Sunday, November 6, 2011

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Mid Day Posts #ows

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog:Sunday links.by Fred KlonskyPhoto: H/T Jed Brandt. Occupy Atlanta.I woke up to this news from Glen Brown: The proposed overhaul of Illinois’ pension system could cost the state $62 billion more than the current system over the next three decades, according to a report prepared for the Teacher Retirement System.Bank Transfer Day was yesterday. You can still transfer your money out of a big bank to a credit union on Monday. Or Tuesday.The Tea Party ... more »

Erik Fresen’s False Prophecy | Scathing Purple Musings

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Erik Fresen’s False Prophecy | Scathing Purple Musings:Erik Fresen’s False Prophecyby Bob SikesThe Miami Heraldhas published a comprehensive look at Florida’s new teacher evaluation system the state will have under SB736. Reporters Laura Insensee and Sarah Butrymowicz interviewed several people for their article, including Rep. Erik Fresen of Miami.The Herald reporters demonstrated considerable professionalism in not pointing out that Fresens’ family owns several Academica charter schools in Miami. Perhaps they should have. Fresen let loose with a real whopper. After ... more »

Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearing | Seattle Education #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearing | Seattle Education:Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearingby seattleducation2011

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters:Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice FightersWhy Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice FightersMark NaisonThere is a long history of Teacher Activism in the United States. In New York City, the tradition goes back to the late 1930s when teachers associated with the Communist Party and the New York City Teachers Union fought to have Negro History Month honored in the NYC Public schools, to ... more »

Thinking differently about time on task

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Thinking differently about time on task:Thinking differently about time on taskby Susan HeaddenMore time on task — growing evidence, along with simple common sense, shows that the more hours students engage in learning, the more they can boost their academic achievement. That, along with increasing concerns about the learning reversals students suffer over the summer, is why more and more school districts are starting to think beyond the confines of the six-hour-a-day, 180-day-a-year box.An analysis by Education Sector, which has ... more »

Onward & Upward - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Onward Upward - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post:Onward Upward Colleagues who have known me over the yeas ask, “Walter, what’s up? Why is ASCD supporting the Common Core State Standards?” as if we have gone over to the dark side. My initial answer is, “Standards are not evil!” followed by, “Besides, ASCD very thoughtfully and deliberately made the decision to get involved in this work. Common Core and Whole Childgo hand in hand!” The 5 strands of ...more »

Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up! | California Father #OWS

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up! | California Father:Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up!by California Father

Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movement - San Jose Mercury News #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movement - San Jose Mercury News:Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movementBy Katy MurphyOakland TribunePosted: 11/06/2011 01:00:00 AM PDTThis is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more atwww.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.Nov. 4: On the day of Occupy Oakland's general strike, 294 Oakland public school teachers, almost 15 percent of the teaching force, stayed out of school. In ... more »

NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenure | NJ.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 3 minutes ago

NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenure | NJ.com:NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenurePublished: Sunday, November 06, 2011, 7:23 AM By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist By Barbara KeshishianIf the New Jersey Education Association’s position on education reform was as obstinate as The Star-Ledger believes, our union would deserve the criticism it has received.But the truth is, NJEA supports real education reform, including changes to tenure and evaluation that will help districts identify which teachers are performing at a ... more »

School Tech Connect: A Day In The Life

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

School Tech Connect: A Day In The Life:A Day In The Lifeby noreply@blogger.com (Tim) Here are the titles I picked off the shelf of my branch library today. On my Kindle, this collection would have cost $50. At the library? Free. I feel compelled to mention this because one of the themes downplayed in the ed tech world is that none of these gadgets are making us any wiser.Naturally, the mayor has proposed cutting back on library services because library ... more »

Digital Parents and Low-Tech Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Digital Parents and Low-Tech Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:Digital Parents and Low-Tech Schoolsby larrycuban“Should I feel bad that I let my son watch age-appropriate education programs on TV and learn things like a second language?… Shame on me for letting my child play chess and math games on my iPad?…Is it really outrageous that I let my son sit on my lap in front of my computer so I could help him type his first ... more »

