Latest News and Comment from Education

Show All

Friday, September 16, 2011

Big Education Ape: 9-16-11 AM Finding the money for school repairs: reduce testing EDition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:

Published by Coopmike48 – 7 news spotters today

Obama's Chief of Staff: The Man from J.P. Morgan

schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com - With Daley in charge, who needs Republicans?Bill Daley, the brother of the former Chicago mayor and JPMorgan Chase executive, joined Obama's inner circle back in January in an effort to ease tensi...

mikeklonsky

Chicago Shopping

chicagotribune.com - About a dozen law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, raided the home of a former top aide to Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday as part of a growing investigation into whether county employees...

fklonsky

Finding the money for school repairs: reduce testing

schoolsmatter.info - Sent to the New York Times, Sept 13, 2011 The US Department of Education plans to increase testing well beyond the already excessive amount we are doing now, without any supporting evidence. Test d...

fklonsky

Promoting K-12 Education to Advance Student Achievement

brookings.edu - Event Summary Great teachers and great schools have the ability to transform the living standard of Americans. Over the past century, investments in education have boosted the productivity and ear...

leoniehaimson

Live Twitter stream on

@coopmike48/big-edu-ape-news-11

coopmike48 profile

coopmike48 Philly Catholic high schools' labor closing brings call for tuition halt - Philly.com - http://t.co/rcJAGJmh6 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

Debt and The Great Disconnect

schooltechconnect.com - I wonder how this is playing out in communities where the new metric isn't a test score but rather the ability to sculpt a school's graduating class so that 100% of the graduates are accepted at co...

tbfurman

PoliticsSee all

Most See Unemployment as America’s Top Problem

fdlaction.firedoglake.com - A large plurality of Americans, 39 percent, say unemployment is the most important problem facing the country today. “Unemployment” recently managed to take the top spot away from the issue of “the...

coopmike48

SocietySee all

Truthout: Postal Workers: The Last Union

kochwatch.org - -by Allison KilkennySeptember 8, 2011- The recent attacks against the United States Postal Service (USPS) are more than signs of desperate times - a natural sunset moment for a service rendered arc...

coopmike48

CrimeSee all

Should Davis be executed? No

ajc.com - By William S. SessionsNo: Questions about his guilt continue to plague his conviction.As Troy Davis faces his fourth execution date on Sept. 21, many may assume that lingering doubts about the case...

fklonsky

The Innocence of Troy Davis

forbes.com - John Rudolf has a long piece up on Troy Davis in the Huffington Post. Davis was convicted in 1991 for the shooting death of a Georgia policeman. Since then, many doubts have been raised about the c...

mikeklonsky

Supreme Court halts Texas execution

northjersey.com - HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution Thursday of a black man convicted of a double murder in Texas 16 years ago after his lawyers contended his sentence was unfair becaus...

coopmike48

StoriesSee all

TeachHub Monthly Classroom Projector Giveaway!

oldschoolteach.wordpress.com - We teachers are always looking for a way to get tech tools for free! Actually, anything for free. Well TeachHub has decided to help us out! They are conducting a monthly contest where each winner ...

coopmike48

Fires Alarmed | The Jose Vilson

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Fires Alarmed | The Jose Vilson:Fires Alarmedby JoseFire drills always unnerve me. One time, our dean asked me to stand in one of the streets, a standard procedure for fire drills as we escort stud...

coopmike48

EnvironmentSee all

Obama admin ignored warnings about Solyndra

news.yahoo.com - WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration ignored repeated warnings about a clean-energy loan program that has become an embarrassment for the White House amid the collapse of a California solar e...

mikeklonsky

Why Hunger Is Still With Us

thenation.com - Editor's Note: This piece is one in a series of replies to Frances Moore Lappé’s essay on the food movement today. Amid the joy of local, seasonal ingredients and tides of young people with dirt ...

coopmike48

#eduRead this paperSee all

Fires Alarmed | The Jose Vilson

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Fires Alarmed | The Jose Vilson:Fires Alarmedby JoseFire drills always unnerve me. One time, our dean asked me to stand in one of the streets, a standard procedure for fire drills as we escort stud...

coopmike48

School Tech Connect: Debt and The Great Disconnect

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - School Tech Connect: Debt and The Great Disconnect:Debt and The Great Disconnectby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)I wonder how this is playing out in communities where the new metric isn't a test score b...

coopmike48

#edreformRead this paperSee all

Stop Children What's That Sound? Only #edreform

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - There's something happening hereWhat it is ain't exactly clearThere's a man with a gun over thereTelling me i got to bewareI think it's time we stop, children, what's that soundEverybody look what'...

coopmike48

Media3

  • leoniehaimsonleoniehaimson
  • DianeRavitchDianeRavitch
  • leoniehaimsonleoniehaimson

Photos0
    Posted by at

    For or Against Children

    For or Against Children:

    For or Against Children?

