Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top AM Posts #ows #edreform

To SOS Supporters From Don Bartalo

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

To SOS Supporters From Don Bartalo:To SOS Supporters From Don Bartaloby rbhattDecember 6th, 2011. The recent action taken by New York State principals is a great example of what can happen when the collective action of educators is focused on a single issue. The principals in New York State are setting a great example. Please take a few minutes to see what they have been doing.~Don Bartalo, SOS Steering Committee Dear Friends:You are receiving this message because you have indicated ... more »

Wake me up, America: zip codes, destiny, & the rebirth of self-determination « Cooperative Catalyst

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

Wake me up, America: zip codes, destiny, the rebirth of self-determination « Cooperative Catalyst:Wake me up, America: zip codes, destiny, the rebirth of self-determinationby Chad SansingIn education we talk a lot about zip codes:“Zip codes and demographics must no longer be educational destiny for our students.”- Robert Carreon, Executive Director of Teach for America – Rio Grande Valley“[It was the ] biggest social injustice that skin color and zip code determined a child’s education

Estelle Matthews out of 440 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

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

Estelle Matthews out of 440 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:Estelle Matthews out of 440by Erika Owens on Dec 08 2011 Posted in Latest newsCOMMENTS (2)PRINTEMAILTags:leadershipChief Talent Development Officer Estelle Matthews was escorted from District headquarters yesterday after a District investigation, sources told the Daily News.The District's Inspector General John Downs said they launched an investigation after angry laid-off workers shared concerns. Downs said he submitted a draft of findings from the

Leave a Mark, Not a Grade | Connected Principals

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

Leave a Mark, Not a Grade | Connected Principals:Leave a Mark, Not a Gradeby bharrisonPhoto by Peter Harrison” My dilemma is that I don’t know how should I grade/evaluate them? Actually, no, that’s not the issue. The real problem I’m having is that I just don’t know why I should.” ~@royanlee~My son Ben and his two classmates discovered the reality of film work this week, realizing that a HUGE number of stills need to be taken to make the 30 ... more »

Is it time for OUSD’s unusual budgeting system to become policy? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

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

Is it time for OUSD’s unusual budgeting system to become policy? - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:Is it time for OUSD’s unusual budgeting system to become policy?By Katy MurphyThursday, December 8th, 2011 at 9:49 am in budget.To those who don’t work at schools or compulsively follow education policy, the finer points of school budgeting and resource allocation might sound like painfully dry reading material. But the issue evokes passionate debate in Oakland Unified, which does ... more »

Schools Matter: Final Act of Small-Minded Bitterness by Wake's Gang of Five

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

Schools Matter: Final Act of Small-Minded Bitterness by Wake's Gang of Five:Final Act of Small-Minded Bitterness by Wake's Gang of Fiveby Jim HornAfter Wake County voters re-established sanity last month by voting out the resegregationist school board majority, the Gang of 5 met one last time behind closed doors to rescind a previous offer to mediate trespassing cases against citizens who publicly resisted the end to the socioeconomic diversity program earlier this year.If there could conceived be a more appropriate ... more »

TENTATIVE LAUSD/UTLA AGREEMENT IS A DISASTER Part 2TENTATIVA LAUSD / UTLA acuerdo es una DESASTRE Parte 2 - Perdaily.com

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

TENTATIVE LAUSD/UTLA AGREEMENT IS A DISASTER Part 2TENTATIVA LAUSD / UTLA acuerdo es una DESASTRE Parte 2 - Perdaily.com:TENTATIVE LAUSD/UTLA AGREEMENT IS A DISASTER Part 2TENTATIVA LAUSD / UTLA acuerdo es una DESASTRE Parte 2by Leonard IsenbergD(Mensaje se repite en Español) (For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)Probably the greatest irony of purposefully failed public education at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) - with the active longstanding complicity of United ... more »

Principals union chief lambastes city’s school closure strategy | GothamSchools

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Principals union chief lambastes city’s school closure strategy | GothamSchools:Principals union chief lambastes city’s school closure strategyby Philissa Cramer, at 5:08 pmAmong the press releases that went flying after the city announced its first set of school closures earlier today, the one from principals union president Ernest Logan stood out for its stridency.In a statement the length of a short essay, Logan decried school closures as “a losing strategy” that traumatizes needy students, shuts out educators, and prevents scrutiny of ... more »

Parents Gather from Across NYC to Protest Rapid, Unregulated Expansion of Politically Connected Success Charter Network « EdVox

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

Parents Gather from Across NYC to Protest Rapid, Unregulated Expansion of Politically Connected Success Charter Network « EdVox:Parents Gather from Across NYC to Protest Rapid, Unregulated Expansion of Politically Connected Success Charter Networkby edvoxnyKaren Sprowal, speaks about how her child with special-needs child was pushed out of HSACommunities, education advocates, including AQE, charge DOE looking out for well-connected CEO, not students; cite excessive public resources going to Network schools, charter group’s record of excluding special needs and English Language Learn... more »

Americans Split Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students - Hispanically Speaking News

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Americans Split Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students - Hispanically Speaking News:STUDY: Americans Split Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented StudentsAmericans are evenly split over whether illegal immigrants who graduate from high school in their state should be eligible for in-state college tuition: 48% say they should be eligible for the in-state tuition rate, while 46% say they should not.The national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People the Press, conducted Nov. 9-14 among 2,001 adults finds continuing partisan ... more »

School Tech Connect: Chicago's Miracle Workers

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

School Tech Connect: Chicago's Miracle Workers:Chicago's Miracle Workersby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Well, the NAEP Urban District Assessment is out, and it pretty much re-confirms everything that everyone has already known. I don't think you can make conclusions beyond the executive summary of any high-quality study, and here's the thrust of it for the reading portion.Scores for some groups are creeping a little higher since 2002, after a decade of test-centric reforms and all

Countdown to Dec 15th: A CALL TO ACTION FROM SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT MÓNICA GARCÍA AND THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Countdown to Dec 15th: A CALL TO ACTION FROM SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT MÓNICA GARCÍA AND THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION:Countdown to Dec 15th: A CALL TO ACTION FROM SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT MÓNICA GARCÍA AND THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATIONAN EMAIL FROM MÓNICA GARCÍA, PRESIDENT – LOS ANGELES BOARD OF EDUCATIONsmf: 4LAKids disagrees with Ms. García much of the time. CSEA’s support of this and of Mónica is an awful lot about ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Lacking a Sensitivity Chip

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Lacking a Sensitivity Chip:Lacking a Sensitivity Chipby Melissa WestbrookIf you've been following the local news, there's a couple in our region, living in a $1.2M lakefront home, and the woman has been collecting welfare for a couple of years. She claimed she and her two children lived on $5,000 a year and her husband was the "landlord." They've collected over $100,000 and, of course, live pretty well. (To her credit, she did put down their real ...more »

Brother of VP Biden promotes charters, invoking family name - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 16 hours ago

Brother of VP Biden promotes charters, invoking family name - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:Brother of VP Biden promotes charters, invoking family nameby Valerie StraussFrancis W. “Frank” Biden, a younger brother of Vice President Joe Biden, is a real estate developer in Florida. He also is helping a for-profit company open charter schools in the state by employing a major asset: his last name.In February, Frank Biden urged the Palm Beach County School Board to approve a charter ... more »

When a School Board Member Takes a Test, the World Listens - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

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When a School Board Member Takes a Test, the World Listens - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:When a School Board Member Takes a Test, the World Listensby Anthony CodyThree days ago, Valerie Strauss' Answer Sheet blog in the Washington Post published the hardest-hitting critique of testing of the year. Before discussing that, I want to take a moment to recognize her work. Ms. Strauss is the ONLY blogger in the mainstream media to consistently address education issues from ... more »

Joining Forces to Build a Better Future | The Forum for Education and Democracy

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Joining Forces to Build a Better Future | The Forum for Education and Democracy:Joining Forces to Build a Better Futureby Tony MonfilettoAt ACE Leadership High School we’re determined to transform career and technical education, and we’re not going it alone. Partnerships with industry are key to our mission of preparing students to be leaders on any path they choose.ACE stands for architecture, construction and engineering and it’s a place where kids get their hands dirty in a purposeful--if sometimes a ... more »

Art in the real world. A plaything for the 1%. « Fred Klonsky

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Art in the real world. A plaything for the 1%. « Fred Klonsky:Art in the real world. A plaything for the 1%.by Fred KlonskyBy one of my fifth grade students.I’m sitting over my morning coffee, preparing myself for another day with kids making art.It won’t be art with a capital A.Much of Art in the real world is not much more than a plaything for the 1%.In fact, what feels so good about the Occupy Wall Street movement is the ... more »

Teacher from Pro-Walker Ad Among Those Who Gave Standing Ovation to White Pride Speech |

