Tuesday, February 8, 2011

“Health Care Timeline” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Health Care Timeline” Health Care Timeline is from CNN, and provides a simple review of of U.S. government efforts to provide subsidized health care. I’m adding the link to The Best Online Resources For Learning About Health Care Reform.

“The Daily What” Is A Good Site For News The Daily What: News For Schools In Scotland provides very well-written and accessible articles about world-wide events, and, in addition, provides interactives (such as quizzes) for each one (look for the red question mark on the right column to ...

Excellent Resource For Project-Based Learning Edutopia has some great resources on Project-Based Learning. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites For Cooperative Learning Ideas.

“Key Concepts In ELT” The ELT Journal, from The Oxford Journals, is a very nice collection of articles that teachers of English Language Learners would find useful. The collection, titled Key Concepts In ELT, is described this way on the top of the webpage: *‘Key ...

“Dangers Of Obesity” “Dangers Of Obesity” is a well-done infographic from a Florida newspaper. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety.

A Few Last Chinese New Year Resources Here are a few last additions to The Best Resources For Chinese New Year: Here Comes The Rabbit is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal. Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee. Chinese New ...

Researchers Criticize L.A. Times “Value-Added” Study — The Times, Living in Alternate Universe, Says Study Supports Them The National Education Policy Center today published a report critical of the Los Angeles Times study used to publicly evaluate teachers (see The Best Posts About The LA Times Article On “Value-Added” Teacher Ratings). The study reports: *The ...

“The Lure Of Lists” In a previous post, Why I Write “The Best…” Lists — And Their Future, I shared a New York Times essay essay on the topic of…lists — titled “The Joy Of Lists”.” In it, Arthur Krystal wrote: *“….there is something reassuring about a list, a precision ...

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN GIVES KIDS A LEG UP

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN GIVES KIDS A LEG UP by Vivian Po, New America Media | http://bit.ly/gT80Le Traducción al español 中文翻譯 Feb 07, 2011 - LOS ANGELES - Ethan Wong, who turned five last November, was experiencing a hard time transitioning from pre-school to kindergarten, mainly because ...

SEPARATE STUDY CONFIRMS MANY LOS ANGELES TIMES FINDINGS ON TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS /or/ RESEARCH STUDY SHOWS LA TIMES RATINGS ARE NEITHER RELIABLE NOR VALID + smf’s 2¢ Separate Study Confirms Many LA Times Findings A University of Colorado review of Los Angeles Unified teacher effectiveness also raises some questions about the precision of ratings as reported in The Times. By Jason Felch, Los Angeles ...

TEXAS’ FINANCES: Not as rosy as they seemed +It's gotten messy in Texas Texas' finances not as rosy as they seemed The state prides itself as a model of conservative spending and responsible budgeting. But a new $27-billion budget gap undercuts its image as a business-seducing, fiscally adaptive state. By Evan Halper, Los ...

L.A. UNIFIED CONSIDERS CHAGES AT WIDNEY HIGH SCHOOL IN WAKE OF PROBLEMS Teachers at the school, which serves developmentally disabled students, are doing a poor job, officials say. During a recent visit to the Jefferson Park campus, Supt. Ramon C. Cortines observed teachers watching a soap opera during class. California ...

The Sixties Began Fifty-One Years Ago Today « Student Activism

The Sixties Began Fifty-One Years Ago Today

by Angus Johnston

It’s become a commonplace to say that the sixties began on February 1, 1960, when four black students from North Carolina Ag and Tech sat down at the lunch counter of a Greensboro Woolworth’s in defiance of segregation.

But the February 1 sit-in wasn’t the first — students and other young activists had been protesting at lunch counters semi-regularly for years by then. What made Greensboro different is the way that it caught on, the way that it spread.

And it started to spread fifty-one years ago today.

There were lunch counter sit-ins in two new North Carolina cities on February 8. In Durham, more than a dozen black students from North Carolina College, joined by four white students from Duke, sat down in a Woolworth’s

This Week In Education: MEDIA: LA Times Wins Both Acclaim & Derision

MEDIA: LA Times Wins Both Acclaim & Derision [image: ScreenHunter_09 Feb. 08 08.43] Oh, the juicy ironies of the last few days' events: On Friday, the LA Times won first place for its use of social science methods in the media (Poynter). More awards could be in the works. Then on Monday the ...

