Sunday, July 3, 2011

Last Stand for Children First: Why Does Diane Ravitch Hate Children?

Why Does Diane Ravitch Hate Children?

by Last Stand for Children

America's education reform movement -- the most significant reform movement in the history of this planet -- is just concluding another amazing school year. Politicians of all stripes and parties have come together to say, "We will not accept inferior teachers destroying the lives of our children anymore".

With grim budget cuts necessitating layoffs, we are reminded once again that seniority based layoffs make as much sense as saying that U2 should have to keep Bono as their lead singer just because he's been with the

Month 9 As a Failing School « InterACT

Month 9 As a Failing School

by Martha Infante

When it was announced in September that due to our low test scores, my public middle school was now considered a “failing “ school, I began blogging about the effects that our district’s reform process, modeled after popular federal educational practices, had on students, teachers, and the school community. In a nutshell, the district assigns the label of “Focus School” to any school which does not meet certain test score cutoffs. These schools are then up for bids by any group or organization who can write a plan, and if selected, can take over the management of the school. Charters are popular bidders in this process called Public School Choice.

L.A. Academy, the "Failing School"

The district has assigned responsibility to me and my colleagues for the low performance of students in my

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Update from brother Fred at #NEARA11

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Update from brother Fred at NEA RA

Update from brother Fred at NEA RA

by Mike Klonsky

Seated with me are my followers.

Well my brother, I am home from another session of the NEA RA. This is a marathon. This goes on and on until Tuesday.

But tomorrow, Monday, the story in the media will either be, "Obama barely gets NEA endorsement," or "Obama denied NEA endorsement." There is just a lot of unhappiness among delegates with the present administration, even among those who will vote yes on the early no strings endorsement proposal.

I've read some of the internet criticisms of the RA by those who think it should be tougher on Obama. But

Today's New CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Public Safety Academy “School leader's new woe: No records found to validate education claimsof CEO.” Redlands Daily Facts (CA) 02 Jul 2011 SAN BERNARDINO - As CEO of the Public Safety Academy, Michael Dickinson often boasted to others at the charter school about his ...

Berean Academy “Berean staff air issues at meeting.” *The Sierra Vista Herald* 02 Jun 2011 SIERRA VISTA — After cutting his staff’s pay with little notice in May, Berean Academy Director Jim Fogarty was accused of mismanaging funds, violating the school’s ...

Boston Renaissance Charter Public School “Opinion: Cheating - Charter Schools and Their Unfair Advantages.” *Back Bay Patch *09 Jun 2011 ...Approaching the building, you would be forgiven for thinking you are actually entering a chic, private country club. The grounds are fenced in and ...

Harmony Public Schools, AKA Harmony Science Academy schools / Cosmos Foundation (33 schools) “Texas Legislature To Launch Investigation Of Charter Schools.” *CBS Dallas / Fort Worth* 29 Jun 2011 The Texas Legislature ordered an investigation on Tuesday of the largest charter school network in the state after news organizations reported ...

First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy “Pa. judge: No expulsion for kindergarten touching.” *Associated Press* 13 Jun 2011 A judge has overturned a kindergartner’s expulsion from a Philadelphia charter school for touching his teacher’s thighs after she complained that her legs hurt. The ...

Englewood on the Palisades Charter School “Parents object to plan for longer school days at Englewood charter school.” *Northern Valley Suburbanite* 16 Jun 2011 ENGLEWOOD - Parents on Tuesday vocalized their objection to Englewood on the Palisades Charter School's plan to extend the school ...

Northstar Academy “Rolly: Utah’s charter schools get special treatment.” *Paul Rolly, Salt Lake Tribune columnist* 14 June 2011 When it comes to applying rules to the public-education system in Utah, some schools are more equal than others. People take for granted ...

New Mexico charter schools (compliance issues) “Public Education Department Announces Initial Findings in Audit of 28Charter Schools.” *New Mexico Public Education Department News Release* 02 Jun 2011 SANTA FE – In keeping with the commitment to protect classroom dollars, the New Mexico Public ...

Providence Academy for Student Success AKA Renaissance Academy - A School for the Multi-Media Arts “Former charter-school leader must repay $10,000.” The Columbus Dispatch (OH) 29 Jun 2011 A gospel singer who helped start a Columbus charter school misused more than $10,000 in taxpayer money and has been told to repay it, a state audit says. ...

Possibility Prep Public Charter School “Possibility Prep charter school staves off imminent shutdown: State toreview appeal by Upper Marlboro boys’ program slated for closure.” The Gazette (MD) 28 Jun 2011 Possibility Prep Public Charter School officials said Tuesday that they’ve ...

