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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Big Education Ape: 9-27-11 AM Can Teachers Opt Out? EDition

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Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 news spotters today

Texas refineries may get back $135M

galvestondailynews.com - By Ramit Plushnick-MastiAssociated PressPublished September 26, 2011 PASADENA, Texas — Three commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry may grant some of the nation's largest refineries a tax refun...

mikeklonsky

Timothy D. Slekar: Can Teachers Opt Out?

huffingtonpost.com - But if we don't all opt out, then teachers become complicit in their own demise and that of their students and communities-don't think for a moment that if you as a teacher or school "play by their...

DianeRavitch

2011 - News & Events

soe.unc.edu - From the dean In reforming schools, let's rely on evidence, not ideology By Bill McDiarmid Recently, a somewhat chastened Bill Gates admitted in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Ri...

DianeRavitch

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coopmike48 Jackie Tapes End Where a Transformation Began | Womens eNews -http://t.co/yIoYPJXk2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Read Save Our Schools March NEWS ▸ today's top stories via @anthonycody ▸ http://t.co/agir1IEd#SOSMARCH39 seconds ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Democurmudgeon: Walker Embarrassed by Brian Williams and Sun Prairie's Heather Dubois Bournene -http://t.co/PtJuLQpA6 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

The selling of school choice

wisconsinwatch.org - Walmart family heirs and others are changing the face of education in WisconsinHeirs to the Walmart fortune, including Alice and Jim Walton, have given thousands to Wisconsin political candidates s...

DianeRavitch

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StoriesSee all

NYC Educator: There Are Times...

nyceducator.com - ...when a man has to make the supreme sacrifice and go to work. For me, that day is today. Now I don't expect much sympathy, because it's likely the same for you. On the upside, I have the best job...

fklonsky

Guitar Lesson 3

ideasandthoughts.org - I'm not sure why I'm calling these lessons, since they really aren't anything more than me reflecting and updating my progress. I don't think it shows much on the video but I feel decent about m...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

A Campaign Finance Ruling Turned to Labor’s Advantage

nytimes.com - WASHINGTON — Labor unions are seizing on last year’s landmark Supreme Court campaign finance ruling to change how they engage in politics, developing ambitious plans to influence nonunion household...

fklonsky

Professor Obama Returns to Bay Area

baycitizen.org - The Barack Obama who rolled up his shirt sleeves and proclaimed himself a "warrior" for the working class while barnstorming the country during the past two weeks did not appear on Monday when the ...

coopmike48

EnvironmentSee all

100 years later, Channel Island wetlands to be restored

latimesblogs.latimes.com - A major restoration project could bring back a long-degraded wetland to one of the remote islands off the Southern California coast. Workers have broken ground on a $1-million project that will cu...

coopmike48

Schools of the Future Report

cde.ca.gov - SAN MATEO—California should retool its school construction process to foster 21st century learning, streamline school-building regulations to help create jobs, and change state law to encourage cam...

coopmike48

LeisureSee all

Billboard Attacking Cheese Installed Near Green Bay |

bluecheddar.net - A Washington DC-based organization called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has installed a billboard near Green Bay, Wisconsin. [They're called "PCRM" for short] There is so much wrong...

coopmike48

#educationnationRead this paperSee all

NBC Education Nation: How To Participate Online

edudemic.com - We’re back at Education Nation and ready for the morning panelists. To keep up with some of the events of today, you can follow the participants on Twitter! There are a number of discussion panels ...

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    NJ Spotlight | Legislature Passes Charter Bill, But Advocates and Critics Want More Changes

    NJ Spotlight | Legislature Passes Charter Bill, But Advocates and Critics Want More Changes:

    Legislature Passes Charter Bill, But Advocates and Critics Want More Changes
    Parochial school conversion measure passes, although reception remains in doubt

    print | |
    By John Mooney, September 27 in Education |Post a Comment

    One change to New Jersey's charter school law passed the legislature yesterday, while talk mounts that a broader rewrite of the state's 15-year-old statute governing the semi-autonomous schools may be in the offing.

    Related Links

    Senate Bill 1858

    The state Senate passed a bill that would allow certain parochial and private schools to convert to charters. Few think that the proposal will lead to many such conversions, but may send a lifeline to at least a few closing Catholic schools.

    The measure, which passed 25-13, is the only one of a half-dozen proposed reforms to New Jersey's charter school law that has now passed both the Senate and the Assembly. It goes next to

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    Why Naming Names Is Wrong - Bridging Differences - Education Week

    Why Naming Names Is Wrong - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

    Why Naming Names Is Wrong

    by Diane Ravitch

    Dear Deborah,

    A year ago, the Los Angeles Times created a media sensation when it obtained the names and test scores of thousands of teachers, then commissioned a researcher to rate them in relation to their "effectiveness" in raising test scores. The Times then published online the names and ratings of those thousands of teachers. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan saluted the Times for rating teachers and naming names, but the overwhelming majority of testing and evaluation experts thought it was a terrible idea.

