveness is not a fact-filled, objective decision. It is subjective and packed with trade-offs.

Consider the metrics used since 1971 when President Richard Nixon signed legislation declaring a War on Cancer.*

In 1985 one researcher used the measure of how many lives were saved with chemotherapy and exams that detected the onset of cancer. He used the national cancer registry to determine how many Americans were diagnosed with cancer annually (about one million in 1985) and how many died of cancer in the same year (about 500,000). He then estimated how many cancer patients were “cured” (five years of remission) after heavy doses of chemotherapy alone (about 5,000) a year. He then estimated lives saved annually from chemotherapy given after surgery (35,000 to 40,000). Total: Less than one out of 20 people diagnosed with cancer in a given year and less than one in ten of the total patients who died of cancer had benefited from screening and

Education reform: Obama's education plan another test for political civility - latimes.com

President's education plan another early test for political civility

Republicans and Democrats move closer on dropping No Child Left Behind, but rifts open on how to replace it.

President Obama delivers his State of the Union address. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool / February6, 2011)

Reporting from Washington —

President Obama and Republican leaders are moving toward a possible compromise on education reform, spurred by widespread dissatisfaction with the George W. Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act.

The 9-year-old act imposes controversial testing requirements to govern how much federal aid flows to a school district. Republicans object to the act's prominent federal role. Democrats say the testing overloads the school day and is an unfair way to judge teachers, one of the party's principal interest groups. Both sides are alarmed at reviews that showed 30% of schools making unsatisfactory progress last year, a figure that could jump to 80% this year under the act's criteria.

Key Republicans say they are willing to talk. "The conversations that we've had so far — Republican and Democrat, House and Senate — have been very congenial and productive," said Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, the senior Republican on the Senate committee that deals with education.

But discarding a controversial law is the easy part. Finding a solution that can stand up to the extremes on both left and right will be an early test of bipartisanship, and of Obama's well-advertise

Sen. Joe Simitian tells hard truths about California education to parents and administrators - San Jose Mercury News

Sen. Joe Simitian tells hard truths about California education to parents and administrators

By Mike Swift

mswift@mercurynews.com

Posted: 02/05/2011 06:18:51 PM PST

Updated: 02/05/2011 06:18:52 PM PST

Sen. Joe Simitian typically has about 90 school administrators, school board members, parents and other educators show up for his semi-annual "Education Updates." Saturday, Simitian got double that number, as the Palo Alto Democrat warned educators that schools face a $5 billion budget cut if Gov. Jerry Brown's budget compromise fails.

A budget debacle of that magnitude, Simitian told a roomful of about 180 frustrated and worried educators and parents who attended the meeting in Palo Alto from Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, would amount to roughly $800 for each one of California's approximately 6 million school children in the coming school year.

To close a budget gap estimated at more than $25 billion over the next 18 months, Brown wants to make over $12

Debate heats up over Niagara school for poor kids - thestar.com

Debate heats up over Niagara school for poor kids

Published On Thu Feb 03 2011

Article

Rob FergusonQueen's Park Bureau

Poor children in Niagara would be “stigmatized” if the school board sticks with a plan to start a special school for them in Welland next fall, says Ontario Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky.

“We are watching this very closely.”

She weighed in on the issue Wednesday after veteran New Democrat MPP Peter Kormos raised concerns that the idea is akin to “an educational apartheid” and must be stopped by the provincial government.

“This bizarre policy of segregation and isolation of kids from poor families...does nothing to address poverty and undermines public education,” said Kormos, who represents the riding of Welland.

“If students have special needs, academically or otherwise, they should be given those

Area educator to lead state teachers association - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Area educator to lead state teachers association

Published: Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 2B

A veteran teacher and counselor from Davis will be the new president of the 325,000-member California Teachers Association.

Dean E. Vogel was elected by delegates in Los Angeles Saturday, as part of the organization's quarterly State Council of Education meetings.

He will replace current CTA President David A. Sanchez.

Sanchez will term out of office June 25 after four years.

Vogel's election was unanimous, CTA officials said.

His career as an educator spans 37 years in positions in elementary and higher education.

Parent Trigger Updates | Engaging Parents In School...

Parent Trigger Updates Here are some links to useful new pieces on the Parent Trigger: Amina writes on the California’s Trigger law at Justice Matters Powerful “Parent” Trigger operators target vulnerable school; attack misfires by Caroline Grannan The San Jose Mercury ...

If It Quacks Like A Duck — Thoughts On The “Parent Trigger” The California State Board Of Education will be considering new rules for the so-called “parent trigger” law this week. This law allows 51% of parents whose children attend a “low-performing” school ( or parents who will have children attending that ...

Mayor Bloomberg Appears Tone Deaf… Mayor Hits Back at Parents is the title of a Wall Street Journal article as he attacks parents for being rude for yelling that they don’t want their local schools closed, while at the same time indicating zero empathy for their concerns. Studies do ...

