Engaging Parents In School… - Going Beyond Parent “Involvement”

Engaging Parents In School… - Going Beyond Parent “Involvement”:

Very Interesting Articles On Parent Trigger Proposal In Florida

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 8 hours ago

Here are three very interesting articles on the parent trigger debate in Florida: Parent trigger bill faces uncertain future is from The Tampa Bay Times. Education overhaul: ‘Parent trigger’ legislation clears hurdle, ready for Senate vote is from The Sun Sentinel. Fla. Senate panel clears parental ‘trigger’ bill is from The Herald Tribune.

All Of My “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 9 hours ago

Just a reminder that I have all of my “The Best….” lists related to parent engagement together at: A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Parent Engagement — 2011 You can also find a link to it at my left sidebar, and in my blog’s list of categories.

This Week’s Parent Teacher Chat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 10 hours ago

Guest Post by Joe Mazza: Upcoming #PTchat on Twitter – 3/7/12 at 9PM EST/6PST Recently, England’s Education Secretary Michael Gove gave schools the go ahead to reduce the amount of homework they set for pupils after complaints from parents that studies are cutting in to family time. Alfie Kohn has been one of the leading researchers on the [...]

Upcoming Parent Engagement Webinar

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 18 hours ago

Late last year, the National Education Association released an important report on parent engagement (you can see my previous post on it — Important Report On Parent Engagement Released Today). On Thursday, March 29th, Anne Henderson, the author of the report and the top researcher on parent engagement in the U.S., will be leading a [...]

“Community schools recognize the vital role of full-service partnerships”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Community schools recognize the vital role of full-service partnerships is a recent post from Thoughts On Public Education, and give a pretty good report on recent developments in developing community schools. I’ve previously posted that I wish more community schools included parents in their idea of “partnerships” (see Parent Leadership Is Often “Missing Link” In [...]

Parents Organize In Charlotte

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Parents worked with teachers and others to stop an insane new testing regimen in Charlotte, North Carolina. Read about it in The Washington Post at A rare break from testing madness.

Speedy Robot

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 minutes ago

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency just announced their robot just set a speed record for a legged-robot — 18 mph. You can read more about it here at the BBC, and you can see it in action in … Continue reading →

Great Resource For Civil War Photographs

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

The Atlantic recently published three collections of Civil War photographs. I’m adding them to The Best Sites For Learning About The American Civil War. The Civil War, Part 1: The Places The Civil War, Part 2: The People The Civil … Continue reading →

Insanity — Mandatory Retention Of Third Graders Who Don’t Read At Grade Level?

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 9 hours ago

Several states are considering requiring mandatory retention of third graders who don’t read at grade level. Here are some articles and posts about this insanity, and I’m adding them to The Best Resources For Learning About Grade Retention, Social Promotion … Continue reading →

“Value-Added Evaluation Hurts Teaching”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 19 hours ago

Value-Added Evaluation Hurts Teaching is a very important commentary written by Linda Darling-Hammond for Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED « Teachers Fight Back

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED « Teachers Fight Back:

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED

by alkleen

Chicago school administrators are searching the country for 50 new school principals this year and they will reward each of them with a $25,000 bonus if they agree to come and take over a failing school. The leaders of the Chicago schools said that they are, “looking for top of the class principals whose schools are currently reaching academic standards.”

I say, good luck with finding 50 principals willing to take over a failing Chicago school. I wonder if $25,000 is enough of an incentive to attract these wonderful principals. Most successful principals are probably happy where they are and might be very leery about taking on a failing school. I would encourage the prospective principals to ask the following questions before considering the move.

1. Do I get moving expenses in addition to the $25,000?

2. Do I have to live anywhere near the failing school ?

3. Would I have a special parking place for my car so I could be sure it would never

A KEEN SENSE FOR THE OBVIOUS

by alkleen

Oh no! Not another useless university study. We must convince Congress to pass the “Useless University Research Bill”. This bill would ban all university research that is deemed useless because the result is so obvious.

Now comes a study from the University of California at Berkeley, that tells us that rich people are less generous and more likely to be unethical when it comes to money than most other people.

Stop these ridiculous studies now! No more university money spent on any of this nonsense! From now on all research must involve incredibly important subjects like curing cancer or feeding the world population.

A university must also avoid studying any subject that the university itself might have the slightest bias about

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED « Teachers Fight Back

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED « Teachers Fight Back:

PRINCIPAL MERCENARIES WANTED

by alkleen

Chicago school administrators are searching the country for 50 new school principals this year and they will reward each of them with a $25,000 bonus if they agree to come and take over a failing school. The leaders of the Chicago schools said that they are, “looking for top of the class principals whose schools are currently reaching academic standards.”

I say, good luck with finding 50 principals willing to take over a failing Chicago school. I wonder if $25,000 is enough of an incentive to attract these wonderful principals. Most successful principals are probably happy where they are and might be very leery about taking on a failing school. I would encourage the prospective principals to ask the following questions before considering the move.