AM News: Districts Struggle To Find Turnaround Leaders [image: image from scholasticadministrator.typepad.com] U.S. Plan to Replace Principals Hits Snag? NYT: Principals of many failing schools, once expected to be removed as part of a national effort, stay because there are not enough qualified people ...

Money: Former Teacher Gives Lawrenceville School Nearly $60M [image: image from img.slate.com] Slate's annual roundup of big philanthropists is out, but most of it's stuff you already know about Broad, Gates, Buffet, Soros, and Zuckerburg. The philanthropists you probably don't already know about are Henry C. ...

Video: School Reform Made The SuperBowl I don't know how I missed this but Medialite notes that the Black Eyed Peas changed some song lyrics from "Where Is The Love" to entreat President Obama to "get these kids educated" during the halftime show on Sunday night. Is this a high point for ...

Un Estudio Plantea que Entre Más Trabaja la Madre, Más Pesan sus Hijos - Hispanically Speaking News

Un Estudio Plantea que Entre Más Trabaja la Madre, Más Pesan sus Hijos

0 Comments

February 8, 2011 | by HealthDay News/HolaDoctor

Investigadores señalan que los cambios en los hábitos alimenticios y de sueño podrían explicar la tendencia.

Como si las madres trabajadoras no tuvieran ya razones para sentirse culpables, un nuevo estudio sugiere que entre más tiempo pasan trabajando, más sobrepeso tienen sus hijos.

Investigadores de la American University, la Universidad de Cornell y la Universidad de Chicago analizaron los datos de 900 niños en edad escolar y encontraron que el tiempo acumulado que una madre dedicaba al trabajo se relacionaba con un aumento pequeño aunque medible en el índice de masa corporal (IMC) del niño, un

Students and Parents in Chicago Missing Out on College Financial Aid - Hispanically Speaking News

Students and Parents in Chicago Missing Out on College Financial Aid

Students and parents in Chicago who may be missing out on financial aid to pay for college are now getting assistance as part of Financial Aid Awareness Week (FAAW), running Feb. 6 thru 12.

City leaders and community organizations kicked off the campaign today and shined a much needed spotlight on the vital resources available to Chicago’s young adults. Alderman John Pope joined the City Colleges and the Chicago Treasurer’s Office and encouraged applicants to start the conversation about paying for college and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as early as possible.

More than 40 per cent of community college students who are eligible for a Federal Pell Grant did not apply in 2007‐08 and nearly 25 per cent of eligible students attending four‐year public institutions did not apply for aid, according to a recent report from the College Board and the American Association of Community Colleges. “As

Class sizes continue to grow amid shrinking school year | California Watch

Class sizes continue to grow amid shrinking school year

February 8, 2011 | Louis Freedberg

woodley wonderworks/Flickr

Underscoring the deepening impact of the state's budget crisis, nearly 60 percent of California school districts have reduced the length of the school year, and 30 percent have shrunk it to 175 days, the minimum permitted under state law.

By comparison, last year only 5 percent of districts had reduced their school year to 175 days, according to a report issued yesterdayby the Legislative Analyst's Office.

The report found that the average class size in kindergarten through third grade has risen to 25 students, compared to 20 just two years ago. Average class sizes in higher grades have

“Recess,” charter facilities bills advance | EdNewsColorado

Tuesday Churn: Aurora grad vote tonight [image: Daily Churn logo]What’s churning: *Aurora’s school board* is scheduled to vote tonight on changing district graduation requirements, a move that could make it the first Colorado district to drop P.E. as a high school mandate. That’s not the ...

Find your school, district remediation rate Nearly one in three Colorado high school graduates who attend a state college or university must take at least one remedial class to bring basic math, writing or reading skills up to speed, according to a Feb. 4 report. How does your school or ...

“Recess,” charter facilities bills advance Compromise and significant amendments got two high-profile bills out of the House Education Committee Monday, and another controversial measure was dealt off to a different panel. The committee voted 12-1 to pass House Bill 11-1069, which would ...

Redevelopment’s winners & losers | Thoughts on Public Education

Redevelopment’s winners & losers - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

School districts have plenty at stake in the battle between Gov. Jerry Brown and the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies that the governor aims to abolish. Schools could see an extra $1 billion in revenue within two years and a few billion more in bursts in coming years if the administration’s plan passes the Legislature and [...]