“Help Parents Be Participators” High school principal Cale Birk will be the guest on the Parents as Partners webcast this Monday evening, February 7th. Cale wrote recently wrote about his work engaging parents in his piece, Help Parents Be Participators (not Spectators) in their

The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

If It Quacks Like A Duck — Thoughts On The “Parent Trigger” If It Quacks Like A Duck — Thoughts On The “Parent Trigger” is the title of a new post I’ve written at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. It might be worth a look.

“EL/Civics Lesson Plans” “EL/Civics Lesson Plans” contains quite a group of nice lesson plans on lifeskills and on civics for English Language Learners. They’re from the Northeast ABLE Resource Center. I’m adding the link to both: The Best Websites To Teach & Learn Life ...

The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History With the protests in Egypt very much in the news, I thought it might be useful to bring together my related “The Best…” lists together with other resources into one “The Best….” list. There are clearly some omissions here, so I help readers will make ...

“Turning trash into visionary art” Turning trash into visionary art is an intriguing slideshow from Slate. I’m adding it to The Best Examples Of “Unusual” Art.

“Max My Dream” With Max My Dream, you first say in 140 characters what you dreamed or want to dream. Then the site takes those words and converts them into a related dream-like sequence. It seems to be able to recognize key words and convert them into imagery. ...

John Taylor Gatto: Schooling is not Education - Part 1

In this 1991 interview, former school teacher John Taylor Gatto talks about the difference between "schooling" through public schools and true education. What really matters? Does "Schooling" as we know it today create whole human beings?

I hope that you find this interview as inspiring and informative as I did.

For more information visit: www.johntaylorgatto.com

Ideological Diversity « Cooperative Catalyst

Ideological Diversity

by johntspencer

Yesterday we visited a family that my wife has known for years. They’re small-time local pecan farmers, who have provide a niche market by keeping everything purely organic. As I talk to the husband, I am struck by how similar we are despite huge differences in worldview. He is both more conservative and Conservative than me. Yet, as we discuss farming, politics, technology and current events, I am struck by the fact that we can engage in conflict while style understanding nuance. I need more people in my life like the pecan farmer, because I sometimes forget that outside of the talk radio rhetoric, there are many conservatives with a mind and a heart and maybe even a few ideas that might work.

Without trying too hard, I’ve managed to find a group of like-minded friends who, despite being ethnically diverse, tend to be ideologically similar. We all enjoy Iron and Wine or Sufjan Stevens and find art houses to be intriguing and enjoy indie movies and drink independent brewery beer. We pretty much all get our news from NPR and from links people post on Twitter (again, often a like-minded crowd in an echo chamber)

Pondering The Values That We Bring To The Classroom

by Stephen Hurley

I just posted the following on my personal blogspace, Teaching Out Loud, but thought I might get some different feedback here. This is all leading me to some bigger questions in my own practice around the values that I bring into my teaching everyday.

I’m in a bit of a quandry. As part of the Health Education curriculum for Grade 1-3 students, we spend a good deal of time talking about making healthy food choices, planning meals according to the Canada Food Guide and assess the nutritional value of meals. In my entire teaching career, I’ve never been responsible for the health curriculum, so I want to make sure that I’m getting it right.

One of the approaches that is included in our local health department’s teaching resource for this grade level

Pondering The Values That We Bring To The Classroom

by Stephen Hurley

One of the approaches that is included in our local health department’s teaching resource for this grade level

On Day of HDO Ringleader’s Sentencing, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Points to Other Candidates’ Ties to the Patronage Organization

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: On Day of HDO Ringleader’s Sentencing, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Points to Other Candidates’ Ties to the Patronage Organization

On Day of HDO Ringleader’s Sentencing, Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle Points to Other Candidates’ Ties to the Patronage Organization

by Joanna2011

Del Valle says Hispanic Democratic Organization was birthed under Chico’s watch as Daley’s chief of staff, underscores Emanuel’s reliance on patronage armies during 2002 congressional run

CHICAGO (February 3, 2011)--Shortly after a federal judge sentenced former Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) ringleader Al Sanchez to 30 months is prison for his role in a city patronage hiring scheme, mayoral candidate and Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle today pointed to his opponents’ past use of patronage armies and ties to the scandal-ridden HDO.

“It has come to light that not only does Rahm Emanuel take contributions from companies

Seattle Public Schools community blog: It's a Great Line but Does SPS Really Value Academic Achievement?

It's a Great Line but Does SPS Really Value Academic Achievement?

by Melissa Westbrook

At his State of the Union speech, President Obama said something to the effect of it being just as important who wins the science fair as who wins the Super Bowl. It got a good round of applause.

