Kelly Wu: In Defense of the American Teacher

Kelly Wu: In Defense of the American Teacher:

Kelly Wu

16-year-old high school debater

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In Defense of the American Teacher

Posted: 10/11/11 10:15 AM ET

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Education , Teachers , California Public Schools , High School News

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I attend a public school in California and the horror stories you hear are indeed, true. Photocopies and scantrons are scarcities, when it rains the roofs mildew and fall apart, and we took a week-long vacation last year to celebrate the fact that the school district could not pay its teachers. And sadly, teachers at my school and schools all across the United States face long hours, grueling work, and most disappointingly -- disrespectful students.

In the United States, teaching has one of the highest turnover rates for any profession, meaning that more teachers quit every year compared to other professions. This, according to the Alliance of Excellent Education, is costing our state governments an average of $4.5 billion yearly. The National Commission on Teaching and America's

The Revolution Started Without Me: Occupying Wall Street | Dissident Voice #ows

The Revolution Started Without Me: Occupying Wall Street | Dissident Voice:

The Revolution Started Without Me: Occupying Wall Street

by Jack Random

[Occupy Wall Street is] a diffuse and leaderless convocation of activists against greed, corporate influence, gross social inequality and other nasty byproducts of wayward capitalism not easily extinguishable by street theater….

— Ginia Bellafante, NY Times 9/23/11

In the summer of 1968 I had finished my freshman year in high school. By chance, I journeyed to San Francisco with some older fellow students, checked the scene at Haight-Ashbury, partied with the cast of Hair and ended up on the beach in Big Sur talking philosophy. I was offered a hit off a joint but declined.

Later that year a friend and I hitched to a New Year’s concert at the Fillmore West. As Cold Blood, Boz Skaggs and the Voices of East Harlem marked the hours to midnight, joints passed freely among the audience. This time I accepted though my friend declined.

I had come to understand that marijuana was far more than a recreational drug. It was a sacrament to the

Corporate Wrongdoing and the Neutralizing of Society

by Gary Brumback

Most corporate wrongdoing is not criminal but all of it is unethical. It is not criminal because our corporatized government has made it legal through legislative (e.g. loophole porous laws), administrative (e.g., reckless deregulation and war making), and judicial (e.g., corporate personhood) accommodations.

Being legal, of course, does not make the wrongdoing less consequential. Just the opposite is true, especially when undertaken hand in hand with government, as is the case since the end of WWII with endless covert and overt militarism that has killed countless human beings and devastated countries, not for the sake of protecting and spreading democracy but for the sake of the corpocracy. Our own society has suffered immensely as well. It is because of the corpocracy that among industrialized nations America ranks lowest on all important

QE: Quantitative Easing or Questionable Economics?

by Adnan Al-Daini

We all know QE stands for Quantitative Easing; a better description would be Questionable Economics.

The Bank of England has just announced QE2, where £75bn is being electronically created and pumped into the banks. This is in addition to QE1, the £200bn injected in 2009 in exchange for mainly government bonds.

The more I read about this system of finance, the more convinced I become that this is a racket that enriches the banks and endangers the real economy, with many economists arguing that it makes the current dire economic situation worse.

The aim of the Bank of England is to enable the banks to lend to small businesses and entrepreneurs to create

Education Research Report: The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools

Education Research Report: The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools:

The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

A new study commissioned by CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°" found that the stereotype of the schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools.

Instead, the research shows that many students are involved in "social combat" -- a constant verbal, physical and cyber fight to the top of the school social hierarchy.

"Kids are caught up in patterns of cruelty and aggression that have to do with jockeying for status," explains Robert Faris, a sociologist whom "Anderson Cooper 360°" partnered with for the pilot study. "It's really not the kids that are psychologically troubled, who are on the margins or the fringes of the school's social life. It's the kids right in the middle, at the heart of things ... often, typically highly, well-liked popular kids who are engaging

Using State Assessments to Measure Student Achievement in Evaluations of Educational Interventions

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

State assessments provide a relatively inexpensive and increasingly accessible source of data on student achievement. In the past, rigorous evaluations of educational interventions typically administered standardized tests selected by the researchers ("study-administered tests") to measure student achievement outcomes. Increasingly, researchers are turning to the lower cost option of using state assessments for measures of student achievement.