The Answer Sheet - How can we fairly assess teachers, students, schools?

How can we fairly assess teachers, students, schools?

This was written by educator Anthony Cody, who taught science for 18 years in inner-city Oakland and now works with a team of science teacher-coaches that supports novice teachers. He is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. This post appeared on his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue. By Anthony Cody A colleague at the Teacher Leaders Network raised a provocative pair of questions. 1. In an era where numbers are currency, what alternative set of metrics and numbers (beyond assessment) can we suggest that reformers and policymakers consider when weighing teacher/school effectiveness? (i.e: parent/student satisfaction surveys, levels of funding, graduation rate, rate of enrollment in AP classes, rate of employment or enrollment in college after graduation) 2. Given the limits of numerical accountability, what alternatives can we offer to reformers who are open to considering results that cannot be accounted for

ASCD Inservice: "Too Dumb . . . " Confuses a Tool & Its Use

"Too Dumb . . . " Confuses a Tool & Its Use In "Too Dumb for Complex Texts," Mark Bauerlein argues that students' ability to comprehend complex texts has been diminished by the "digital diversions" that are increasingly a part of their lives. However, faulting technology for students' inability to ...

Oakridge Fourth Grade Blog Do you use blogs in you classroom to teach, assess, and encourage collaborative learning and engagement? Whether you already do so or are considering it, the Oakridge Fourth Grade Blog provides a fun and inspiring example of classroom blogging in...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Critical Voices

Critical Voices

by Mike Klonsky

Go to the blog site of the Forum For Education and Democracy this morning, and you will find important and provocative posts by three of the nation's more thoughtful educators and social justice activists.

Pedro Noguera, "Obama has a Long Way to Go on Education Reform", offers some praise for the president for keeping education high on the nation's policy agenda for speaking up on behalf of undocumented immigrant students. But Noguera doesn't let Obama off the hook.

There is no reason to believe that simply by raising standards, academic performance among

School Tech Connect: The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Do you recognize this sound?

That's right. It's the sound of Gery Chico not answering this question:

In case you hadn't heard, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is going to sue for enforcement of a law that seems to require that the convicted perjurer Jon Burge give up his police pension. Burge was convicted of lying

DOE Sweeps the Bunkums!

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Nothing reminds me of the Bush administration as much as the Obama Department of Education.

Queens Teacher: TFA Teacher Talks About Experience

TFA Teacher Talks About Experience

by Queens Teacher

My name is John Bilby and I was a TFA teacher in the New York region from September 2009 until March 2010. I left the organization because I felt that it does not adequately prepare its people to serve the poorest children in public schools. I also think that TFA is more interested in power, access, and influence in the federal game of

San Francisco the Latest Lake Wobegon for Teachers | The Transformation Times

San Francisco the Latest Lake Wobegon for Teachers

by Harvin Moore

Aren't we all?

This excellent article appeared in today’s New York Times. Only 2% of teachers in San Francisco are rated unsatisfactory, and not a single tenured teacher there has been terminated in the last 3 years. And yet only 37% of San Francisco’s fourth grade students are proficient in reading.

Rethinking Evaluations When Almost Every Teacher

Financial productivity next step for schools

by Harvin Moore

Charles Miller sent me the following editorial, published in yesterdays’ Dallas Morning News. It is a provocative and timely, considering the massive budget shortfalls Texas is facing, and some indications that the legislature will neglect its responsibility to pay its share of the costs of K12 public education, leaving either the costs, or cutbacks, on the backs of local districts and local property taxpayers and their children. No matter that happens in Austin this session, however, we need to recognize that our schools, though underfunded, are in fact also financially inefficient in many ways. So there is no time like the present to examine how we do many things in K12 public education, and make changes to improve it. Cutting the things that don’t work will save us from the far worse pain of cutting things that do work. It’s our choice.

Financial productivity next step for schools

NYC Educator: Miss Eyre Does Not Get Cathie Black

Miss Eyre Does Not Get Cathie Black

by Miss Eyre

Well, GothamSchools beat me to it, but I'd still like to say something about New York's surprisingly good profile of Chancellor Black. I get a mysterious print subscription to New York; I cannot, for the life of me, remember purchasing or otherwise opting in to receive the magazine, and yet it comes to my house every week. (Actually, two copies come to my house every week, because, again mysteriously, Mr. Eyre also gets a copy in his own name.) Whatever. So I read it.

