Friday, July 15, 2011

Secretary Duncan on Common Core Standards and the Next Generation of Assessments | ED.gov Blog

Secretary Duncan on Common Core Standards and the Next Generation of Assessments

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Secretary Duncan recently responded to several questions asked via his Facebook page, including a question from Annie about Common Core standards. The Secretary praised the courageous work of states that are refusing to dumb down standards and are working to expand the depth and breadth of academic programs. Duncan encouraged states to not just focus on standards, but to “have a well-rounded curriculum to make sure all of our children have access to a wide range of subjects.”

The Secretary also answered a question regarding the need for a “new generation” of assessments to evaluate student progress. While improving assessments is a decision that will be made on the state and local level, Secretary Duncan emphasized that ED contributed almost $350 million in grants to 44 states who are collaborating on improved assessments.

Continue the conversation on Secretary Duncan’s Facebook page, on Twitter and in the comments below.

Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.

Ben Firke is an intern in the office of Communications and Outreach at the Department of Education

Save Our Schools March Documentary Film Fund -- IndieGoGo

Save Our Schools March Documentary Film Fund

CREATED BY:

Ceresta Smith

LOCATION:

Miami, Florida, United States

CATEGORY:

Film

National Call to Action

You may have heard by now that teachers and families from across the country will be uniting to attend the “Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action” July 28-31, 2011 in Washington, D. C. A major public rally and march will be held on July 30^th, with workshops, speakers and educational events being held throughout the four day period. Nationwide, regional and local events will also be scheduled to coincide with the main event in Washington, DC. To see a list of endorsements, workshop activities, and speakers; please visitwww.saveourschoolsmarch.org

To document this historic event, two young minority filmmakers, Miami's Lee Cipolla and Newport New's Tristan Jackson, are donating time to shoot a documentary. Lee is an award winning filmmaker with two major films distributed by Lionsgate to his credit. Tristan has directed numerous music videos in the Newport News, Va. area. They need the community's support to get the job done in recording for the first time in America's history, teachers uniting with community members to march for quality public eduction.

What They Need

Total Budget to Final Cut =$7,900

TRAVEL:

-5 crew members Round trip tickets (FLL to WASHINGTON DC) 200$/per person X 5 people= $1000

-10 Eon/Bamn student activist taking part in film (DETROIT to WASHINGTON DC) - $200/person =$2000

BOARD:

- 4 nights at $50 per night per 2 crew members/students. 4 nights X $50 per 8 rooms = $1600

FOOD:

-$30 per Diem per each crew member/student per day (not including travel days) = 30 X 15x 4 days =$1800

RENTAL/CREW FEES:

Approximate for rental fees including: 1 lav sound mic, a boom pole and boom, one 5D canon camera, 1 HVX200, three more canon 5Ds, a basic lighting and grip kit, plus misc. other production rentals= $1500

What You Get

A Tax Deductible Donation.

BAMN: Taking an Activist Stance: Students and Educators’ Action Plan | Dailycensored.com

BAMN: Taking an Activist Stance: Students and Educators’ Action Plan

Written by Danny WeilMediaJul 15, 2011

0digg

BAMN will be participating in the Save our Schools conference and rally July 28-30.
We are helping to raise funds to document the event, as well as sponsoring a workshop during the conference.

Here is where you can donate for the documentary:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Save-Our-Schools-March-Document-fund

Here is a description of our workshop (Thursday, July 28 at 10:45, American Univ.):

Taking an Activist Stance: Students and Educators’ Action Plan

Hear from the students and teachers who have been in the streets, organizing and winning real struggles against market reform attacks on public education. Workshop speakers will describe successful fights that have been made in the past few years, such as the 2010 Miami Dade teacher sick out, student walk-out and student/teacher sit-down at the Florida Governor’s office which defeated the legislative effort to tie teachers’ job security and pay to student test scores; the series of student walkouts that have saved arts programs in Los Angeles and laid the basis for the

My Reply to Stand for Children « Parents Across America

My Reply to Stand for Children

by leoniehaimson

By Susan Barrett

I appreciate that Oregon’s Stand for Children (SFC) chapter has responded to my post, but unfortunately this only further confirms for me that they have no interest in changing their agenda. In the past few days, I have been contacted by other parents who agree with me that Stand is notrepresenting their concerns.

For example, not once have I heard a parent say, “Gee, if only we had more Teach for America teachers, things would be better.” Yet, that is exactly what Sue Levin, the Oregon Executive Director of Stand advocated for in March of this year.