Pondering this, though, I have to wonder. In SPS, it seems like there is a ton of work and effort all towards the goal of academic achievement for our students. But:

We have a gifted program that gets spotty attention from the administration and attacked from

The Hidden Contract of Urban Schools | Connected Principals

The Hidden Contract of Urban Schools

by ejuli

This week, I read on the TeachPaperless blog, Shelly Blake-Plock’s post entitled “Example of a Paperless Exam”. I’ve been reading TeachPaperless for more than a year, and it’s one of my favorite blogs. Shelly has inspired me to significantly decrease my paper usage, but the posts I like the most are the one’s in which he describes what he’s teaching and how he’s assessing learning. I love the exam he offers in this post. It’s a great example of using content to apply skills, rather than the exams I see all the time, which are only assessing content, usually through matching, short answer and fill-in the blanks.

For me this exam exemplifies what I want teaching and learning to become in my district, and it also shines a

Queens Teacher: Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students

Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students

by Queens Teacher

From the LaborNotes Blog
Billionaires’ School Reform: What It Means for Teachers and Students
By Julie Cavanagh

The public conversation around education “reform” is dominated by a privileged few who seek to change schooling from a public service to a lucrative business.

Millionaires and billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Eli Broad, and the Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, have spent years pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into think tanks and political campaigns.

They have captured the media through projects like the movie “Waiting for Superman” and NBC’s “Education Nation.” Their intent is clear: to gain control of public opinion and public policy and open up access to what they

Daily Kos: Teaching - an exercise in student metacognition

Teaching - an exercise in student metacognition

by teacherken

We have just finished a unit on the Presidency.
A. Draft a question that would require a student to demonstrate a deep and reasonably complete understanding of the functioning of the Presidency in the modern world, with respect to separation of powers and checks and balances. It should be answerable with real world examples that we may have covered in the unit or of which the student may have independent knowledge.
B. Now answer that question.
C. Now, having answered the question, evaluate how well it required you to demonstrate your understanding, what skills it required you to apply, and what it did not require you to do.
D. Now evaluate your response in part C.

That was a real-world assignment for my Advanced Placement students, which I just finished reading and "grading."

The Washington Teacher: WTU Looks For Ways Around Teacher Furloughs

WTU Looks For Ways Around Teacher Furloughs

by Candi Peterson

Featuring Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Budget cuts are on their way for District Government employees via furloughs without pay. Exempt from the furloughs are police officers and fire fighters for obvious reasons and a small group of other agencies. Vincent Gray although exempt from the furlough days as the Mayor has signed a waiver to join the rest of DC Government employees to help save the city 19 million dollars.

Included in the mix of those to be furloughed are District of Columbia teachers and school personnel. As a result of emergency legislation, known as the

Saturday, February 5, 2011

New Emanuel Ad Provides Fresh Grist / Chicago News Cooperative

New Emanuel Ad Provides Fresh Grist

By DAN MIHALOPOULOS
February 5, 2011

Ahead of what is being described as a major budget-platform announcement scheduled for Tuesday, Rahm Emanuel released his latest campaign television ad, in which he states that “city government is not an employment agency.”

Miguel del Valle, a rival mayoral candidate who lacks the campaign cash for a television ad, scoffed when told of his rival’s new spot.

“I find it interesting,” Mr. del Valle, the city clerk, said. “It was the patronage system in the city of Chicago that got him elected to Congress in 2002.”

Last month, Mr. Emanuel’s campaign aired a TV ad promising that city hiring would be based on merit. The new ad came a day after a federal judge gave a 21/2-year prison sentence to

Please Consider Supporting Planned Parenthood Today - Dana Goldstein

Please Consider Supporting Planned Parenthood Today

by Dana Goldstein

Planned Parenthood provides affordable basic health care for millions of American girls and women--often when they have nowhere else to turn for services including contraception, cancer screening, STI testing, and pre and post-natal care.

Planned Parenthood also uses private dollars to provide abortion, the most common surgical procedure in the United States. One-third of American women have had an abortion, 60 percent of whom were already mothers when they chose to do so.

And Planned Parenthood also does incredibly sophisticated lobbying work on Capitol Hill and in state houses

Marriages Made in Tuition Heaven - The Bay Citizen

Marriages Made in Tuition Heaven Most people find friends on Facebook. Others find husbands. A University of California, Berkeley, student from the Midwest felt she couldn’t afford the annual $30,000 in student fees, including $20,000 in out-of-state tuition. She posted that she was ...

Local Intelligence: Children's Fairyland, Oakland The United States’ first storybook theme park opened in 1950 near Lake Merritt. Admission ranged from 9 to 14 cents, depending on the visitor’s age. The park, Children’s Fairyland, still prospers, delighting those young at heart with 10 acres of gentle ...

Oakland Mayor and Chief Share Uneasy Alliance During a news conference at Oakland City Hall on Monday, Anthony Batts, the police chief who recently applied — unsuccessfully — for the same position in San Jose, was asked if he intended to stay at the helm of the embattled Oakland Police Department. ...

Latest News and Comment from Education