    The Problematic History of Stand for Children

    Fall 2011

    Illustration:David McLimans

    By Ken Libby & Adam Sanchez

    Last October, a friend called with a question: “What do you know about Stand for Children?” The advocacy organization, based in our hometown of Portland, Ore., was expanding into his state of Illinois, and he hoped to glean some insight into the kinds of reforms the group would support. Just two months later, Stand’s Illinois branch had amassed more than $3 million in a political action committee and unveiled an aggressive teacher evaluation bill.

    “Have they always been like this?” he asked.

    The short answer: no.

    Stand for Children was founded in the late 1990s as a way to advocate for the welfare of children. It grew out of a 1996

    Posted by at

    Emery: Full control, and a debt repaid - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

    Emery: Full control, and a debt repaid - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

    Emery: Full control, and a debt repaid

    By Katy Murphy
    Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 8:09 pm in local control.

    It was a happy day in Emery Unified. The district was celebrating the end of an era: a decade of state debt and state control.

    Emery’s fiscal crisis began to unfold in 2000, about two years before the mess in Oakland began. Its former superintendent, J.L. Handy, who had racked up personal charges on the district credit card, left the tiny, two-school district $2 million in debt.

    Emery regained partial control in 2004, but — as is the case today in Oakland — the state maintained veto-power over its spending. In late July, Emery officials repaid the last of the district’s emergency loans.

    From everything I’ve heard, state receivership didn’t leave the same scars on Emery Unified as it did on Oakland. At an event today, local leaders actuallythanked the state-appointed administrators/trustees, Henry Der and John Quinn, for helping to put Emery’s fiscal house in order. In contrast, Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith (and former Emery superintendent) noted at

    Posted by at

    Queens Teacher: Fuzzy Math Isn't Cuddly

    Queens Teacher: Fuzzy Math Isn't Cuddly:

    Fuzzy Math Isn't Cuddly

    by Queens Teacher
    'FUZZY MATH' ISN'T CUDDLY
    By MICHELLE MALKIN

    Do you know what math curriculum your child is being taught? Are you worried that your third- grader hasn't learned simple multiplication yet? Have you been befuddled by educational jargon such as "spiraling," which is used to explain why your kid keeps bringing home the same insipid busywork of cutting, gluing and drawing? And are you alarmed by teachers who emphasize "self-confidence" over proficiency while their students fall further and further behind? Join the club.

    From New York City to Seattle, parents are wising up to math fads like "Everyday Math." Sounds harmless enough, right? It's cleverly marketed as a "University of Chicago" program. Impressive, right? But then you start
    Posted by at

    Going for broke in school | Thoughts on Public Education

    Going for broke in school | Thoughts on Public Education:

    Going for broke in school

    Poverty becomes a growing brain drain

    Posted on 9/16/11 • Categorized as Equity issues, Poverty, Uncategorized, Video

    By Kathryn Baron

    It’s hard to know what 17-month-old Terreace makes of his world, but his mother has an idea. In Valerie Klinker’s three-and-a-half minute film, Through My Eyes, she follows Terreace and his 3-year-old brother Terry from morning through evening bath time, describing the signs of poverty in their

    Terreace on the playground (Valerie Klinker) Click to enlarge

    Terreace on the playground (Valerie Klinker) Click to enlarge

    neighborhood as if spoken by her curly-haired toddler.

    “Daddy doesn’t like us to take our shoes off,” narrates Klinker as the boys play in the sand and on climbing structures at the park. “He said there are things in the park that little kids shouldn’t touch,” she continues as the camera focuses first on a hole in the

    Posted by at

    Why education reform keeps failing - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

    Why education reform keeps failing - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

    Why education reform keeps failing

    by Valerie Strauss

    This was written by David K. Cohen, John Dewey Collegiate Professor of Education and professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. This post originally appeared on the Albert Shanker Institute’s blog.

    By David K. Cohen

    Read full article >>

    Why Common Core Standards implementation is slow

    by Valerie Strauss

    Funding concerns and inadequate guidance from state officials are two key reasons that the implementation of the new Common Core State Standards in public school districts across the country is going slow this school year, according to a new survey by the nonprofit Center on Education Policy.

    The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and math are an attempt to standardize across what students learn from kindergarten through 12th grade, and have been a big part of the Obama administration education reform platform.

