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Monday, April 18, 2011

Big Education Ape: 4-18-11 AM Private Education Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now


as shared by 6 people on Coopmike48’s Twitter list
nytimes.com - (Page 2 of 2) ¶Chester E. Finn Jr. (Phillips Exeter) is the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, two of the country’s leading conservative res...

DianeRavitch
blogs.edweek.org - In my recent exchange with the Department of Education regarding President Obama's remarks critical of our obsession with testing, it became clear that there is a vast expansion of testing on the h...

DianeRavitch
evolvingenglishteacher.blogspot.com - The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before ...

DianeRavitch
truthout.org - A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and...

DianeRavitch
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Engaging Parents In School…Check out: Engaging Parents In School…Surprise! Obama shows up at Sasha’s parent-teacher conference Behind the scenes Monday, presidential advisers focused on US policy...

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coopmike48 In the throes of government | Stanford Daily - http://goo.gl/HOvtQ2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 On 'No Child,' no going back: An architect of education reform says Obama's wobbly on accountability -http://goo.gl/Jse4L2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Placer parents fret over shift in mental health services - Roseville/Placer County News - sacbee.com -http://goo.gl/qdnZu50 seconds ago · reply · retweet · favorite

#edu Read this paper22 MORE ARTICLES
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: The case for librariesThe case for librariesby skrashenThe Case for LibrariesSent to the San Diego Union Tribune"When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and c...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Big Education Ape: Ed News NowBig Education Ape: Ed News Now as shared by 6 people on Coopmike48’s Twitter listNext update in about 12 hoursSee all articlesHEADLINESEDUCATIONPOLITICSART & ENTERTAIN...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Many Pushing to Change Public Schools Attended Private Ones - NYTimes.comn Public School Efforts, a Common Background: Private EducationBy MICHAEL WINERIPPublished: April 17, 2011RECOMMENDTWITTERSI...

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Education46 MORE ARTICLES
washingtonpost.com - Prince George’s County school officials have has suspended overseas recruitment as it prepares to battle the U.S. Labor Department over $5.9 million in penalties and fees assessed for shortchanging...

mikeklonsky
dailymail.co.uk - By Daniel Bates Last updated at 7:46 PM on 15th April 2011Under scrutiny: A new lawsuit accuses New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of running a 'boy's club' at his media company Michael Bloomber...

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wnyc.org - The city is having trouble finding enough parents to run for seats on local Community Education Councils. As of Friday, only 341 applied for a total of 425 seats, according to the Department of Ed...

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Politics10 MORE ARTICLES
latimesblogs.latimes.com - In the latest developments in Bahrain's ongoing crackdown on the country's political opposition and human-rights activists, more than two dozen uniformed and plainclothes security officers stormed ...

mikeklonsky
defendwisconsin.org - Six months after voters sent Republicans in large numbers to Congress and many statehouses, it is possible to see the full landscape of destruction that their policies would cause — much of which h...

coopmike48
blogs.ocweekly.com - ​Orange County might be a beautiful oceanfront locale, but it's also home to Holocaust deniers, vicious anti-gay bigots and freakish big-haired televangelists.Here, one of your Republican politicia...

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Art & Entertainment10 MORE ARTICLES
larryferlazzo.edublogs.org - Apr 17 2011 Larry Ferlazzo I really am surprised to see so many ordinarily thoughtful national columnists — ones who I generally like — show such poor judgment when they write about schools. The on...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - “A Surprising Large Number Of Public School Reformers Attended Private Schools” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...Tweetmetrics Is Cool All you have to do to get a ton of data on your use of ...

coopmike48
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Mud Wrestling with Marshall McLuhan | Lefty ParentMud Wrestling with Marshall McLuhanby Cooper ZaleWell… mud wrestling in a sort of metaphorical way. My latest attempt to embrace and wrestle to the...

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sacramentopress.com - Saturday marked UC Davis' annual Picnic Day, a free, family-friendly community event, celebrating the achievements UC Davis has in areas of research, teaching, service and campus life. This year’s ...

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dailycensored.com - It is important to note that CNN did not have anyone to present a counterargument to the topic of groping small children. If CNN doesn’t bring in anyone from the other side to show people’s concern...

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coopcatalyst.wordpress.com - Recently, a blogger friend commented on my personal blog: ”It is hard to imagine myself as a once great curious and academically thriving student!” When I read that I had hard time thinking of a me...