The Problem Is Older Than the Factory « Cooperative Catalyst

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The Problem Is Older Than the Factory « Cooperative Catalyst:The Problem Is Older Than the Factoryby John T. Spencer“Dad, if ants are so strong why can’t we just make really big machines that are built like ants and can carry heavy stuff for us?” Joel asks me.Being a first-grader, I struggle with how to teach the difficulty of scalability.“Sometimes things that work in small spaces don’t work when they get too big,” I tell him.“Show me,” he dares.So we build ... more »

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Seattle Schools' Future Enrollment Trends

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Seattle Schools' Future Enrollment Trends:Seattle Schools' Future Enrollment Trendsby Melissa WestbrookFirst off - paying for consultant W. Les Kendrick - is the best money this district has spent on a consultant in a long, long time.Mr. Kendrick was the featured speaker at the Wednesday Work Session on Capacity Management and, despite a long PowerPoint (that he powered thru - staff take note), he was clear and concise. And, boy is he a guy who likes ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #owsStatement by the President on Hajj and Eid al-Adha | The White HouseBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-21 minutes agoStatement by the President on Hajj and Eid al-Adha | The White House:Statement by the President on Hajj and Eid al-Adhaby The White HouseRelease Time: For Immediate ReleaseMichelle and I extend our greetings for a happy Eid al-Adha to Muslims worldwide and congratulate those performing Hajj. Thousands of Muslim Americans ... more »

KOCH OUT NEWS www.kochwatch.org

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

www.kochwatch.org:Crooks Liars: Exclusive Video: #OccupyDC Protesters Hit by Driver...Who Police Let GoCD at www.kochwatch.org - 1 hour ago* -By Tina Dupuy * *November 5, 2011-* On Friday night I was covering the protest of the Americans for Prosperity conference at the Washington DC Convention Center. It started off with a march from McPherson Square, the location of the Occupation, down K Street to the convention center. The crowd of around 500 people chanted and marched around the perimeter of the ... more »

NY Times: “All Americans Should Feel Ashamed” Of Alabama Immigration Law | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

NY Times: “All Americans Should Feel Ashamed” Of Alabama Immigration Law | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:NY Times: “All Americans Should Feel Ashamed” Of Alabama Immigration Lawby Larry FerlazzoThe New York Times has published an editorial about Alabama’s attack on immigrants. Here are its last two paragraphs:Alabama has seized from the federal government the job of controlling immigration within its borders. The law’s architects and supporters proclaim that their goal is to catastrophically disrupt the lives of illegal immigrants ... more »

Election memories. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 11 hours ago

Election memories. « Fred Klonsky's blog:Election memories.by Fred KlonskyAs a general rule I am a guy who likes taking his politics to the street. It’s why I like the Occupation movement.I was talking to someone, an old political activist like me, who muttered about how our generation needs to give the Occupation movement a more solid program. He called the Occupation spontaneous with a frown as if spontaneity was sticky and couldn’t be easily washed off.We’ve had a few years ... more »

Schools Matter: Invest in protecting children from poverty, not in national standards

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Schools Matter: Invest in protecting children from poverty, not in national standards:Invest in protecting children from poverty, not in national standardsby skrashenSent to the Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2011Re: (“Backsliding on school reform, “ November 5).The Times faults the Harkens-Enzi proposal for a new education law because it lacks national standards. Without national standards, the Times insists, schools will have “no incentive to improve.”In reality, American teachers have been successful without national standards: Middle-class American students attending well-funded... more »

STUDY: Latinos and Blacks Will be the Most Hurt With Medicaid Cut - Hispanically Speaking News

STUDY: Latinos and Blacks Will be the Most Hurt With Medicaid Cut - Hispanically Speaking News:

STUDY: Latinos and Blacks Will be the Most Hurt With Medicaid Cuts

A new report, Medicaid: A Lifeline for Blacks and Latinos, shows how the state and federally funded health insurance program for low- income people, has historically played a critical role for people of color, providing coverage for millions of blacks and Latinos of all ages.

While Medicaid covers many more white people, because blacks and Latinos tend to have lower incomes than whites,3 they are more than twice as likely to rely on Medicaid for health coverage. In both black and Latino communities, a little more than one in four people relies on Medicaid for their health care;.

Medicaid helps roughly half of all black and Latino children get a healthy start in life. And it helps black and Latino seniors and people with disabilities who need long-term care.

