Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts 2-23 #SOSchat #p2 #edreform

Buyer Beware - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Buyer Beware - Bridging Differences - Education Week:Buyer Bewareby Deborah MeierDear Diane,Three days with the North Dakota Study Group restores my spirits every year. Some great speeches, small "works in progress" workshops, presentations by students, and just food and talk, talk, talk.I read your blog this week while I was at the NDSG and passed it around. It's superb, and we should all tweet it to anyone we can think of—not just educators.Not surprisingly, the folks at the NDSG claimed ... more »

Disciplining students - chicagotribune.com Support PURE!

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Disciplining students - chicagotribune.com:Changing the code of disciplineComments3Share0As parents and students across Chicago know, and as academic research confirms, the results of these extreme discipline policies have been disastrous.(Jon Krause illustration / February 22, 2012)RelatedThe Noble rulesBy Jasmine Sarmiento and Julie WoestehoffFebruary 23, 2012If you don't like it, you can leave.That's the line of defense that Noble Network of Charter Schools' supporters have fallen back on in the wake of research showing that the rapidly expanding charter school network has ... more »

Drowning In A Rising Tide Of… | Taking Note

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Drowning In A Rising Tide Of… | Taking Note:Drowning In A Rising Tide Of…by John MerrowIf education is drowning, what's the overwhelming agent? And will some future plans help to quell the problem?“The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people.”Surely everyone recognizes the five-word phrase. Some of you may have garbled the phrase on occasion — I have — into something ... more »

Shanker Blog » Do Value-Added Models "Control For Poverty?"

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Shanker Blog » Do Value-Added Models "Control For Poverty?":Do Value-Added Models “Control For Poverty?”by Matthew Di CarloThere is some controversy over the fact that Florida’s recently-announced value-added model (one of a class often called “covariate adjustment models”), which will be used to determine merit pay bonuses and other high-stakes decisions, doesn’t include a direct measure of poverty.Personally, I support adding a direct income proxy to these models, if for no other reason than to avoid this type of debate (and ... more »

Bill Gates Really Has Evolved on Teacher Quality - Dana Goldstein

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Bill Gates Really Has Evolved on Teacher Quality - Dana Goldstein:Bill Gates Really Has Evolved on Teacher Qualityby Dana GoldsteinI heard some push back last month when I praised Bill Gates for adopting a more holistic view of teacher evaluation, one focused less on student test scores and more on peer review and continuous improvement. But today he's signaling his evolution on these ideas in the loudest way possible, by publishing an op-ed in the New York Times that argues ... more »

Diving into the Wreckage: Our Schools and the Future Society « Bill Ayers

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Diving into the Wreckage: Our Schools and the Future Society « Bill Ayers:Diving into the Wreckage: Our Schools and the Future Societyby billayersMultiple Choice Question: A typical American classroom has as much to offer an inquiring mind as does:A) a vacant lot B) a country road C) a street corner D) the city dump E) the custodian’s closet F) none of the aboveAnalogy Test: High-stakes, standardized testing is to learning as:A) memorizing a flight manual is to flying B) watching ... more »

L.A. schools chief 'horrified' at handling of teacher abuse cases - latimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

L.A. schools chief 'horrified' at handling of teacher abuse cases - latimes.com:L.A. schools chief 'horrified' at handling of teacher abuse casesLos Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy said he was "horrified" by the way the school district has handled past allegations of teacher abuse against students and called on major changes on how such allegations are handled.He said the district will report all teachers accused of misconduct to the state credentialing commission in an effort to keep those who pose a ... more »

The man without shame says shame is not the solution. « Fred Klonsky

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

The man without shame says shame is not the solution. « Fred KlonskyThe man without shame says shame is not the solution.by Fred KlonskyIt is the very definition of irony.This morning billionaire Bill Gates, the man whose deepest of deep pockets financed the current decade-long assault on teachers and teacher professionalism, decries the shaming of teachers in an opinion piece written for the NY Times.As they say, it’s hard to make this stuff up.The irony continues, since it is the ... more »

DIANE RAVITCH: Education reform: Testing teaching, teaching testing | The Economist

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Education reform: Testing teaching, teaching testing | The Economist:Testing teaching, teaching testingFeb 22nd 2012, 15:07 by M.S.DIANE RAVITCH, the education-reform advocate famous for having long advocated chartered schools and centralised assessment of teachers only to turn against both reforms in the past few years, has a post at the New York Review of Books railing against New York's new testing standards. The state moved last week to conduct a centralised assessment of all public-school teachers on the basis of whether ... more »

Aligning Early Education with the Common Core «

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 46 minutes ago

Aligning Early Education with the Common Core «:Aligning Early Education with the Common CoreFebruary 23, 2012 by Irene SegePhoto: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for ChildrenAcross the country, early educators face questions about how best to align early childhood programs with the academic rigor of the Common Core State Standards adopted by 46 states (including Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia. The answer, experts say, lies in developmentally appropriate practice and understanding what research tells us about how young children learn.“We ... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: Notice to DESE: SHOCKER! Apparently Common Core Standards Will Cost Missouri Money.