As for kicker reform, Stand replied that there was only one proposal brought forth. Yes, but

Stand for Children Leader Catches Heat - State EdWatch - Education Week

Stand for Children Leader Catches Heat

by Sean Cavanagh

Jonah Edelman, the leader of an emergent education advocacy organization, has apologized for recent remarks in which he brought the behind-the-scenes political activity leading up to the passage of a major Illinois law front and center.

Speaking at an Aspen Institute event on June 28, Edelman offered an expansive and detailed account of efforts by his group and others to build support for Senate Bill 7, a sweeping measure that tied teacher advancement to performance.

He described his group's political outreach and negotiation with a cast of players across the Illinois political establishment, including House Speaker Michael Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But his remarks angered teachers and others in Illinois, who saw Edelman's words as full of braggadocio, and dismissive of unions, as he spoke of Stand for Children's efforts to overcome labor's skepticism, and in some cases outright opposition, to the proposal.

"[A] stunning series of half-truths and tall-tales," the Illinois Education Association said of Edelman's account.

More than 200 D.C. teachers fired - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post

More than 200 D.C. teachers fired

by Bill Turque

The District fired 227 teachers for poor performance Friday, the second year in a row it has dismissed significant numbers of educators for sub-par work in the classroom.

Those fired amount to nearly 6 percent of the 4,100 teachers in the city school system.

They were dismissed for poor scores on the evaluation system known as IMPACT, which grades teachers on five 30-minute classroom observations and their compliance with nine broad standards. These include ability to express course content clearly, teach students with differing skill levels and manage time effectively. For some teachers, half of their appraisal is contingent on whether students meet predicted growth targets on standardized tests.

Read full article >>

List of 89 Pa. schools to be investigated | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

List of 89 Pa. schools to be investigated

by thenotebook

by Benjamin Herold
for the Notebook/NewsWorks

These are the 89 Pennsylvania schools that are to be investigated for possible cheating on the 2009 state standardized tests under orders from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). Statewide, 10 charter schools and 38 other school districts are affected by the order.

Featured Title:

In Philadelphia, 28 District schools and 7 charters named

Democurmudgeon: The After Affects of Walker's Cuts to Public Schools: The Future Looks Dim for Public Schools

The After Affects of Walker's Cuts to Public Schools: The Future Looks Dim for Public Schools

by Democurmudgeon

Class sizes will not be affected? That’s what the radical right wing think tank the MacIver Institute is saying. Walker’s dramatic school funding cuts won’t have any impacted at all. In fact, schools will be better off. Smaller class sizes…

An analysis of new labor agreements in Wisconsin’s school districts indicates requiring teachers to make modest contributions to health and pension benefits can cut the cost of education by $500 per student in Wisconsin, saving school districts hundreds of millions of dollars without affecting class size or course offerings.

Tell that to the individuals at our public schools who have to deal reality, not idealized conservative tripe, to make ends meet now and in the future. Yes, the future.

MacIver is basing much of their right wing joy on the Walker cuts to schools and collective bargaining. But as

D.C. to Reward, Dismiss Teachers Based on Evaluations - Teacher Beat - Education Week

D.C. to Reward, Dismiss Teachers Based on Evaluations

by Stephen Sawchuk

The District of Columbia plans to give raises and bonuses to more than 600 teachers and dismiss some 227 others based on data generated by its teacher-evaluation system, officials announced today.

The nationally watched IMPACT evaluation system was created under former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Officials fleshed out the dismissal and bonus components of the system through a collective bargaining pactsigned last year with the Washington Teachers Union.

According to this year's results, 663 D.C. teachers were rated the highest level, "highly effective," and are eligible to receive performance bonuses of up to $25,000. Of those teachers, 290 will get base-salary increases as well.

The district will terminate 65 teachers who received "ineffective" ratings, along with 141 others whose performance didn't improve enough over last year.

Another 94 teachers will be dismissed for not maintaining a valid license, and a handful of teachers who lost their placements and could not find new ones will also be let go.

Other teachers' performance improved enough to avoid being terminated. 58 percent of the 566 teachers who last year received the rating of "minimally effective," the second lowest under the system, were rated "effective" or

California’s No Layoff Clause for Teachers « InterACT

California’s No Layoff Clause for Teachers

by Martha Infante

by Tom Meyer, Cartoonist

Let’s get one thing straight from the get-go. The manner in which Assembly Bill 114 was passed on the floor embodies what the public dislikes most about politics; sneaky back-room maneuvering, attempts to circumvent the established political process, and using the cover of darkness to push forth preferred policies.

That said, I wonder if someone in Sacramento is finally willing to do whatever it takes to stem the bleeding caused by three consecutive years of layoffs at schools like mine.

Friday, July 15, 2011