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Teacher from Pro-Walker Ad Among Those Who Gave Standing Ovation to White Pride Speech |:Teacher from Pro-Walker Ad Joined in Standing Ovation to White Pride Speechby bluecheddarAccording to the Politiscoop blogger, a key Walker advocate, Kristi LaCroix, was present at a Kenosha event when a woman stood up to deliver what I would call a ‘white pride speech’, and at the conclusion of said speech, Ms. LaCroix stood with others to deliver a standing ovation. Ms. LaCroix is the Lakeview ... more »

Study details societal ramifications for high school dropouts - chicagotribune.com

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Study details societal ramifications for high school dropouts - chicagotribune.com:Study details societal ramifications for high school dropoutsAt policy forum, group calls out CPS chief, others, to address issueComments8Share56By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago Tribune reporter9:09 p.m. CST, December 7, 2011Teens who drop out of high school have a greater likelihood of ending up in jail, being unemployed, relying on food stamps and becoming a fiscal drain on society than those who graduate, according to a new study commissioned by the Chicago ... more »

Sac Unified trustees shelve plan to combine schools - Sacramento Bee

Sac Unified trustees shelve plan to combine schools - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:

Sac Unified trustees shelve plan to combine schools

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By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published: Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

Following community backlash, Sacramento City Unified School District trustees decided to shelve a controversial proposal involving Sacramento Charter and West Campus high schools, as well as halt the closure and consolidation of five elementary schools.

The move stunned the 350 people who came to Thursday night's school board meeting to advocate for their schools. In deciding to change directions, board members Patrick Kennedy and Jeff Cuneo and Superintendent Jonathan Raymond each said the district did not do a good enough job of working with affected communities.

"Putting solutions on the table and asking your community to get there is the wrong way to go," Cuneo said.

District trustees could have voted as early as next week on proposals to close A.M. Winn, Collis P. Huntington and Freeport elementary schools and consolidate Edward Kemble and Cesar Chavez elementary schools.

Raymond said he "goofed" on his proposal to consolidate Edward Kemble and Cesar Chavez and

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/09/4110939/gfdgdfghdfjkgdf-gdfhgdfjk.html#ixzz1g2gxh8Cb

Sobering NAEP scores for Fresno, LA | Thoughts on Public Education

Sobering NAEP scores for Fresno, LA | Thoughts on Public Education:

Sobering NAEP scores for Fresno, LA - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson chose to have his district join San Diego, Los Angeles and other urban districts participating in the biannual analysis of scores in the nation’s report card, the National Assessment of Education Progress. The results for 2011, released this week, were unsettling. In both reading and math, Fresno ranked among the lowest [...]

Facing some inconvenient truths about reforming teacher evaluations - by Merrill Vargo

by Merrill Vargo

Good teaching matters. Yet most teacher evaluations are compliance-driven checklists that have little or no impact on teaching and learning. The question is not whether teacher evaluation should be improved, but what the goals of the new processes we seek should be. The received wisdom is that better evaluations would [...]

Ravitch: ‘Miracle schools’ not so miraculous after all - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Ravitch: ‘Miracle schools’ not so miraculous after all - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Ravitch: ‘Miracle schools’ not so miraculous after all

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” an important critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.

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NYC Educator: Being Rude Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

NYC Educator: Being Rude Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry:

Being Rude Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

by NYC Educator

The 13th Amendment prohibits slavery. Yet many of my colleagues have been working for nothing all year, teaching 6th period classes and looking vainly at each paycheck for some acknowledgement of their efforts. The DOE, in its infinite wisdom, let them wait three months but is bringing them a little Christmas cheer come December 15th. In fact, they have received written notice of such.

Unless, of course, they didn't. One of my friends didn't get one. She was told her supervisor was supposed to have reported it, but didn't. The supervisor, of course, denied having neglected anything. Yet there was my poor colleague, bereft of holiday cheer while everyone else was

Choice Movement “May be Leading Us to Unaccountable Forms of Corporate-Run Models for Educating Students” | Scathing Purple Musings

Choice Movement “May be Leading Us to Unaccountable Forms of Corporate-Run Models for Educating Students” | Scathing Purple Musings:

Choice Movement “May be Leading Us to Unaccountable Forms of Corporate-Run Models for Educating Students”

by Bob Sikes

Orange County school board member Daryl Flynn has penned an essay for the East Orlando Sun titled, “What Does School Choice Really Mean.” Here’s part:

What does school choice really mean?

The school choice movement has brought new words to Florida’s public school system. Words such as “choice,” “charter,” “educational savings account” and “virtual” are now frequently part of the education reform discussion. To understand the meaning of these words, however, is to also understand that the school choice movement may be leading us to unaccountable forms of