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

Missouri Education Watchdog: Notice to DESE: SHOCKER! Apparently Common Core Standards Will Cost Missouri Money.:Notice to DESE: SHOCKER! Apparently Common Core Standards Will Cost Missouri Money.by stlgretchenIn February 2011 Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro published a document stating Common Core standards wouldn't cost the state of Missouri any significant money. DESE published a document online entitled:COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDSWhat implications do the Common Core State Standards have for Missouri?The Department has prepared a frequently asked questions docum... more »

Modern School: Why Girls Don’t Go For STEM Careers

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

Modern School: Why Girls Don’t Go For STEM Careers:Why Girls Don’t Go For STEM Careersby Michael DunnGirl Scouts of Central Maryland host STEM event (Image from Flickr, by RDECOM)A new nationwide survey of 1,000 teen girls from the Girl Scout Research Institute suggests that girls are both interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers and have the confidence that they can succeed in these fields. The institute reports that nearly 75% of teen girls are already interested in ... more »

Bill Gates — Yes, Bill Gates — Calls Making Teacher Ratings Public “A Big Mistake” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

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

Bill Gates — Yes, Bill Gates — Calls Making Teacher Ratings Public “A Big Mistake” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:Bill Gates — Yes, Bill Gates — Calls Making Teaching Ratings Public “A Big Mistake”by Larry FerlazzoI have little confidence in Bill Gates judgment on education issues, including on how to evaluate teachers. However, he did get one thing right in today’s guest column in The New York Times, which is headlined “Shame Is Not the Solution”:LAST week, the ...more »

“This is Little Rock, 1957. Chicago is the epicenter of the education justice fight in America.” « Fred Klonsky

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

“This is Little Rock, 1957. Chicago is the epicenter of the education justice fight in America.” « Fred Klonsky:“This is Little Rock, 1957. Chicago is the epicenter of the education justice fight in America.”by Fred KlonskyJesse Jackson and CTU President Karen Lewis. Photo: WBEZLate today, Wednesday, the Chicago school board voted unanimously to go ahead with all the proposed school closings and turn arounds.No surprise there.Did we think the release of data by Don Moore and Designs for Change would ... more »

Palm Beach County School Board Rejects Additional Mavericks Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings

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

Palm Beach County School Board Rejects Additional Mavericks Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings:Palm Beach County School Board Rejects Additional Mavericks Charter Schoolsby Bob SikesIn the New Times yesterday Lisa Rab reported that Palm Beach county school district officials recommended that Maverick’s application for three new charter schools be denied. Today the school board agreed and voted 6-0 to deny the applications. No discussion. No debate and no representatives of Mavericks were at the board vote. Rab commented in an ... more »

Charter School Segregation Target Of New Report

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

Charter School Segregation Target Of New Report:Joy ResmovitsJoy.resmovits@huffingtonpost.comBecome a fan of this reporterGET UPDATES FROM JOY Like775Charter School Segregation Target Of New ReportequalFirst Posted: 02/22/2012 8:09 pm Updated: 02/22/2012 8:09 pmReactAmazingInspiringFunnyScaryHotCrazyImportantWeirdFollow Arne Duncan , Charter Schools , Education , Education Reform , Obama Administration , Charter School Accountability , Charter School Segregation , Education News , Gary Orfield , Myron Orfield , National Alliance For Public Charter Schools ,National Education Policy ... more »

Bill Gates: For Teachers, Shame Is No Solution - NYTimes.com

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

For Teachers, Shame Is No Solution - NYTimes.com:Shame Is Not the SolutionBy BILL GATESPublished: February 22, 2012RECOMMENDTWITTERLINKEDINE-MAILPRINTREPRINTSSHARESeattleEnlarge This ImageJohnny SelmanRelatedTimes Topic: Teachers and School EmployeesLAST week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that teachers’ individual performance assessments could be made public. I have no opinion on the ruling as a matter of law, but as a harbinger of education policy in the United States, it is a big mistake.I am a strong proponent of measuring teachers’ effectiveness, and ... more »

School Tech Connect: No Big Surprises

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

School Tech Connect: No Big Surprises:No Big Surprisesby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)No big surprises at the CPS Board meeting tonight. If anyone thought they weren't going to vote in lockstep agreement on the "turnarounds," then that person was seriously deluded. Dissent is not the role of an appointed board.Mayor Adrian Fenty Rahm EmanuelI will say this much-- I've been awakened by this experience. I feel like I've been sleepwalking through the entire disaster that has descended upon my profession over the past ... more »