Anyway, I enjoyed the profile of Ms. Black very much, if only to have confirmed by a real reporter what I've been feeling for the last couple of months; namely, what is upwith Cathie Black? The New York reporter, public school parent Chris Smith, doesn't

This Writing Is Less of a Run, More Like a Dance | The Jose Vilson

This Writing Is Less of a Run, More Like a Dance

by Jose

Spongebob Dance

Someone recently asked me (and I’m omitting the person’s name because it wasn’t a public question):

A quick question? Do you feel like you have to be “politically” correct when you write your posts?

This type of writing? It’s less like a straight run or a drive down a road, and more like a dance. I have these steadfast rules I’ve engraved into the inside of my forehead and have been pretty good about it:

Shanker Blog » Egypt In Crisis: Independent Unions Emerge As Leaders

Egypt In Crisis: Independent Unions Emerge As Leaders

by Heba F. El-Shazli

Our guest author today is Heba El-Shazli, regional program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the AFL-CIO’s American Center for International Labor Solidarity. She is currently on leave, serving as a visiting professor of international studies and modern languages at the Virginia Military Academy. This is the first of several posts on events in Egypt.

January 25, 2011 was the beginning of a peoples’ revolt in Egypt, a revolt whose outcome is still unclear. What is clear is that, after a smothering 30-year rule, Egyptians have broken the stifling collar of oppression to demonstrate for democracy and freedom. Also at issue are the corruption, high unemployment rates, inflation, and low minimum wages that impoverish even the hardest working, most educated people.

All of this has become fairly well known to Americans over recent days. What is far less known is the role of the

Closing Public Schools: A Truly Bad Idea - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Closing Public Schools: A Truly Bad Idea

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

Last week, the New York City Department of Education received permission from the city's Panel on Educational Policy, or PEP, to close an additional two dozen public schools because their scores are too low. The city has now closed more than 100 schools and opened hundreds of new ones. The consent of the PEP was never in doubt. New York City has a governance system for its public schools in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg has complete, unlimited power over every decision. He not only appoints the chancellor of schools, but appoints eight of the 13 members of the PEP, who serve at his pleasure. The mayor has made clear that he will fire any member of the PEP who defies his orders. Thus, when the department of education, which the mayor controls, makes a recommendation to the PEP, which the mayor controls, the outcome is predetermined.

Our mayor is now in his ninth year, in his third term, and his education policies are grounded completely in the

Robert Reich (Obama's Deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

Obama's Deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

3 people liked this

“We can, and we must, work together,” the President told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today. “Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of us share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief in our people, a belief in the principles that have made America’s economy the envy of the world.”

Really? I’ve been watching (and occasionally trying to deal with) the Chamber for years, and all I know is it has a deep, abiding belief in cutting taxes on the wealthy, eroding regulations that constrain Wall Street, cutting back on rules that promote worker health and safety, getting rid of the minimum wage, repealing the new health-care law, fighting unions, cutting back Medicare and Social Security, reducing or eliminating corporate taxes, and, in general, taking the nation back to the days before the New Deal.

So what, exactly, is the deal Obama is pitching to the Chamber?

He said his administration will “help lay the foundation for you to grow and innovate,” by eliminating “barriers that

Daily Kos: A terrible reality

A terrible reality

by teacherken

Normally on a Tuesday you would find me writing about the words of Derrick Jackson, or Eugene Robinson or Bob Herbert. All have worthy columns, and today Bob Herbert's words speak directly to the condition I and many other public employees face. Yet this morning I find I must write about something else.

Yesterday evening I went to Annapolis, along with the leadership of the Prince George's County Education Association and some other building representatives to lobby the County's state legislative delegation on teacher pensions, and more. It was frustrating, because while most were sympathetic, they have to choose whom to screw - they have to balance budgets. Absent significant new revenue, the only way to get to a balanced budget is to make even more cuts - for 5 yeara in a row seeking to reduce expenditures by a billion dollars, even as the

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Un Estudio Plantea que Entre Más Trabaja la Madre, Más Pesan sus Hijos

Class sizes continue to grow amid shrinking school year

Rethinking Evaluations When Almost Every Teacher

Financial productivity next step for schools