Specifically for the Latino community Medicaid covers nearly one in four Latino with cancer, more

Schools Matter: New Charter Study by Mathematica With More Bad News for Corporate Ed Reform

Schools Matter: New Charter Study by Mathematica With More Bad News for Corporate Ed Reform:

New Charter Study by Mathematica With More Bad News for Corporate Ed Reform

by Jim Horn

The first national charter school study was conducted in 2009 by CREDO at Stanford, and the co-funders of the study (the Walton Foundation and Pearson) were not enamored by the results. So bad were they for charter school fans that the study, though given skimpy coverage by the LA Times, was never reported by WaPo or the NYTimes, and received minimal coverage from one news magazine, U. S. News and World Report, which obviously did not get the memo:

June 17, 2009 12:58 PM ET | Zach Miners | Permanent Link | Print
On average, charter schools are not performing as well as their traditional public-school peers, according to a new study that is being called the first national assessment of these school-choice options. The study, conducted by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford

To improve reading in California: Let’s try the obvious
by skrashen

Sent to the Santa Monica Daily Press, November 5, 2011

California still ranks near the bottom of the country in fourth grade reading, according to the results of the national NAEP test, announced at the beginning of November.

California was in the basement the first time NAEP scores were analyzed by state, in 1992. When this happened, whole language was blamed and California reacted by adopting an intensive phonics approach to language arts. But the scores remained low. A few years later, our low scores were blamed on bilingual education, and California reacted by adopting an English-only approach. Still, our scores remained low.

How & Why a Democratic President Privatized Our School System « Same Subject, Continued #ows

How & Why a Democratic President Privatized Our School System « Same Subject, Continued:

How & Why a Democratic President Privatized Our School System

3112011

Barack Obama is presiding over the beginning of a process that will inexorably result in the privatization of our school system. That doesn’t mean of course that all of our schools will be owned by big corporations; rather it means that within the next five to ten years, our largest school systems will be enmeshed with the private sector, and the regulatory framework that encourages same will be defended vociferously by a new and fierce network of rent seekers. Within a generation, “public schools” will be public only in the sense that they will rely on primarily on government money–similar in that way to the defense industry.

This is bad. Despite the neoliberal fascination with en-marketing everything to appease the Market Unicorn, competition and market forces will not “fix” education (which, coincidentally, is only broken in those places where poverty is high). It will however do these things:

(1) Inherent Decline in Quality. In order to provide the market signals necessary for competition to operate, it will reduce education to quantifiable superficialities (i.e., “high stakes testing”), undermining critical thinking and creativity, particularly in poorer

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

Sunday links.

by Fred Klonsky

Photo: H/T Jed Brandt. Occupy Atlanta.
I woke up to this news from Glen Brown: The proposed overhaul of Illinois’ pension system could cost the state $62 billion more than the current system over the next three decades, according to a report prepared for the Teacher Retirement System.
Bank Transfer Day was yesterday. You can still transfer your money out of a big bank to a credit union on Monday. Or Tuesday.
The Tea Party has already targeted my school board. My brother reports that corporate money is funding a

The modern teacher.

by Fred Klonsky

H/T: Dan Quinn

Erik Fresen’s False Prophecy | Scathing Purple Musings

Erik Fresen’s False Prophecy | Scathing Purple Musings:

Erik Fresen’s False Prophecy

by Bob Sikes

The Miami Heraldhas published a comprehensive look at Florida’s new teacher evaluation system the state will have under SB736. Reporters Laura Insensee and Sarah Butrymowicz interviewed several people for their article, including Rep. Erik Fresen of Miami.

The Herald reporters demonstrated considerable professionalism in not pointing out that Fresens’ family owns several Academica charter schools in Miami. Perhaps they should have. Fresen let loose with a real whopper. After fairly articulating the state’s previous school and district grade focus, he made this prediction about how the new system would work out:

Rep. Fresen envisions the new system giving incentives to teachers to move from high-performing schools to struggling ones where their students can make bigger gains and they

Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearing | Seattle Education #ows

Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearing | Seattle Education:

Dr. Cornell West and Chris Hedges at Goldman Sachs Mock Trial Occupy Wall Street on Nov 3, 2011 People’s Hearing

by seattleducation2011

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters #ows

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters:

Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters

Why Teachers Must Become Community Organizers and Justice Fighters

Mark Naison

There is a long history of Teacher Activism in the United States. In New York City, the tradition goes back to the late 1930s when teachers associated with the Communist Party and the New York City Teachers Union fought to have Negro History Month honored in the NYC Public schools, to force the replacement or reassignment of racist teachers and to challenge the placement of Black students in the lowest tracks and most decayed schools in a highly tracked school system. This legacy of anti-racist activism, always done in collaboration with civil rights organizations and community groups, lasted into the late 50’s when many of the most effective teacher activists were pushed out of the New York

Thinking differently about time on task

Thinking differently about time on task:

Thinking differently about time on task

by Susan Headden

More time on task — growing evidence, along with simple common sense, shows that the more hours students engage in learning, the more they can boost their academic achievement. That, along with increasing concerns about the learning reversals students suffer over the summer, is why more and more school districts are starting to think beyond the confines of the six-hour-a-day, 180-day-a-year box.

An analysis by Education Sector, which has been closely following the issue of Extended Learning Time, finds that more than 1,500 public schools have either extended their schedules or plan to do so next year. More than half of these schools are low-performers with federal improvement grants. The others, according to the National Center on Time and Learning, are a mix of charter schools supported by networks and traditional public schools, mostly supported by states or districts. The state of Massachusetts supports extended time in 19 schools in 9

Onward & Upward - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Onward & Upward - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post:

Onward & Upward

Colleagues who have known me over the yeas ask, “Walter, what’s up? Why is ASCD supporting the Common Core State Standards?” as if we have gone over to the dark side. My initial answer is, “Standards are not evil!” followed by, “Besides, ASCD very thoughtfully and deliberately made the decision to get involved in this work. Common Core and Whole Childgo hand in hand!”

The 5 strands of the Whole Child - healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged - are the centerpiece of everything we do at ASCD, and will be even moreso as we continue to move towards revolutionizing the ways we learn and work. But we need a way to determine how we know when we’ve met them…and what have we done to successfully address each one.

Enter the Common Core State Standards. Common Core measures outcomes in terms of

Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up! | California Father #OWS

Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up! | California Father:

Ozomatli to Occupy LA: Can’t Let the Bullshit Split Us Up!

by California Father

Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movement - San Jose Mercury News #ows

Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movement - San Jose Mercury News:

Education Report: Readers respond to role of teachers in Occupy Oakland movement

By Katy Murphy
Oakland Tribune

Posted: 11/06/2011 01:00:00 AM PDT

This is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog. Read more atwww.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.

Nov. 4: On the day of Occupy Oakland's general strike, 294 Oakland public school teachers, almost 15 percent of the teaching force, stayed out of school. In most cases, they took a day of paid personal leave to support the effort. (The school district dispatched substitute teachers and central office staff members to fill in for them.) Still other teachers joined the protesters after school let out, or taught lessons related to the Occupy movement. The Oakland Education Association has supported the movement in other ways, too; the union helped arrange the installment of portable toilets at the camp.

Here's what some readers had to say about the role of Oakland teachers and their union in the movement:

OUSD Parent: I don't know about the older grades, but both kindergarten teachers at our elementary school had subs today. I am personally conflicted on this issue. I don't think missing one day of kindergarten instruction is monumental in my child's education. Honestly, I am more skeptical about how the Occupy movement would be turned into a lesson for my kids. While I consider myself

pretty liberal, I want my kids to learn critical thinking. Turns out I am very glad that I was personally able to explain why their teachers were absent. To me it's really about expressing an individual's freedom of speech. Yes, I think

NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenure | NJ.com

NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenure | NJ.com:

NJEA: Meaningful reform is more than evaluation, tenure

Published: Sunday, November 06, 2011, 7:23 AM

By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

By Barbara Keshishian

If the New Jersey Education Association’s position on education reform was as obstinate as The Star-Ledger believes, our union would deserve the criticism it has received.

But the truth is, NJEA supports real education reform, including changes to tenure and evaluation that will help districts identify which teachers are performing at a high level and make it easier to remove those who do not do their jobs.

So as legislators, educators, parents and others prepare to debate education reform, let’s stipulate one thing: No one wants to keep ineffective teachers in New Jersey’s public schools, because students come first. The debate then