National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards: Listen up Washington State PTA | Seattle Education

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

National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards: Listen up Washington State PTA | Seattle Education:National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards: Listen up Washington State PTAby seattleducation2011This is a recent press release from the Pioneer Institute:STUDY ESTIMATES COST OF TRANSITION TO NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AT $16 BILLIONCost far exceeds sums doled out in federal grants used to persuade states to adopt.BOSTON/WASHINGTON, D.C./SAN FRANCISCO – Aligning state and local educational systems ... more »

Conn. Gov Malloy Calls Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee‘Divisive’, Declines Joint Appearance

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

Connecticut Governor Malloy Calls Rhee ‘Divisive’, Declines A Joint Appearance:Connecticut Governor Malloy Calls Rhee ‘Divisive’, Declines A Joint Appearanceby cynthiaThe Connecticut Parents Union is a statewide community-based group led by Gwen Samuel, a parent with a child in the New Haven city schools. The group had arranged a March 14, 2012 meeting with the Governor of Connecticut, Daniel Malloy, as part of a rally planned for that day. But Governor Malloy decided not to attendonce he heard that Michelle Rhee ... more »

Why we won’t publish individual teachers’ value-added scores | GothamSchools

Why we won’t publish individual teachers’ value-added scores | GothamSchools:

Why we won’t publish individual teachers’ value-added scores

by Elizabeth Green and Philissa Cramer, at 6:24 pm

Tomorrow’s planned release of 12,000 New York City teacher ratings raises questions for the courts, parents, principals, bureaucrats, teachers — and one other party: news organizations. The journalists who requested the release of the data in the first place now must decide what to do with it all.

At GothamSchools, we joined other reporters in requesting to see the Teacher Data Reports back in 2010. But you will not see the database here, tomorrow or ever, as long as it is attached to individual teachers’ names.

The fact is that we feel a strong responsibility to report on the quality of the work the 80,000 New York City public school teachers do every day. This is a core part of our job and our mission.

But before we publish any piece of information, we always have to ask a question. Does the information we have do a fair job of describing the subject we want to write about? If it doesn’t, is there any additional

Thirty minutes with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. « Fred Klonsky

Thirty minutes with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. « Fred Klonsky:

Thirty minutes with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.

by Fred Klonsky

Today on my favorite local news show.

The in box: Will Guzzardi challenges Toni Berrio’s lies.

by Fred Klonsky

Representative Berrios,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to ask a quick question about a mailer you sent out recently, discussing a law firm you claim is “allied with” me.

This struck me as curious, given that I’m not allied with any law firms and have received no corporate contributions whatsoever.

What made the claim even more ironic is the fact that you’ve received $117,300 in

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Cracks in the pavement

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Cracks in the pavement:

Cracks in the pavement

by Mike Klonsky

"This is Little Rock, 1957," Jackson told the board. "This is apartheid."

The mayor had no trouble getting his hand-picked gaggle of billionaires and their toadies on the school board to unanimously vote for more school closings and turnarounds. But it's become clear that mounting protests have begun to create some space for dissent among the minions. Media coverage of the protests seems to have moved somewhat out of the hands of Rahm's army of highly-paid spinners at CPS.

Latest to join the struggle to stop the closings were two important black, religious community leaders, the Rev.

Chicago school board tells parents: We don't need no stinkin' research

by Mike Klonsky

A day after they were handed the latest study showing the poor results of their turnaround reforms, the mayor's hand-picked school board voted to turn 10 more neighborhood public schools over to a private turnaround company. This despite day-long protests outside their offices by hundreds of angry parents, students and community supporters (none of the mayor's paid counter-protesters even bothered to show up).

The board decided to ignore the research and a week of protests (including a march on Monday to the mayor's house) and voted to close five elementary schools, phase out one high school and "turn around" 10 schools by firing all the teachers and making them reapply for jobs.

Even Gates doesn't like shaming teachers in public

by Mike Klonsky

N.Y. Times graphic

Publicly shaming teachers in N.Y. and L.A. is too much even for Bill Gates. In a NYT opinion piece, ("Shame is Not the Solution") he continues to defend the use of inaccurate, misleading, and now widely discredited, value-added formulas, as "one important piece" of ranking individual teachers. But the most powerful of the power philanthropists wants these evaluations kept out of the press. He's at least got that right.

Unfortunately, some education advocates in New York, Los Angeles and other cities are claiming that a good personnel system can be based on ranking teachers according to their “value-added rating” — a

Town says, "frack you" to Anschutz

by Mike Klonsky

Phillip Anschutz, bankrolled the anti-public school propaganda film, Waiting for Superman. Now he's financing another film glorifying the so called, "parent trigger", a law which gives a group of parents the power to fire all their school's teachers and hand it over to a private management company. 20th Century Fox is preparing a September release for “Won’t Back Down” starring Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal.