Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Afternoon Posts 1-20 #ows #edreform

RheeFirst! » Federal Department of Education is looking for information on NCLB cheating

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 2 minutes ago

RheeFirst! » Federal Department of Education is looking for information on NCLB cheating:Government seeks help to stop teacher-led cheatingfromRheeFirst!byadminWritten by Greg Toppo for The Washington Post. Read theentire article here.“The Obama administration is creating a manual showing how schools can fight teacher-led cheating on standardized tests, asking educators to help stomp out “testing irregularities.”Bob Schaffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an advocacy group, says he wonders why the department is ‘wasting time and money collecting information ...more »

Modern School: Jindal’s Louisiana Privatization Orgy

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Modern School: Jindal’s Louisiana Privatization Orgy:Jindal’s Louisiana Privatization Orgyby Michael DunnHuck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsUnder Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s new privatization plan, virtually every student in the Monroe City School System and those in almost 50% of Ouachita Parish Schools would be eligible for vouchers to attend private schools, the News Star reported this week. Experts warn that the number of eligible students could far exceed the available spaces in existing private schools.Jindal's plan provides “scholarships” for low income students currently attendi... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: GLSEN releases its Curriculum for Elementary Students Aligning with Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

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Missouri Education Watchdog: GLSEN releases its Curriculum for Elementary Students Aligning with Common Core Standards for English Language Arts:GLSEN releases its Curriculum for Elementary Students Aligning with Common Core Standards for English Language Artsby stlgretchenLong time readers of this blog know we have been calling for the legislators to provide relief from the implementation of the Common Core standards. If you, as a parent, appreciate your elementary student being taught about LGBT issues through Common Core standards via English Language ... more »

National Sexuality Standards for K -12 for all Public Schools « PWC Education Reform Blog

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National Sexuality Standards for K -12 for all Public Schools « PWC Education Reform Blog:National Sexuality Standards for K -12 for all Public SchoolsJanuary 20, 2012 — pwceducationreformYes, you read that correctly. The National Sexuality Standards for K – 12 have been released. Under Race To The Top, (RttT), all states which have signed onto RttT will have to implement instructional materials and programs that meet these Sexuality standards in all of their public schools.Virginia schools will not have to ... more »

Evaluating Our Values - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

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Evaluating Our Values - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:Evaluating Our Valuesby Nancy FlanaganGuest blogger Corey Gaber is a first-year resident in a new teacher training and certification program called Urban Teacher Center, teaching middle school Humanities at Baltimore Freedom Academy, a social justice-themed Baltimore City Public School. He has an M.Ed in Mind, Brain and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is a Community Organizer forIDEA (Institute for Democratic Education in America)."What percentage ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sound the alarm! The "activists" are coming

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sound the alarm! The "activists" are coming:Sound the alarm! The "activists" are comingby Mike KlonskyThe “democratic engagement” faction within civics education has recently re-energized and is pressing hard on schools to push kids into activism. -- Chester FinnFinn (right) and his Fordham crewThe Occupy Movement, the Wisconsin recall initiative, and other signs of increased youth and student activism have education conservatives jittery. Chief among them is think-tanker Chester Finn, head of the right-wing Fordham Institue. His ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: What Are We Ranking?

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Jersey Jazzman: What Are We Ranking?:What Are We Ranking?by DukeA while ago, I complained that New Jersey's reformiest lobbying outfit, B4K, was so invested in a narrative of "failing schools" that they ignored our high student achievement and instead focused on measures that had nothing to do with the quality of instruction NJ's kids receive.Much of their assessment came from Education Week's "Quality Counts" report. The 2012 version was just released; naturally, B4K ate it all up once again.They've made ... more »

Charter schools are failing the York community - The York Daily Record

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Charter schools are failing the York community - The York Daily Record:Charter schools are failing the York communityJEFF KIRKLANDUpdated: 01/19/2012 11:02:12 AM ESTAs we move from Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday towards Black History Month, the state of public education and its impact on our children's futures should be at the forefront of our discussions and actions.The School District of the City of York has been inundated with requests by various groups to allow them to set up, run or ... more »

All Things Education: Opportunity to Evaluate Teachers

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All Things Education: Opportunity to Evaluate Teachers:Opportunity to Evaluate Teachersby Rachel LevyWelcome to Part IV of my response to Governor McDonnell's "Opportunity to Learn" education agenda--we're almost to Friday, folks! On Monday, you read about advancing literacy. On Tuesday, you read about extending the school day/ year. Yesterday, you read my thoughts on expanding school choice in Virginia. Today, I'll share my thoughts about McDonnell's ideas for evaluating, retaining, and recruiting teachers.The "Enhancing Teacher Quality, Strengthening Teacher and Administrator Cont... more »