#NEARA11 NEA goes after Education Secretary Arne Duncan - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

NEA goes after Education Secretary Arne Duncan - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

NEA goes after Education Secretary Arne Duncan

by Valerie Strauss

National Education Association delegates blasted Education Secretary Arne Duncan Sunday. passing a resolution that orders the NEA president to “communicate aggressively, forcefully, and immediately” to President Obama that the teachers union “is appalled” by a number of things Duncan has said and done in the name of school reform.
The resolution of the country’s largest union (see below) includes a list of Duncan’s actions and statements with which the NEA disagrees, including his standardized test-driven reform policies..

Read full article >>

#NEARA11 Why State Delegations Vote Together - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Why State Delegations Vote Together - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Why State Delegations Vote Together

by Stephen Sawchuk

Ever wonder how the NEA's state affiliates keep their members in line on votes on new business items and the like?

Each state delegation designates someone who holds up signs indicating whether delegates should shout "aye" or "no" at the opportune moment. Also, a green "yes" or red "no" sign can specify whether the opinion is that of its leadership or the decision of the state caucus. There's also a "your choice" sign.

Delegates aren't bound by these indicators, one of the sign-holders explained to me, but it helps explain why so

Joel Klein’s Bad Faith Argument: The Contours Of Ideological Thinking | Edwize

Joel Klein’s Bad Faith Argument: The Contours Of Ideological Thinking

by Leo Casey

(This is the second of two posts written in response to Joel Klein’s manifesto, The Failure of American Schools, which was published in the June issue of Atlantic Monthly. In the first post, I addressed Klein’s attribution of an apocryphal anti-union quote to the late UFT and AFT President Al Shanker.)

The defining characteristic of a bad faith argument is not that it is wrong, although it certainly is that, but that the person wielding it knows that it is wrong, or with a minimal exercise of due diligence, would discover that it is wrong. Klein’s Atlantic essay is replete with bad faith arguments, so many that it would require a small pamphlet to respond to every such argument. Consequently, I will restrict myself to analyzing a number of the more central propositions he puts forward.

Using Value-Added ‘Teacher Data Reports’ To Evaluate Teachers
Klein declares that he is “still shocked” that the UFT opposed his efforts to use the value-added ‘teacher data reports’ he had developed for high stakes decisions on tenure and discontinuance. “As a result, even when making a lifetime tenure commitment,” Klein writes, “under New York law you could not consider a teacher’s impact on student learning. The Kafkaesque outcome demonstrates precisely the way the system is run: for the

Schools Matter: Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Resistance by Students in Tucson

Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Resistance by Students in Tucson

by Jim Horn

Phoenix has the only high school Ethnic Studies/Mexican American Studies program in the United States. Here's what students thought about the racist notion to bring that program to an end. Below the video is a clip from a piece at HuffPo:

While the occasional spasms of extremist rhetoric and legislative initiative are often dismissed as nutty episodes in Arizona Gone Wild politics, some observers are wondering if state

#NEARA11 Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Delegates Reject Call to Oust Arne Duncan

by Stephen Sawchuk

Well, the National Education Association's delegates may not be very happy with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, but they doesn't want to call for his ouster—at least not publicly.

The delegates voted down New Business Item 22, which would have required the union to call for Duncan's removal.

Had it passed, it would have been the first time the union approved such a policy at a Representative Assembly—but not the first time it's called for the removal of the agency's head. Recall its reaction in 2004, when then-Education Secretary Rod Paige called the union a "terrorist organization."

There was a distinct feeling that delegates rejected the item primarily on the grounds of bad PR. Even those who

A fight within the family? « Fred Klonsky's blog #NEARA11

A fight within the family? « Fred Klonsky's blog

A fight within the family?

by Fred Klonsky

I waited in a security line to get into the RA for almost three hours this morning.

To hear VP Joe Biden.

I know. Crazy.

But not so crazy.

President Dennis Van Roekel’s speech yesterday and Joe Biden’s speech today provided an interesting contrast.

Biden was actually more self-critical of the Obama education policies than DVR was.

Dennis never said a critical word of Arnie Duncan, the target of almost all delegate contempt here, or anything else related to the Dems.

Biden acknowledged teacher unhappiness and admitted differences “within the family.” He even admitted we had been right and the administration had been wrong “on some issues.”

Clearly the Obama administration is worried about what is going on in NEA ranks and the ill-conceived early no

Schools Matter: LA Times has not done its homework

LA Times has not done its homework

by skrashen

Sent to the Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2011

The irony of the Times' article on homework ("Homework overload," July 2) is that the Times has not done its homework. Missing is any mention of the extensive research that has been done on whether homework is useful. In fact, readers of "Homework overload" come away with the impression that the topic has never been investigated.