    The experts understand that evaluating teachers by their students' test scores is fraught with problems. The ratings are inaccurate (there is a large margin of error) and unstable (a teacher who is effective one year may be ineffective the next year, depending on the composition of his or her classes since students are not randomly assigned). They are plagued with missing data, they ignore the effects of non-school factors. Nor do they

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    The Innovative Educator: Why I Don't Like Standardized Tests

    The Innovative Educator: Why I Don't Like Standardized Tests:

    Why I Don't Like Standardized Tests

    by lnielsen.professional@gmail.com (The Innovative Educator)
    Guest post by Cathy Earle
    As an educator, I am sometimes called upon to teach children test preparation skills. I do so because these particular children are going to have to take a particular test – it's a reality. However, the first step of my test prep lesson is to tell the children that I don't like standardized tests, especially high-stakes tests. I don't believe they should have to take them, and, I tell them, I didn't subject my own kids to them.

    Here are my major reasons for my antipathy toward standardized tests:


    1. Standardized tests measure only certain kinds of knowledge or abilities -- arguably the lowest level and least important. They don't do a great job of measuring higher level thinking skills or creativity, and they say nothing about whether or not students are able to solve real-world problems, let alone whether or not students are willing
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    New option for parochial schools advances | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/27/2011

    New option for parochial schools advances | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/27/2011:

    New option for parochial schools advances

    By Maya Rao and Claudia Vargas

    Inquirer Staff Writers

    TRENTON - High-performing private and parochial schools in failing districts, including Camden, could become taxpayer-funded charter schools under a bill that won final legislative approval Monday.

    The Senate voted, 25-13, for the legislation, which Gov. Christie is expected to sign.

    The proposal would let parochial schools, which have long struggled financially, avoid closure by eliminating all religious symbols and classes, and adopting a secular name. Existing faculty and staff would be given preference for jobs, and current students would avoid the charter-school lottery process.

    Some parishes have leased or sold their former school buildings for use as charters. But that takes time, and enrollment preference is not given to the displaced students.

    Supporters of the idea, who include Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) and Camden County Democratic leader George E. Norcross 3d, say the proposal provides another

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    Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

    Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

    Delicious Unveils New Features

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    The popular bookmarking site Delicious, now under new management since being sold by Yahoo, today unveils a new look and new features. You can read more about them at TechCrunch. They seem nice enough, but don’t appear to be anything to get that excited about…I will add the link to The Best Sites For Figuring Out What To Do If Delicious Shuts Down.

    I’ll still continue to save links to diigo and have them automatically also be saved

    Two New Online Drawing Apps

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    Here are the newest additions to The Best Art Websites For Learning English:

    Draw It Live lets you create virtual “rooms” where you can collaborate with people of your choices to draw. It also includes a chat window. You can save the image to your desktop, but it doesn’t appear to


    This Week’s Collection Of Good School Reform Posts/Articles

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    Here are two good school reform posts/articles that I’ve read this week:

    The Debate over Teacher Merit Pay: A Freakonomics Quorum has some very thoughtful responses. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea.

    A strange deference to Gates at Education Nation is by Anthony Cody. He makes great points about Melinda Gates’ appearance today on NBC’s “Education Nation,” including this one:

    Melinda Gates begins with the question “How do we know a teacher’s making a difference in a student’s life?”


    Now, This Is What I Call Professional Development!

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    Atul Gawande, one of my favorite feature writers, published an article in The New Yorker today titledPersonal Best: Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you? (miracle of miracles — it doesn’t appear to be behind a paywall!).

    In the article, Gawande (who is also a surgeon) discusses how he had felt he had reached a “plateau” in his surgical skill, and looked at other professions which employed “coaches”:

    [Coaching] holds that, no matter how well prepared people are in their formative years, few can achieve and


    Now, This Is What I Call Professional Development!

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    Atul Gawande, one of my favorite feature writers, published an article in The New Yorker today titledPersonal Best: Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you? (miracle of miracles — it doesn’t appear to be behind a paywall!).

    In the article, Gawande (who is also a surgeon) discusses how he had felt he had reached a “plateau” in his surgical skill, and looked at other professions which employed “coaches”:

    [Coaching] holds that, no matter how well prepared people are in their formative years, few can achieve and


    Here Are Three More Nice Additions To The Best Sites For ELL’s List

    by Larry Ferlazzo


    Here are three more additions to The Best Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced English Language Learner Sites:

    The most important additions is a site just discovered by Richard Byrne — Pronunciator. It has simple lessons for 60 different languages, and its most important feature is that it allows you to repeat and record what is being taught, and then “grades” your pronunciation. English Central pioneered this kind of capability over two years ago, and the is the first time I’ve seen another web tool try it, too.

    Web-ESL has lots of great resources. It links to other sites, but has many of its own exercises, and they are



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