Modern School: Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Past

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Modern School: Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Past:Publicly Funded Schools Becoming Things of the Pastby Michael DunnHuck/Konopacki Labor CartoonsPublic education implies that all children will be educated without additional costs to the parents. Of course for this to work, everyone must contribute a little through their taxes, whether or not they have kids.Prior to the anti-tax revolt of the late 70s and 80s and the budget crises of the past several years, the overwhelming bulk of public education ... more »

Grumpy Educators: U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Bills

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Grumpy Educators: U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Bills:U.S. House of Representatives Consider Education Billsby SandraU.S. House of Representatives Consider Education BillsParents, community members, and taxpayers are researching, analyzing, discussing, and sharing information. Interest and understanding of the issues are increasing daily.Below is one such analysis of three pieces of education legislation in the U.S. House.Read the information, share it, discuss it, and form an opinion, and let your U.S. Congressman know what you think.H.R. 2218 Empowering Parents ... more »

NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community & parents shut out « Parents Across America

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NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community parents shut out « Parents Across America:NOLA charter schools: favoritism with community parents shut outby leoniehaimsonKarran Harper Royal, long time parent advocate and one of the founding members of Parents Across America – New Orleans, reports from the front lines of school privatization, where already 75 percent of the public schools have been converted to charters, and possibly all the remaining public schools run by the Recovery School District will be charters within two ... more »

solidaridad: The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education program

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solidaridad: The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education program:The struggle to save LAUSD's adult education programby Robert D. Skeels * rdsatheneAnyone interested in the struggle to save the program, can contact me. We are holding a strategy meeting Friday, January 20, 2012.First published on Schools Matter"I'm an adult ed teacher, and I just want to say thanks to those of you outside of adult ed who understand the importance of what we do, and are willing to stand with us ... more »

National Teacher of the Year Nominee - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

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National Teacher of the Year Nominee - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):California Teacher of the Year Chosen as Finalistfor National Teacher of the Year Title SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today said he is extremely pleased that Rebecca Mieliwocki, a 2012 California Teacher of the Year from Los Angeles County, has been selected as one of four finalists nationwide for the 2012 National Teacher of the Year award."I am elated that Rebecca, who is remarkably gifted and ... more »

Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid

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Schools Matter: It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid:It's the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupidby Jim HornIn a piece for The Nation a few days ago, Linda Darling-Hammond demolishes most of the remaining chunks of any size within the crumbling structure of corporate education’s most ironically-titled reform ever — No Child Left Behind. NCLB is rubble, even though many unseen victims continue to be buried beneath its mammoth pile.Darling-Hammond, who was recruited to get Team Obama up to speed on education issues following the ... more »

Jersey Jazzman: The Outsiders

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Jersey Jazzman: The Outsiders:The Outsidersby DukeJames Osborne at the Philadelphia Inky had a great piece on the secretive, unaccountable charter application process in New Jersey. I want to add a few things to his report:New Jersey education officials had a dilemma last summer: Following the approval of a record number of charter schools, questions were flying about how closely the applications had been screened.It's worth noting that the only reason we know who screened the charter applicants is because the ... more »

Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundup | OregonLive.com

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Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundup | OregonLive.com:Portland Mayor Sam Adams shops a new urban renewal district dubbed the 'education' zone: Portland City Hall roundupPublished: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 9:49 AM Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 2:37 PM By Beth Slovic, The Oregonian FollowA new proposal for a downtown Portland urban renewal district includes Lincoln High School, the Portland State University campus and Oregon Health and Science University's ... more »

Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International Launch ECO Classroom

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Northrop Grumman Foundation:Northrop Grumman Foundation and Conservation International Launch ECO Classroom Innovative Development Program Takes Teachers out of Classrooms and into the FieldWASHINGTON – Jan. 19, 2012 -- Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman, and Peter A. Seligmann, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Conservation International, today announced the launch of ECO Classroom, a unique and innovative nationwide professional development program for public middle and high school science teachers. The Northrop Grumman ... more »

Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farley | Mr. Teachbad

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Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farley | Mr. Teachbad:Review of MAKING THE GRADES by Todd Farleyby teachbadTodd Farley, author of Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry (PoliPoint Press, 2009) leads us through a world that is at once outside of teaching and its very lifeblood. Our Dark Lord. In Making the Grades, Farley chronicles his 15-year rise through the standardized testing industry (STI); from lowly day-scorer to muckity-muck with a big expense account to ... more »