A good place to start: Alfie Kohn's book, published in 2006, The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much

July 4 facts: Where U.S. flags are made — and more - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

July 4 facts: Where U.S. flags are made — and more

by Valerie Strauss

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, and Americans will celebrate with parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues. Here, courtesy of the U.S. Census, are some facts about the country and how it celebrates its birthday.

POPULATION

2.5 million

Read full article >>

“The Teacher and the Politician” -A Short Story « Diary of a Public School Teacher!

“The Teacher and the Politician” -A Short Story

by Oldschoolteach

This story takes place over a period of years. The politician represents all politicians(any party) and the teacher represents all teachers (those who are affected by these ridiculous ideas our politicians and CEOs’ come up with.)

Politician: (Talking to a teacher) I have this great idea. It’s called NCLB, No Child Left Behind, sounds good right? No Child Left Behind, every child can and will learn. Like it?

Teacher: Hmmm, it sounds like a good idea, what does it mean?

Politician: Well, (stroking chin), it means no child will be left behind. It means we’re going to test the hell, I mean, heck out of those kids, and by golly, they will become really, really, smart!

Teacher: I don’t think testing them is going to make them really smart, as a

School Tech Connect: Another Great Speech, But.. #NEARA11

School Tech Connect: Another Great Speech, But...

Another Great Speech, But...

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

From the President's Blueprint For Reform:

The first category of Challenge schools will be the lowest-performing five percent of schools in each state, based on student academic achievement, student growth, and graduation rates, that are not making progress to improve. In these schools, states and districts will be required to implement one of four school turnaround models, to support better outcomes for students.

A 5% quota on turnarounds is an amplification of the worst aspect of NCLB, in addition to all of the increased testing coming. What is particularly egregious, is that not even Arne Duncan can articulate exactly how these schools will be identified in clear terms. What is also egregious is that the "turnaround" models are arbitrary and

#ASCD11 Inservice: Three Myths About High Expectations

ASCD Inservice: Three Myths About High Expectations

Three Myths About High Expectations

Are high standards the same as high expectations? What are the core values that drive what's important in your classroom? Do you believe in your ability as a teacher more than you believe in your students' abilities?

In an #ASCD11 session taking on the sacred cow of high expectations, Robyn Jackson explained the importance of uncovering the myths that guide our expectations. She outlined three major myths:

The Standards Myth: The belief that higher standards will equal higher expectations. In fact, teachers must also assess, assign, be accountable, and provide support at the level of the standard to have both high standards and high expectations. Raise the standards, but also raise the resources for kids to reach and exceed them.

The Attribution Myth: Says that we attribute reasons for kids' successes and failures based on our own core values and cultural currencies. In fact, kids succeed and fail for many reasons, and bring their own currencies to the classroom. Help them leverage and expand their currencies to access their own and shared values (like autonomy, sense of belonging,

'A Fight Within the Family': VP Biden's Speech to the NEA - Teacher Beat - Education Week #neara11

'A Fight Within the Family': VP Biden's Speech to the NEA - Teacher Beat - Education Week

'A Fight Within the Family': VP Biden's Speech to the NEA

by Stephen Sawchuk

In a speech to the National Education Association's delegate assembly, Vice President Joe Biden sought to downplay areas of disagreement with the union, using the metaphor of a squabble in an otherwise tightly knit family.

"In these times of change, I know you don't agree with everything we've done in this administration. Believe me, I know," Biden said to laughter from delegates. "I respect the disagreement we have. And not all of it, are you wrong about. Some of it you are. But ... this is more a fight within the family."

In rhetorical structure, the speech had some striking parallels with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel's keynote yesterday, in which he described such disagreements as "a fight over how to achieve a shared vision."

And just as Van Roekel emphasized Obama's legislative successes, so too did Biden emphasize that the White House and the union agree about things such as the right for public employees to bargain collectively, progressive tax policies, early-childhood education, affordable health care, etc.

Coincidence? Probably not. Biden said he read Van Roekel's' speech on the

Support Bloombergville and the Bloombergville 13 | Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire - "the Secular, Humanist Revival"

Support Bloombergville and the Bloombergville 13

by Reverend Manny

The Bloombergville 13 were arrested protesting New York City's austerity measures. Among the many cuts are a half billion dollars in education cuts and the layoffs of more than 6000 teachers. Meanwhile a lot of New Yorkers want to know why the city would rather layoff thousands of teachers, at a savings of #270 million, instead of tapping over $3.2 billion in cash reserves. The Bloombergville Awakening, and the Bloombergville 13, need the progressive community's support to raise money both for bail and for, imo, future operating expenses.

KOCH Break News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

FDR Issues a Prophetic Statement

Reader Supported News: Calls for Prosser Resignation More Than 10,000 Strong *The people of Wisconsin have decided it's time for Prosser to go.* *-By One Wisconsin Now* *July 2, 2011-* More than 10,000 concerned citizens have signed One Wisconsin Now's petition launched Monday calling for the resignation of Wisconsin Supreme ...

The Nation: Democracy is Coming to Ohio: 1.3 Million Voters Force Referendum to Restore Labor Rights *- By John Nichols * *June 29, 2011-* Opponents of Ohio Governor John Kasich’s push to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights—as part of a national push by newly elected Republican governors to silence opposition to their cuts in ...

This Week In Education: Video: Arne In Aspen

Video: Arne In Aspen

Can you stand six minutes of Arne Duncan answering softball questions from NBC's Andrea Mitchell at the Aspen Ideas Festival (or, as Politico dubs it, D.C.'s summer camp)?

Consider it a Fourth Of July challenge. I couldn't even bear to start.

An Urban Teacher's Education: The Georgia Charter Schools Association says Charter Schools ARE Public Schools

The Georgia Charter Schools Association says Charter Schools ARE Public Schools

by James Boutin

In the Atlanta airport yesterday, I caught myself lingering at the ad below, posted by the Georgia Charter Schools Association:

GCSA claims that all charter schools are public schools. If we define public institutions as institutions that thrive on public money, then yes, charter schools are public schools. In the same way, I suppose, major league baseball stadiums are public stadiums. And AIG, Bank of America and General Motors are public corporations.

What GCSA fails to mention is that some charter schools are run by for-profit organizations, some havecorporate sponsorships, many refuse or council out underachieving students or students with special needs,

Dusty & Gay: Through the Heartland, Thinking about Values

Dusty & Gay: Through the Heartland, Thinking about Values
Layout Image

Dusty & Gay: Through the Heartland, Thinking about Values

from Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action by NancyFlanagan

July 3, 2011
Rosalia – Girard, Kansas to Ash Grove – Hartville – Alley Spring – Bismarck, Missouri

Turtles on the road reminded us of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. They are one of the most important symbols of the book and we couldn’t help thinking of the Joads but there is no evidence of a dust bowl here, all is green and lush. Kansas was kind to us this last day, she blessed us with a tailwind and a beautiful splash of color.

We entered Missouri where we would eventually find ourselves coursing through the Ozark hills on a human powered roller coaster that would last for days. We deviated slightly from our route to spend an evening near where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote The Little House series, beloved by young readers. We discovered a

Transformation Is Hard Work #NEARA11

The current climate around public education can be best described as tumultuous, especially for teachers. From coast to coast, state governments are taking away the rights of public educators and in the process, they say, jeopardizing student success. Priority school educators at the 2011 NEA Annual Representative Assembly in Chicago share the pressures and struggles they are facing at home.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: The Grand Coalition Against Teachers

The Grand Coalition Against Teachers

by Mike Klonsky

Joanne Barkan describes the scope of the anti-teacher, anti-union network of corporate school "reformers" in thisDissent Magazine piece.

The Bush Administration launched the era of federally mandated, high-stakes testing in public schools with its “No Child Left Behind” program in 2001. Schools not making “adequate yearly progress” in raising math and reading scores risked being re-staffed, replaced with charters, or shut down. This quickly produced predictable results: teaching to the test, narrowed curriculum,

STEM rules — Joanne Jacobs

STEM rules

JULY 3, 2011 BY JOANNE LEAVE A COMMENT

Science and math mastery lead to money, according to this Live Science infographic.

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Fear of more failing test scores sets off clash over No Child Left Behind | Bellingham Herald - The News Tribune

Fear of more failing test scores sets off clash over No Child Left Behind

WASHINGTON - With the clock ticking, federal education officials fear that calamity awaits.

If Congress doesn't move quickly to change the No Child Left Behind law, they project that a whopping 82 percent of the nation's public schools could fail to meet proficiency targets this year, facing sanctions that ultimately can include a loss of federal aid. That's up from 37 percent last year.

Beset with a case of the jitters, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is warning of "a slow-moving educational train wreck for children, parents and teachers" - and he's not waiting for the crash.

With Congress showing no signs of meeting a request by

Archaic Method? Cursive writing no longer has to be taught » News » News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Archaic Method? Cursive writing no longer has to be taught

Sue LoughlinThe Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Starting this fall, the Indiana Department of Education will no longer require Indiana’s public schools to teach cursive writing.

State officials sent school leaders a memo April 25 telling them that instead of cursive writing, students will be expected to become proficient in keyboard use.

The memo says schools may continue to teach cursive as a local standard, or they may decide to stop teaching cursive altogether.

Greene County resident and parent Ericka Hostetter has mixed feelings about the teaching of cursive. She has three children, and two will be in public

Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Three Myths About High Expectations

Video: Arne In Aspen

STEM rules