    Read full article >>
    Posted by at

    Schooling in the Ownership Society: Obama's Chief of Staff: The Man from J.P. Morgan

    Schooling in the Ownership Society: Obama's Chief of Staff: The Man from J.P. Morgan:

    Obama's Chief of Staff: The Man from J.P. Morgan

    by Mike Klonsky
    With Daley in charge, who needs Republicans?

    Bill Daley, the brother of the former Chicago mayor and JPMorgan Chase executive, joined Obama's inner circle back in January in an effort to ease tensions with Wall St. leaders peeved at Obama for what they saw as his anti-business policies and rhetoric -- namely, health care reform, financial reform, and his utterance, once, of the term "fat cats.” In exchange, Chicago former CoS Rahm Emanuel as its mayor and schools boss. He's also a huge Democratic party rainmaker with elections on the horizon.
    Democrats have taken issue with Daley for cozying up to Republicans and conceding too much, too soon, in negotiations with them. He routinely reminds GOP leaders how his business
    Posted by at

    Daily Kos: Where are the compassionate conservatives?

    Daily Kos: Where are the compassionate conservatives?:

    Where are the compassionate conservatives?

    by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)
    We heard plenty of contradictions, distortions and untruths at the Republican candidates’ Tea Party debate, but we heard shockingly little compassion — and almost no acknowledgement that political and economic policy choices have a moral dimension.
    So writes the inimitable Eugene Robinson in this Washington Post op ed, appearing in tomorrow's dead tree edition - and as a side note, the link to the debate is from Ron Paul's website - that is how it appears on thePost website.

    As with most Robinson columns, it is superbly written, and very much to the point.

    One paragraph jumped out at me:

    According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told the Pharisees that God commands us to “love thy
    Posted by at

    The Educated Reporter: Community Schools: What's Missing is Synergy

    The Educated Reporter: Community Schools: What's Missing is Synergy:

    Community Schools: What's Missing is Synergy

    by Emily Richmond
    I had the opportunity recently to interview David Kirp, a UC-Berkeley professor, author, and a member of President Obama's 2008 transition team.

    One of Kirp's areas of expertise is early childhood education, and he helped with the blueprint for the $500 million in challenge grants now being offered by the U.S. Department of Education.

    The full interview is available for EdMedia Commons members, but I wanted to take a moment here to share a few of Kirp's interesting points.
    Posted by at

    Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: N.Y. stops ranking teachers based on student test scores

    Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: N.Y. stops ranking teachers based on student test scores:

    N.Y. stops ranking teachers based on student test scores

    NYT reports: New York City education officials announced Thursday that they would end their effort to rank teachers based on their students’ standardized test scores, adding a surprise twist to one of the most contentious issues facing the city’s teaching force.

    Joel Klein, the former schools chancellor who now fronts for Rupert Murdoch, championed the rankings, and the city has been supporting their release to the public against a teachers’ union lawsuit for the past year.
    Posted by at

    Miami Dade Superintendent Addresses Congress; Urges Revamp of the Way Students are Measured | Scathing Purple Musings

    Miami Dade Superintendent Addresses Congress; Urges Revamp of the Way Students are Measured | Scathing Purple Musings:

    Miami Dade Superintendent Addresses Congress; Urges Revamp of the Way Students are Measured

    by Bob Sikes

    Miami Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho joined educators from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Mexico before a congressional committee yesterday and urged them to revamp “how the federal government measures student success.”

    Above all, they criticized how the existing law compares test scores from one group of students to another (for example, this year’s ninth-graders to last year’s ninth-graders) instead of measuring how one group of student improves over time (this year’s ninth-graders in August compared to May). Schools, they argued, should find out if students are learning at least a year’s worth of material in one year.

    The four educators also suggested the law — which breaks down student scores in reading and math into categories of race, disability and poverty — also take into account science and writing. Members of Congress said teachers and parents are frustrated by an emphasis on reading and

    Posted by at

    LAUSD "Honors" Perdaily.com - Perdaily.com

    LAUSD "Honors" Perdaily.com - Perdaily.com:

    LAUSD "Honors" Perdaily.com

    by Leonard Isenberg
    censored.jpeg
    (Mensaje se repite en Español)

    (For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

    As perdaily approaches its two year anniversary this November of writing about all the news that's fit to print about the inept Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), that somehow never seems to see the light of day with the Los Angeles Times or any other mainstream media outlet - or Broad and Gates Foundation financially dependent National Public Radio outlets for that matter.

    In moments of self-doubt, one wonders whether we are making a difference?

    With the excellent self-critical educational skills that I developed as a student of an LAUSD from a different era
    Posted by at
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)