A Call to Action! « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

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A Call to Action! « The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education:A Call to Action!by ASCD Whole Child BloggersThe We the People initiative is the Obama administration’s effort to provide citizens with a new way to petition the administration to take action on a range of important issues facing the United States. If a petition garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, White House staff reviews it, sends it to the appropriate policy experts, and issues an official response.Today ASCD ... more »

School voucher program gets fresh look in Louisiana | NOLA.com

School voucher program gets fresh look in Louisiana | NOLA.com:

School voucher program gets fresh look in Louisiana

Published: Sunday, January 15, 2012, 7:00 AM

By Sarah Carr, The Times-Picayune

When Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed through New Orleans' school voucher program four years ago, political interest in using taxpayer money to send students to private schools had waned across the country. School choice advocates had suffered several stinging defeats, causing some to throw their weight behind charter schools, which generally receive more bipartisan support.

Times-Picayune archiveIn 2009, St. Joan of Arc School in New Orleans had more than 80 students receiving vouchers.

Now, as officials expect Jindal to begin an effort to expand Louisiana's voucher program, the national landscape has changed dramatically.

Although charter schools continue to dwarf vouchers in terms of overall growth, voucher programs have rebounded on the national political and educational scene in the past year. In 2011, more than 30 states introduced bills that would use taxpayer dollars to send children to privately run schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That's up more than 300% from the previous year, when only nine voucher bills were introduced.

Louisiana currently operates a small voucher program in New Orleans, which this year pays for about 1,800 children to attend private and parochial schools at taxpayer expense. The children must come from low-income families and, unless they are starting kindergarten, must be transferring from public schools the state considers failing.

Jindal support expected

Later this month, Jindal will likely push for a statewide expansion of the program, according to

All Things Education: Opportunity to Listen

All Things Education: Opportunity to Listen:

Opportunity to Listen

by Rachel Levy

Each day this week I have presented a response to different parts of Governor McDonnell's "Opportunity to Learn" education agenda. On Monday, I gave an introduction and talked about the goal of advancing literacy in the early grades. On Tuesday, I wrote about implications for repealing the unpopular Kings Dominion Law. OnWednesday, I talked about proceeding thoughtfully and carefully with expanding choice in the Commonwealth. On Thursday, I discussed evaluating principals and teachers. This concluding post brings me to the end and back to the place where I started in the first post of this series: Money.

It looks like McDonnell has some great funding initiatives in his agenda but it's hard to reconcile them with the major budget cuts and bleak fiscal outlook across the Commonwealth. Every day, I read a new tale of budget

ASCD Inservice: Countering the Negative Spin on Education

ASCD Inservice: Countering the Negative Spin on Education:

Countering the Negative Spin on Education

Does it feel like educators are constantly under attack? From sensational media stories about failing schools to public opinion polls that blame teachers for the downfall of modern society . . . where is all this negative energy coming from? Can we attribute it to the media's endless hunger for controversy, or do real problems arise from within the profession itself?

And why is it that people think teaching is easy? "I have heard people state that those who can, do and those who can't, teach. What these nonteachers fail to realize is that teaching is doing; it is doing a multitude of challenging tasks every day," says education professor Angela Dalhoe in her recent ASCD Express article, "Those Who Can, Teach."

"I believe that my students could find success in many other career paths, but they choose to teach. They choose this amid the current downspin; they choose this path because of their desire to become effective educators," she writes. Diane

Blue Ribbon Schools Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

Blue Ribbon Schools Named - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Nominates

35 California Schools for National Blue Ribbon Honor

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced the selection of 35 public schools as California's nominees to the 2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools Program (BRSP), which recognizes some of the highest-performing and most improved schools in the nation. The list of schools is attached.

"These schools all share a deep commitment to the education and well-being of their students," said Torlakson. "We've recognized them on the state level, and now I hope their outstanding work and remarkable progress will be further spotlighted nationally."

Each year the U.S. Department of Education outlines the categories for nomination. In 2012 there are two categories:

Exemplary High-Performing Schools: Schools that achieve at least the 85th percentile statewide in the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced in English-language arts and mathematics on the state assessments. Schools nominated in this category may or may not have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Exemplary Improving Schools: Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from a disadvantaged background that are also among the top 10 percent of schools in the state showing the greatest improvement in the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced in ELA and mathematics on the state assessments over the last five years.

To be eligible for preliminary nomination for the 2012 award, a school must have made the federal goals as outlined in Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2011 and 2010 and also made its state Academic Performance Index (API) targets (school-wide and for all numerically significant student groups) in 2011 and 2010.

