Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Big Education Ape: 2-21-12 AM Parents Feeling Ignored in School Reforms EDition #WRONG #CORPREFORMERS

Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!:
Big Education Ape: PARENTS CAN!

Published by Coopmike48 – 7 news spotters today

Florida Set for New Cut in Spending on Colleges

nytimes.com - MIAMI — Florida lawmakers contend that education is essential to high-wage jobs in the state, but the Legislature is again expected to slash millions of dollars from the budget for higher education...

DianeRavitch

What the ‘N’ in UNCF Stands For These Days

theroot.com - Sixty-five years after a group of historically black colleges came together to form the United Negro College Fund, a mind is still a terrible thing to waste. The UNCF is continuing its mission of r...

DianeRavitch

A Sociological Eye on Education

eyeoned.org - The word rigor comes up a lot in teacher-evaluation systems. It’s akin to motherhood, apple pie and the American flag. What policymaker is going to take a stand against rigor? But the term is getti...

leoniehaimson

Parents Feeling Ignored in School Reforms

chicagonewscoop.org - Chicago Public School officials are making big changes during their first year in office, but there’s a group of people feeling shut out once again — parents. Despite a well-publicized commitment t...

mikeklonsky

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coopmike48 Engaging Parents Irony Alert – NY Times Announces Parent Trigger Movie The Same Day LA Times Calls It A Disaster - goo.gl/lhE9Z2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Incomplete school weeks spark complaints | EdNewsColorado -goo.gl/mbywsabout 1 minute ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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EducationSee all

States Try to Fix Quirks in Teacher Evaluations

nytimes.com - Steve Ball, executive principal at the East Literature Magnet School in Nashville, arrived at an English class unannounced one day this month and spent 60 minutes taking copious notes as he watched...

leoniehaimson

On Dr. Steve Perry « The Black Tongue

theblacktongue.wordpress.com - For many people, Dr. Steve Perry is a modern day hero. He’s the CNN education contributor and he’s the principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School, a school which, albeit very poorly named, boas...

leoniehaimson

SocietySee all

Heroine of the Week: Constance Johnson

helloladies.com - Constance Johnson Oklahoma State Senator Constance Johnson is our heroine of the week. Johnson proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 1433, that would criminalize some ejaculation. The amendment read...

mikeklonsky

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School Tech Connect: Save Our Schools

schooltechconnect.com - I was unable to stay for the protest going on over at the mayor's house tonight, but I did spend some time with the protestors gathering at Lakeview High School. Weird how everyone there knew the i...

tbfurman

Youthcomm Story: How the Other Half Lives

youthcomm.org - I read on the front page of today’s New York Times that the poor are dropping further behind the rich in school. I grew up in Brownsville, a very poor neighborhood in Brooklyn. I didn’t know what k...

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PoliticsSee all

Two Senators Say U.S. Should Arm Syrian Rebels

nytimes.com - KABUL, Afghanistan — With the Syrian government continuing its deadly crackdown on its citizens, two senior American senators who were on their way to the Middle East spoke out strongly on Sunday i...

mikeklonsky

Art & EntertainmentSee all

read these blogs: jeremy lin edition 6

blog.angryasianman.com - Jeremy Lin - Knicks vs Mavs FULL HIGHLIGHTS - 28 points, 14 assists, 5 steals [2/19/2012]: In case you thought Friday's loss signaled the end of Linsanity, Jeremy finished with 28 points, a career-...

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Robert Reich (The Gas Wars)

robertreich.org - Nothing drives voter sentiment like the price of gas – now averaging $3.56 a gallon, up 30 cents from the start of the year. It’s already hit $4 in some places. The last time gas topped $4 was 2008...

coopmike48

Rocket sent into northern lights for GPS research

articles.boston.com - The rocket arcing up into the northern lights above Alaska was on its way to measure the effects of the celestial phenomenon’s effects on global positioning systems.It was a mission launched Saturd...

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#corpreformersSee all

Lifestyles of the Rich and Reformy

jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com - Watching Brian Jones yesterday, I was struck once again by the massive hypocrisy of so many who claim the mantle of "reformer." They sing the praises of standardized testing regimes and "accountabi...

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‘Rigor mortis ’ in teacher evaluation systems - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

‘Rigor mortis ’ in teacher evaluation systems - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

‘Rigor mortis ’ in teacher evaluation systems

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Aaron Pallas, professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He writes the Sociological Eye on Education blog — where this post first appeared — for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, non-partisan education-news outlet affiliated with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media .

Read full article >>
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DOCTOR POWER AND TEACHER DREAMS « Teachers Fight Back

DOCTOR POWER AND TEACHER DREAMS « Teachers Fight Back:

DOCTOR POWER AND TEACHER DREAMS

by alkleen

I have a dream, that one day, teachers will have the influence and power in Congress that doctors have. Congress has once again been intimidated by the AMA and by the lobbyists that work for doctors. Congress was poised to lower the amount of money paid to doctors for Medicare services. This was supposed to be one of the ways to chip away at the massive federal deficit. This idea has been part of various spending bills for almost a decade and the idea has gone down to defeat every time.

The governor of Illinois has also proposed lowering the pay in Illinois for doctors who provide Medicaid services. It will be interesting to see if this has any success on the state level. Both the federal government and the state government are burdened with unbelievable debt and yet they have never lowered the Medicare or Medicaid pay

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Schools Matter: The Bookmooch plan: An easy way to help close the achievement gap in literacy and clean up your clutter at the same time

Schools Matter: The Bookmooch plan: An easy way to help close the achievement gap in literacy and clean up your clutter at the same time:

The Bookmooch plan: An easy way to help close the achievement gap in literacy and clean up your clutter at the same time

by skrashen
There is overwhelming evidence that those who live in poverty have little access to books at home, in schools and in public and school libraries, and that the lack of access to books impacts literacy development, and also results in less knowledge of the world. Research, in fact, strngly suggests that lack of access to books is the major reason for the literacy “achievement gap,” the difference in reading ability between children coming from higher and lower income families.