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Environment2 MORE ARTICLES
huffingtonpost.com - From Brad Johnson, The Wonk Room:In a passionate keynote address, green jobs leader Van Jones exhorted the 10,000 youth climate activists at the Power Shift conference in Washington DC to “shift th...

mikeklonsky
globalresearch.ca - On the first day of the Fukushima disaster, Tepco reported that reactors 1, 2 and 6 were operating at the time of the quake and tsunami, and that the other 3 reactors were empty of fuel rods for pe...

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abc.net.au - Posted April 17, 2011 18:22:00 TEPCO plans to cover the damaged reactor buildings at the Fukushima nuclear plant. (AFP: Air Photo Service) The operator of Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear plant aims to ...

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Business1 MORE ARTICLES
theuptake.org - Today The UpTake is launching a journalism project that we hope will improve the way our society finds solutions to the “big problems” facing Minnesota. The news media loves political conflict. It ...

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my.firedoglake.com - As we see more and more information about the Republican plans for for “austerity” and the budget cuts, we see more and more that all they are offering is the same one-trick pony that they have pro...

coopmike48
denverpost.com - Tax form (very old) stock image (Handout | stock image)WASHINGTON — As millions of procrastinators scramble to meet today's tax-filing deadline, ponder this: The super rich pay a lot less taxes tha...

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#bahrain Read this paper1
hrw.org - (Manama) - More than two dozen uniformed and plainclothes security officers, most of whom were masked, raided the home of prominent defense lawyer Mohammed al-Tajer on the evening of April 15, 2011...

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The Voucher Revival

The Voucher Revival
The Voucher Revival

Conservative efforts to bring vouchers back to the District just highlight how much such programs have fallen out of favor.

The Voucher Revival

Michelle Rhee, a former D.C. public schools chancellor, and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In the last-minute horse-trading and compromising before reaching a budget deal, House Speaker John Boehner won from Democrats a small, weird concession: the renewal and expansion of the District of Columbia's school voucher program. Known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, it was the first federally-funded voucher system. Congress ran it from 2004 until 2009, when the Obama administration began to wind it down. The District -- already the epicenter of aggressive school reform measures -- woke up last Saturday morning and found that its old voucher program had returned.

For years, conservatives preached the virtues of vouchers programs as a solution to the country's ailing education system (D.C.'s program always played a

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Arne Duncan, the status quo and a teacher who never ate a bee - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Arne Duncan, the status quo and a teacher who never ate a bee - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Arne Duncan, the status quo and a teacher who never ate a bee

By Valerie Strauss

Education Secretary Arne Duncan likes to say that people who support the status quo in public education are “part of the problem.”

To wit:

He said this month in an interview with the Star-Ledger in New Jersey: “What keeps me up at night is the historic lack of urgency, the acceptance of the status quo. We need to change. Anyone who is defending the status quo is part of the problem.”

He told Wolf Blitzer of CNN in a January interview, “In a knowledge-based, globally competitive economy, we have to do so much better

The critical condition of critical thinking

By Valerie Strauss

--

This was written by Roxanna Elden, an English teacher in Miami who is the author of “See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers.” She is a National Board Certified high school teacher and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network.

By Roxanna Elden

When I started teaching freshman English, one of my favorite lessons covered errors in logic, including these three terms:

·Oversimplification: The argument presents one cause or solution without considering other factors.

·Circular reasoning: The argument treats the point to be proven as if

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Many Pushing to Change Public Schools Attended Private Ones - NYTimes.com

Many Pushing to Change Public Schools Attended Private Ones - NYTimes.com

n Public School Efforts, a Common Background: Private Education

By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: April 17, 2011

Ten years ago, the No Child Left Behind bill was passed by the House of Representatives, 384 to 45, marking the first step toward a major transformation of public education in America. The law has ushered in what its supporters like to call the “reform movement.”

Multimedia
Graphic
Private School Graduates, Transforming Public Schools

For the first time, human bias was removed from student assessment and replaced with scientific accountability systems.

No longer did teachers’ subjective opinions of children distort things. Scores on standardized tests became the gold standard.

No longer did a person with a clipboard have to spend days observing a school to determine whether it was any good. Because of the law, it is now possible for an assistant secretary of education to be sitting in his Washington office and, by simply studying a spreadsheet for a few minutes, know exactly how a school in

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“A Surprising Large Number Of Public School Reformers Attended Private Schools” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“A Surprising Large Number Of Public School Reformers Attended Private Schools” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
Tweetmetrics Is Cool All you have to do to get a ton of data on your use of Twitter is type your user name into Tweetmetrics, and you’re given data galore. I’m adding it to The Best Third-Party Twitter Apps That Don’t Require Your Password. Thanks to Lyn Hilt for the ...
“Hot Spot” Interview — Report From Japan I recently began a new regular interview series. There are always lots of “hot spots” around the world — places where there are natural disasters, political upheavals, etc. And English teachers can be found in most of those places. If you are an ...
“A Surprising Large Number Of Public School Reformers Attended Private Schools” The New York Times has just published a fascinating article headlined “In Public School Efforts, a Common Background: Private Education.” It lists a very, very long number of key leaders whose actions, in my opinion, are doing great harm public ...
There May Be Fewer Posts This Week…. Our one week Spring Break has just begun. Since I have found it’s pretty difficult for me to work on books unless I have a sustained block of time available, I’m going to try and take advantage of this time to work on my next book. It’s a second one ...
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A letter to our community’s graduating seniors | Being Latino Online Magazine

A letter to our community’s graduating seniors | Being Latino Online Magazine

A letter to our community’s graduating seniors

by Nick Baez

As spring takes firm root across the country, many familiar scenes arise. Baseball season kicks off to the excitement of many, the predictable NBA playoffs begin, and folks can once again drive with their windows down. For many of our community’s high school seniors, the arrival of spring is also accompanied by the excitement of the college decision-making process, as offers from various universities start to arrive by mail.

By now, those of you for whom this article applies are finalizing your decisions with family and friends, and are looking forward to a future full of opportunity and inner growth. As someone who works year-round with students just like you, it gives me great joy to see our future as a community rest in your very hands. So as you begin to make a final choice on which institution of higher learning you’d like to attend, I wanted to give you some words of wisdom to contemplate for the next few years.

While you consider your college choice, realize that you are a consumer of the process. As a result, you should place mor

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The I, II punch of algebra proficiency | Thoughts on Public Education

The I, II punch of algebra proficiency | Thoughts on Public Education

The I, II punch of algebra proficiency

Early algebra success leads to later math success

Posted on 4/18/11 • Categorized as A to G Curriculum, Assessments, Common Core standards, STEM

By Kathryn Baron
Increases in numbers of students taking rigorous STEM courses. Chart from the NCES 2009 NAEP high school transcript study
Increases in numbers of students taking rigorous STEM courses. Chart from the NCES 2009 NAEP high school transcript study

(click to enlarge)

If only Aristotle were around to argue the case for Early Algebra I, the debate might not be so….litigious. Here’s the gist of a quasi-syllogism based on results of the 2009 NAEP High School Transcript Study by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics: High school graduates who took a rigorous curriculum earned the highest scores on the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); nearly two-thirds of students who completed a rigorous curriculum in high school tookAlgebra I in 8th grade; therefore, students who take Algebra I

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School Tech Connect: File This Under "T"

School Tech Connect: File This Under "T"

File This Under "T"

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)
…for Things that are not going to happen. The Republicans are not going to file actual legislation for their draconian cuts because they don't want to be on record as the authors of the destruction of public education in Illinois. They'd rather pose in front of cameras with vague, red-meat pronouncements. Here's Cullerton inviting them to participate in the actual process of being, you know, on the record.


Perhaps they've seen what happens on the national level, where House Republicans are now on record as
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Detroit: Dozen people arrested in direct action to protect public schools and how the press covered it | Dailycensored.com

Detroit: Dozen people arrested in direct action to protect public schools and how the press covered it | Dailycensored.com

Detroit: Dozen people arrested in direct action to protect public schools and how the press covered it

by Danny Weil
Detroit Federation of Teachers http://www.youtube.com/dftmembers Smith Radio Show in Pennsylvania http://ricksmithshow.com/statebattles/michigan/cfaocc Report from BAMN Teacher/Occupier Nicole Conaway http://defendpubliceducation.com/2011/04/16/detroit-students-occupy-catherine-ferguson-academy-high-school/ Update: Students occupy Detroit school Catherine Ferguson Academy students protest pending privatizion of school By ROBERT GUTTERSOHN | The South End Updated: 3 hours ago http://thesouthend.wayne.edu/index.php/article/2011/04/ferguson_academy#comment828 Students, faculty take over Detroit school in protest April 15, 2011 [...]

ACTIVIST ALERT: SINS OF OMMISSION

by Peter Phillips
By Mark Reiners Prelude With the 1848 publication of The Communist Manifesto, in what may be among the most renowned (or notorious, depending on your econo-political persuasions) opening lines in all of social and economic literature, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels proclaimed to the world that there was a specter haunting Europe. Today, in listening [...]
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Randi Weingarten: The Taxing Issue of Shared Responsibility

Randi Weingarten: The Taxing Issue of Shared Responsibility

Randi Weingarten: The Taxing Issue of Shared Responsibility

by Randi Weingarten
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who said taxes are the dues we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. Although nobody likes paying taxes, my hunch is the vast majority of Americans agree. Every April, they file their returns and then go about their business. They may glance at what their employers withheld, but they don't really think too much about taxes again until those new W-2s arrive in the mail the following January.

This year, however, I sense that something different is happening. Many of us share a growing concern that the system is out of whack. Too often, it seems as though those who have the least are asked to sacrifice the most,
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Jersey Jazzman: A Nation At Risk Of Massive Stupidity

Jersey Jazzman: A Nation At Risk Of Massive Stupidity

A Nation At Risk Of Massive Stupidity

by Duke
OMG:
Half an hour north of where I live and teach, on the fringe of the Ft. Hall Indian Reservation, the small town school board in Blackfoot has taken a dystopian approach to implementing State Superintendent Tom Luna's recently- passed education laws---a lottery may determine who stays in the classroom and who goes.


The recently-passed legislation abolishing tenure and continuous contracts will force school boards into creative RIF plans. The Blackfoot school board recently adopted a new RIF policy, explains theBlackfoot Morning News of April 15, 2011:


First, natural attrition will be used. Then, if necessary, those on probation due to unsatisfactory performance will be terminated. In phase three, those on a plan of improvement due to
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NYC Educator: Off the Meter

NYC Educator: Off the Meter

Off the Meter

by NYC Educator
Welcome to the tenure of Chancellor Dennis Walcott, who bemoans the "poisonous debate" in NYC, claiming it's hurting kids. Doubtless the new chancellor would much prefer that city parents and teachers sit down and shut up, Mayor Bloomberg's preferred form of debate. After all, Walcott has been an integral part of Board of Education "reform," resulting in a Panel for Educational Policy on which 8 of 13 members either vote with the mayor or get fired before getting a chance to vote against him.

Walcott bemoans the toxic atmosphere that's pervaded city-community relations, failing to note that he's fostered it every step of the way. He fails to see any problem with charters invading public schools, usurping libraries and getting better facilities and favored treatment. He fails to see the animosities his
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How I spent April 15th: Bye Bye, Bank of America guy, drove my Ford to the corner, and told them goodbye, lol « Continuing Change

How I spent April 15th: Bye Bye, Bank of America guy, drove my Ford to the corner, and told them goodbye, lol « Continuing Change

How I spent April 15th: Bye Bye, Bank of America guy, drove my Ford to the corner, and told them goodbye, lol

by gatorbonbc

How I spent April 15th:

I went into Bank America and closed my account. I had a good long talk with the manager. She said she had no idea what was going on… I said, well teachers do…

It may not make a difference, but I feel better…

I asked her if Bank America would give a teacher a home loan knowing a contract was 10 months and yearly.

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky
Students occupy Detroit school for pregnant girls
“I was scared at first but I’m not anymore,” Catherine Becker, senior at CFA, said while her child Da-Mire Simmons slept on the desk before her. “We’re staying here, and I’m staying.” -- The South End
Tiffany Baldwin
"Police came and they're like, 'You've got to go. You've got to go,' said Tiffany Baldwin. "We just stood there and they just arrested us one by one." -- FOX News
Nicole Conaway
“We’ve done petitioning, we’ve done letter writing. This is
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Schools Matter: The case for libraries

Schools Matter: The case for libraries

The case for libraries

by skrashen
The Case for Libraries

Sent to the San Diego Union Tribune

"When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself." (Isaac Asimov)

The mayor's budget experts who want to cut public library funding should consider the extraordinary amount of research on the impact of libraries on children.

Of the many items in the San Diego Union over the last few days about libraries (“Sanders to propose deep

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