This NCEE Reference Report, Estimating the Impacts of Educational Interventions Using State Tests or Study-Administered Tests, identifies and describes factors that could affect the precision of impact estimates when evaluations use state assessments instead of study-administered tests. The study is based on data from three

Use of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

A new report on postsecondary private loan borrows found that the percentage of undergraduates who took out private loans rose from 5 percent to 14 percent from 2003–04 to 2007–08.

The Expansion of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education, a Statistics in Brief, examines trends in borrowing from commercial lenders for postsecondary education, the characteristics of undergraduate and graduate private loan borrowers, and combining private and federal loans. Results are based on nationally representative data collected through the 2003–04 and 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:04 and NPSAS:08). Other findings include:

• Among full-time dependent undergraduates, higher percentages of students from lower middle-income (21

Pennsylvania's Cyber and Hybrid Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

An increasing number of parents are choosing one of Pennsylvania's 12 public cyber charter schools for their children every year. By allowing children to learn online and at home, cyber schools cater to students with a variety of unique needs: those who are either gifted or struggling academically; those who have demanding sports or performing arts schedules; children in rural areas with limited educational opportunities; and those who suffer from health problems. In the last 10 years, enrollment in public cyber schools has ballooned from 1,848 to 27,779 students.

Despite their popularity among parents and demonstrated academic successes, cyber schools have come under

Student Occupation Against Tuition Fees at University of St. Andrews in Scotland « Student Activism #ows

Student Occupation Against Tuition Fees at University of St. Andrews in Scotland « Student Activism:

Student Occupation Against Tuition Fees at University of St. Andrews in Scotland

by Angus Johnston

Students launched an occupation of the gardens outside the offices of the president of Scotland’s University of St. Andrews early this morning. The group are protesting skyrocketing tuition fees.

Scottish tuition rates aren’t just high, they’re also bizarrely structured. Scotland’s universities are free for Scottish students, and free for European Union residents under EU rules that say that member state universities can’t charge more for other EU nationals than they do for locals.

But the rest of Britain isn’t subject to those rules, weirdly, so English, Welsh, and Northern Irish students, falling

The Mitchell 20 - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

The Mitchell 20 - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

The Mitchell 20

by Nancy Flanagan

A year ago, we were waiting for Superman, according to the national media. This year, we've been introduced to the realities of the American Teacher--but policymakers are still counting on base economic incentives to entice, then reward, the teaching force we need.

Next year, with any luck, the educational movie du jour--the quintessential story around which our national educational discussion centers--will be The Mitchell 20, a brilliant film that not only uncovers and dissects the challenges of teaching in schools in poverty, but provides a kind of gritty template for defining and attaining effective teaching. The film tells a real, and often heartbreaking, story of one school in Phoenix, twenty teachers, a dedicated principal--and how they collectively decided to improve the one thing they had control over: teaching.

The articulate heart and soul of the film is Daniela Robles, who guides the viewer through her own epiphanies:

The Washington PTA Stacks the Deck Towards Charter Schools | Seattle Education

The Washington PTA Stacks the Deck Towards Charter Schools | Seattle Education:

The Washington PTA Stacks the Deck Towards Charter Schools

by seattleducation2011

In yesterday’s post I described one of the connections between Stand for Children, charter schools and the Washington State PTA, that being Chad Magendanz. Mr. Magendanz was one of the PTA members to write theproposal for charter schools to be part of the legislative platform that would be lobbied for by him and Ramona Hattendorf who is the Government Relations Coordinator.

It has come to my attention that there is another player involved, who is a member of Stand for Children and the League of Education Voters who was also on the committee that wrote the proposal for charter schools in our state, Alison Meryweather.

Per a Issaquah Education Association memo dated September 15, 2011. The memo describes the connection of Stand for Children, Jonah Edelman, Chad Magendanz and Alison Meryweather:

Stand for Children encourages its members to gain positions on school boards and PTAs –

NYC Public School Parents: Time to change the stakes with testing? Join us for an evening with Yong Zhao!

NYC Public School Parents: Time to change the stakes with testing? Join us for an evening with Yong Zhao!:

Time to change the stakes with testing? Join us for an evening with Yong Zhao!

American education is at a crossroads. Two paths lie in front of us: one in which we destroy our strengths in order to catch up with others on test scores and one in which we build on our strengths so we can keep the lead in innovation and creativity.

The current push for more standardization, centralization, high-stakes testing, and test-based accountability is rushing us down the first path, while what will truly keep America strong and Americans prosperous should be the latter, the one that cherishes individual talents, cultivates creativity, celebrates diversity, and inspires curiosity. – Yong Zhao

Join us for an evening with Yong Zhao, the nation's most eloquent and brilliant critic of high stakes testing!

When: Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Where: I.S. 89, 201 Warren Street at the Westside Highway, lower Manhattan

Dr. Yong Zhao is also an expert on the Chinese educational system, which is attempting to move away from the rigid

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN RESOLUTION | Truth in American Education

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN RESOLUTION | Truth in American Education:

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN RESOLUTION

by chascherrie

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN RESOLUTION

Defeat National Standards for State Schools
Passed Unanimously at the NFRW36th Biennial Convention
Kansas City, MO – October 1, 2011

WHEREAS, The national standards-based “Common Core State Standards” initiative is the centerpiece of the Obama’s Administration’s agenda to centralize education decisions at the federal level;

WHEREAS, The Obama Administration is using the same model to take over education as it used for healthcare by using national standards and boards of bureaucrats, whom the public didn’t elect and can’t fire or otherwise hold accountable;

WHEREAS, National standards remove authority from States over what is taught in the classroom and how it is tested;

WHEREAS, National standards undercut the principle of federalism on which our nation was founded;

WHEREAS, There is no constitutional or statutory authority for national standards, national curricula, or national assessments and in fact the federal government is expressly prohibited from endorsing or dictating state/local decisions about curricula; and

WHEREAS, The Obama Administration is attempting to evade constitutional and statutory prohibitions to move

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Civil Rights of ELL & Black Students: FEDS TO ANNOUNCE FINDINGS ON INVESTIGATION OF LAUSD

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Civil Rights of ELL & Black Students: FEDS TO ANNOUNCE FINDINGS ON INVESTIGATION OF LAUSD:

Civil Rights of ELL & Black Students: FEDS TO ANNOUNCE FINDINGS ON INVESTIGATION OF LAUSD

BY SUSAN ABRAM STAFF WRITER | DAILY BREEZE | HTTP://BIT.LY/PZVDFY

10/10/2011 10:33:28 PM PDT - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in Los Angeles today to announce the results of a yearlong federal investigation into possible civil rights violations of English-language learners and black students in the LAUSD.

Duncan will share details of the investigation during today's regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District board. Superintendent John Deasy and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are slated to attend the meeting and explain how they intend to fix problems that were discovered through the probe.

The investigation started in March 2010 was aimed at determining if the nation's second-largest school district was providing English-language learners equal access to educational opportunities given other students.

The probe included evaluating how English-learning students were identified,

Schools Matter: Pearson-Gate, or How to Use the Abramoff Model to Buy State Commissioners of Ed

Schools Matter: Pearson-Gate, or How to Use the Abramoff Model to Buy State Commissioners of Ed:

Pearson-Gate, or How to Use the Abramoff Model to Buy State Commissioners of Ed

by Jim Horn

Back in old days when Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings had their teams working overtime to shovel out ED's part of the Federal Treasury to the McGraw-Hill maggots, operations were quite centralized. But now with the new feudalism federalism taking shape under the ostensibly-Democratic Obama/Duncan Team, corruption has become decentralized with states receiving fat federal grants (RTTT) to do the edu-business demanded by the Business Roundtable.

Pearson has emerged as the chief perpetrator of putrescence, with bags of cash and lavish trips for small town pols who now find themselves at the ed-heads of their state feeding troughs. Aren't all the junkets to exotic locales costing the company millions? Not to worry, holders of this smelly stock. Pearson uses a tax-protected

NYC Educator: Life Without a School Aide, Day 1

NYC Educator: Life Without a School Aide, Day 1:

Life Without a School Aide, Day 1

by Miss Eyre

We were welcomed back from the long weekend by not one, not two, but three malfunctioning copiers. Two were completely out of ink and a third was mysteriously and repeatedly jamming. As you can imagine, a school full of teachers anxious to hit the ground running on a new week and three malfunctioning copiers is not really a great combination.

We took some deep breaths. We prioritized and de-prioritized. We ran only as many copies on

Trust, but verify | Taking Note

Trust, but verify | Taking Note:

Trust, but verify

John’s book, The Influence of Teachers, is currently available on Amazon; you can learn more about it at the book’s official website, or, if interested in buying copies for your class or discussion group, you can consult this page.

Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee; it was co-authored by John and Learning Matters Board Chair Esther Wojcicki.

Two Californians, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, may yet save American public education. The first is the late Ronald Reagan. The Democrat is Darrell Steinberg, a state senator from Sacramento who is very much alive.

Public education is on life support. America’s students routinely score in the bottom half on international tests, 7,000 students drop out every school day, a half-dozen large school systems have cheating scandals on their hands, and our schools are teetering on the edge of obsolescence in today’s technology-driven society.

The heart of the problem is a near-total lack of trust, which is why we bring up former President Reagan

Shanker Blog » The Cutting Edge Of Teacher Quality

Shanker Blog » The Cutting Edge Of Teacher Quality:

The Cutting Edge Of Teacher Quality

by Matthew Di Carlo

The State of Michigan is currently considering a bill that would limit collective bargaining rights among teachers. Under the proposal, paying dues would be optional. This legislation, like other so-called “right to work” laws, represents an attempt to defund and create divisions within labor unions, which severely weakens teachers’ ability to bargain fair contracts, as well as the capacity of their unions to advocate on behalf of of public schools and workers in general.

Last month, Michigan State Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekoff (R- West Olive) was asked whether he thought the bill would pass. He responded in the affirmative, and added:

It’s an opportunity to let teachers get farther away from union goons. That should give them a better chance to break away from the mediocrity. That should make things better for our schools and our children.

Well, there you have it, folks. We’ve been wasting our time by designing rigorous standards and overhauling teacher evaluations. The key to improving teacher quality is not training, compensation or professional

Frightening Children in Alabama - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Frightening Children in Alabama - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard:

Frightening Children in Alabama

Oct 11th, 2011

by Lily.

I do not understand deliberate cruelty. I understand it exists. I understand that those who practice it can often justify it as excusable and even noble. But I do not understand it.

But cruelty to a child? This is beyond all understanding. It is cruel to deliberately frighten children. In Alabama they have passed an anti-immigrant law infinitely worsethan the shameful one passed in Arizona that got so much attention.

AP

One thing that makes Alabama’s HB 56 worse is the provision designed to frighten school children and confuse families.

Immigrant families, which are overwhelming Latino families, are bound to be confused about what their rights are, and their rights are precious few, but

What Can We Learn From Finland? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

What Can We Learn From Finland? - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

What Can We Learn From Finland?

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

I recently returned from a trip to Europe. In Berlin, I spoke at an international education research conference. Researchers from Europe, Asia, and Latin America were very alarmed by the current "reform" movement in the United States, fearful that the same trends—the same overemphasis of standardized testing, the same push for privatization and markets, and the same pressure to lower standards for entry into teaching—might come to their own countries.

The highlight of my trip was visiting schools in Finland. Of course, Finland is much in the news these days because of its success on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) examinations. For the past decade, 15-year-old Finnish students have consistently been at or near the top of all the nations tested in