For final nomination as a 2012 BRSP, a school must meet all of its 2012 API and AYP targets, including those for the school overall and for all numerically significant student groups. The final nomination check is completed in August/September of 2012.

Based on student population, California may nominate up to 35 qualified schools each year.

The National BRSP is part of a larger U. S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices. For more information on the federal program, please visit: Awards - Blue Ribbon Schools Program (Outside Source).

Attachment

California's 2012 National Blue Ribbon School Nominees
(Amended 1-19-12*)

County	District	School
Alameda	Oakland Unified	Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy
Alameda	Fremont Unified	J. Haley Durham Elementary
Alameda	Piedmont City Unified	Piedmont High
Alameda	Fremont Unified	William Hopkins Junior High
Los Angeles	Glendale Unified	Anderson W. Clark Magnet High
Los Angeles	Bonita Unified	Arma J. Shull Elementary
Los Angeles	Arcadia Unified	Baldwin Stocker Elementary
Los Angeles	Torrance Unified	Bert M. Lynn Middle
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Clover Avenue Elementary
Los Angeles	East Whittier City Elementary	Evergreen Elementary
Los Angeles	ABC Unified	Joe A. Gonsalves Elementary
Los Angeles	Newhall	Stevenson Ranch Elementary
Monterey	Soledad Unified	Frank Ledesma Elementary*
Orange	Orange Unified	Fairhaven Elementary
Orange	Irvine Unified	Lakeside Middle
Orange	Santa Ana Unified	Manuel Esqueda Elementary
Orange	Los Alamitos Unified	Sharon Christa McAuliffe Middle
Orange	Fullerton Joint Union High	Sunny Hills High
Riverside	Menifee Union Elementary	Evans Ranch Elementary
San Bernardino	Redlands Unified	Judson & Brown Elementary
San Bernardino	San Bernardino City Unified	Lytle Creek Elementary
San Diego	San Diego Unified	Edison Elementary
San Diego	Chula Vista Elementary	Palomar Elementary
San Diego	San Diego Unified	San Diego International Studies
San Francisco	San Francisco Unified	Alice Fong Yu Alternative School
San Francisco	San Francisco Unified	Lowell High
San Luis Obispo	San Luis Coastal Unified	Teach Elementary
San Mateo	Redwood City Elementary	North Star Academy
San Mateo	Woodside Elementary	Woodside Elementary
Santa Clara	Palo Alto Unified	Herbert Hoover Elementary
Santa Clara	Santa Clara Unified	Millikin Elementary
Santa Clara	Los Altos Elementary	Oak Avenue Elementary
Santa Clara	Cupertino Union	R. I. Meyerholz Elementary
Ventura	Ventura Unified	Foothill Technology High
Yuba	Plumas Lake School Elementary	Rio Del Oro Elementary *

* New schools added

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-01

Missouri Education Watchdog: Hansel & Gretel In Teach For America

Missouri Education Watchdog: Hansel & Gretel In Teach For America:

Hansel & Gretel In Teach For America

by Anngie

We all remember the story of Hansel and Gretel. They got lost in the woods and came across a house made of gingerbread. Facing a candy smorgasbord in the midst of their incredible hunger was too much for them. That was all it took for the evil witch to trap them. Only through their own cunning were they finally able to escape.

Today's Gretel is a recent college graduate wandering the business sector looking for a job and often not finding one. Along comes Teach For America who promises them the equivalent of a house made of candy. TFA would train them, with the minimal waste of time, guarantee them job placement in a system that supplies health care and maybe even pension benefits, pay for their masters degree and maybe even their housing. Not only that, but they would work with them to get a student loan forbearance and pay their interest for the two years of their service. For many, this is too tempting an offer to pass up. But like Grimm's Gretel, they soon find themselves

hctiB G: Chocolate City | The G Bitch Spot

hctiB G: Chocolate City | The G Bitch Spot:

hctiB G: Chocolate City

by G Bitch

originally posted Jan. 20, 2006

Part of the flak over Nagin’s chocolate city comment (he said it when he testified in front of Congress and no one seemed to notice though that time he did smile as he said it) is that no one has a sense of humor when they are looking for a fight. No one seems to know about the Funkadelic song or that other cities (DC and Detroit especially) have also been referred to as chocolate cities and there were no white riots. The only commentary I’ve seen that even slightly understands the humor and truth and joy in being a chocolate city is Sam Smith. My favorite part:

But to this white DC native, Nagin’s worst offense was to try to rip off our nickname.

Having lived much of my life in the real Chocolate City, I find myself far more bothered by people