Someday, ebooks might be available at a reasonable cost for everybody. But until this happens, I would like to suggest one way we help close the access-to-books gap. It requires no special funding from the government or the Gates Foundation, no paperwork, and no sacrifice. In fact, we can do it in a way that benefits everybody.
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Parent Trigger Divides Parents, Students in California | Scathing Purple Musings

Parent Trigger Divides Parents, Students in California | Scathing Purple Musings:

Parent Trigger Divides Parents, Students in California

by Bob Sikes

Florida’s parent trigger legislation is soon to be voted on in Tallahassee. The weight of heavy-weight advocates like Jeb Bush, Rick Scott and Michelle Rhee are drowning out opposition. But can they suppress actual examples of how its dividing communities, so much in fact that its reaching the classroom? From the Los Angeles Times:

School principal David Mobley said the conflict has spilled onto campus. He said he has had to intervene to calm parents and ask them to step off school grounds as they try to distribute dueling information and corral support. The tension has also filtered to the students, who have begun

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Rick, Rick, Rick - What Century Are You Living In?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Rick, Rick, Rick - What Century Are You Living In?:

Rick, Rick, Rick - What Century Are You Living In?

by Melissa Westbrook
We have a presidential election coming up (if you haven't noticed). President Obama is running for the Democratics and the Republicans, well - they'll pick someone, eventually.

My biased take is that I hope the Republicans tear each other to shreds and that someone staggers out of the Republican convention, dazed and bleeding.

Why? Well, if you care about public education, you'd wonder would happen to public education if any of these candidates are elected President.

We know what would happen with Santorum who likes to lecture people on why parents should all be
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When Did ‘Walkthrough’ Become a Bad Word? « City School Stories

When Did ‘Walkthrough’ Become a Bad Word? « City School Stories:

When Did ‘Walkthrough’ Become a Bad Word?

by fmurphy

Teacher Stories
Submitted by: Joy of Teaching on February 21, 2012

In 2003-04 I had the benefit of attending a year-long professional development series that focused on school improvement working with School Based Leadership Teams. During these meetings the leadership teams at various schools worked to improve classroom instruction using strategies that provided information using classroom walkthroughs. Each school team identified areas of strengths and needs at their individual school. Then, the team designed a template to measure and record observations during the walkthrough. The team would visit designated classrooms together and following the walkthrough, the team would consult and share their observations. At Leadership Team meetings the results of the walkthrough observations and data collection would guide the team to identify areas of need. The team

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LAUSD & UTLA: THEIR PROBLEMS ARE STRUCTURAL NOT PERSONNEL - Perdaily.com

LAUSD & UTLA: THEIR PROBLEMS ARE STRUCTURAL NOT PERSONNEL - Perdaily.com:

LAUSD & UTLA: THEIR PROBLEMS ARE STRUCTURAL NOT PERSONNEL

by Leonard Isenberg
Checks and balances.jpg
(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

It is much easier to point a finger at the latest incarnation of LAUSD institutional failure, Superintendent John Deasy, then to finally realize that the problem isn't Deasy per se, but the way LAUSD is set up to fail.

Once we understand this we can take the time and effort necessary to reconfigure LAUSD into a viable form that finally allows this critically necessary institution of public education to get it right. What hangs in the balance is whether or not we will
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Parents band together to help a coalition of Center City schools - Philly.com

Parents band together to help a coalition of Center City schools - Philly.com:

Parents band together to help a coalition of Center City schools

February 20, 2012|By Miriam Hill, Inquirer Staff Writer
  • Christine Carlson, a force behind the Greater Center City Neighborhood School Coalition, outside Greenfield Elementary School with her two children, who are students there.
Christine Carlson, a force behind the Greater Center City Neighborhood School Coalition,… (ALEX REMNICK / Staff Photographer)

Christine Carlson was tired of watching friends leave Philadelphia in search of a decent education for their children.

As mother of a boy and girl at Greenfield Elementary in Center City, she knew there were good schools here. She also knew they needed help.

Her solution: Create an organization for a dozen Center City schools to do what the School District struggles to do - raise money, save programs, improve curriculum, and fix facilities - and in doing so, anchor those parents to their neighborhoods.

Her fledgling Greater Center City Neighborhood School Coalition aims to unite 12 public elementaries serving an area bounded by Girard Avenue, Tasker Street, and the Delaware and Schuylkill.

"I don't think that parents should throw up a white flag and leave the area," she said. "I need to let

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Jersey Jazzman: The Reformy Dr. Steve Perry Show - Part II

Jersey Jazzman: The Reformy Dr. Steve Perry Show - Part II:

The Reformy Dr. Steve Perry Show - Part II

by Duke
When we last left Dr. Steve Perry, he was tweeting like a madman at teacher-bloggers who dared to question his orthodoxies:
I'm not sure if you can see the level of insanity of some of these folks' tweets & they claim to be TEACHERS. Imagine them in class tomorrow
I'm forced to ask myself why I'm wasting time w/ ppl who have no interest in our kids' success. My only answer is that our kids need it.
We are winning. We're exposing how they don't love our kids. Their venom bubbles as the
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: I'm interviewed at the protest

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: I'm interviewed at the protest:

I'm interviewed at the protest

I was at the rally against school closings at Lakeview High School yesterday. Before the march to the mayor's house, I was interviewed by Chicago Tonight's Elizabeth Brackett.
Posted by at 12:41 AM
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