1. Do I get moving expenses in addition to the $25,000?

2. Do I have to live anywhere near the failing school ?

3. Would I have a special parking place for my car so I could be sure it would never

A KEEN SENSE FOR THE OBVIOUS

by alkleen

Oh no! Not another useless university study. We must convince Congress to pass the “Useless University Research Bill”. This bill would ban all university research that is deemed useless because the result is so obvious.

Now comes a study from the University of California at Berkeley, that tells us that rich people are less generous and more likely to be unethical when it comes to money than most other people.

Stop these ridiculous studies now! No more university money spent on any of this nonsense! From now on all research must involve incredibly important subjects like curing cancer or feeding the world population.

A university must also avoid studying any subject that the university itself might have the slightest bias about

solidaridad: Adult School Students explain why Adult Schools are so important!

solidaridad: Adult School Students explain why Adult Schools are so important!:

Adult School Students explain why Adult Schools are so important!

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

Popout

Daily Kos: Linda Darling-Hammond takes apart Value-added evaluation of teachers

Daily Kos: Linda Darling-Hammond takes apart Value-added evaluation of teachers:

Linda Darling-Hammond takes apart Value-added evaluation of teachers

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

as she has done many times before. The occasion this time is the NY Post making a bit issue of the supposedly worst teacher in the city. Linda has written on this subject, either by herself, or in conjunction with other experts on education, several times in the past few years.

Linda, who is a personal friend and professional colleague, has an important new piece on the subject of value-added methodology in Education Week, the most important single publication in the field of education, which you can - and should - read here.

Linda Darling-Hammond acknowledges that she - like many others, originally had high hopes for the use of value added evaluations of teachers. But now it is clear to her, as it is to many have examined it closely, that it does

I've always wanted to make a difference

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in what I did with my life.

Before i became a teacher I chose to work in local government rather than the private sector for that reason

I became a public school teacher to make a difference

Now I wrestle with what I will do after this school year:

.. should I continue in my current classroom?

.. should I retired from where I am and teach elsewhere?

.. should I leave the classroom and try to serve in education elsewhere?

.. should I work elsewhere in politics or in government?

.. should I move to the non-profit sector?

I honestly do not know. One possible door has closed, but I do not view that as limiting, merely that it means I can turn with greater focus to other possibilities.

I have tried in my writing to make a difference: before there was a pundit watch or he had won a Pulitzer, I tried

It all depends on the words you use

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

as to whether you will rise to the crosshairs of the Department of Homeland security.

Picked this up as a result of a tweet from this website

take a look below the fold:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What Is Going On?

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What Is Going On?:

What Is Going On?

by Melissa Westbrook

I leave town for a week and all hell breaks loose.

More violence, more burglaries, a Friday night sneaky maneuver by Senate Republicans and now, Luna the soccer dog has gone missing? In the immortal words of Betty Draper, "What is going on!?!"

First, be sure to lock your doors and windows. It seems weird to say that but this is not Mayberry, RFD. Let's be safe in our own homes. Ditto on locking the car if you have valuables inside.

Second, I normally wouldn't put up something about a missing dog but this dog has special talents that can be easily spotted. So I am putting out a plea for anyone who sees Luna the Soccer Dog.

Luna was taken from outside a University area home on Saturday. She has a tag with her address and phone.

School Tech Connect: The Standard Writer's Block Post

School Tech Connect: The Standard Writer's Block Post:

The Standard Writer's Block Post

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

I have a writing assignment for my other job, and it's given me the worst case of writer's block. There's nothing like a deadline and an assigned topic to bring out the weird almost-human voice that plagues my professional writing.

It reminds me of the ten years of English teaching I did before I became a workshop-oriented person. Here's a topic- write about it. Or, in the differentiated world: Here's a list of topics-- write about one of them. Or, in the 21st Century differentiated world: Here's a list of topics-- write about one of them or make a photo story, or create a Twitter-based drama about one of them.

Here are things that are on my mind instead. Maybe if I just list them I'll be able to get back to work on my project.

This is good; I'm sorry I missed it when Susan Ohanian first wrote it. When I was teaching writing, I tried to show and tell kids that good writing requires a hugely work-intensive struggle, and that the quality of the product is directly related to the amount of one's soul invested in the struggle. I always hated the worship of the fake

Is This How It's Done?

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim)

Is it just me? Or do other people think this is weird?

It's hard to know where people really are on an issue when they operate like this in committee.
via @fklonsky

UC Administrators, Cops Head to Court Over Davis Pepper Spray Report « Student Activism

UC Administrators, Cops Head to Court Over Davis Pepper Spray Report « Student Activism:

UC Administrators, Cops Head to Court Over Davis Pepper Spray Report

by Angus Johnston

This is kind of astonishing.

A mere 12 hours before it was due to be released online, the official UC Davis report on last November’s pepper-spray incident has been pulled indefinitely as a result of threatened legal action by the UCD police department.

The report, commissioned by UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi in November and originally slated for a December release, had already been delayed multiple times. Police had previously refused to allow investigators access to Davis police chief Annette Spicuzza or either of the two officers who sprayed the activists.

According to the Associated Press, “the officers involved in the Nov. 18 incident where 10 protesters were pepper-sprayed don’t want their names and confidential information they told investigators” released, and planed a morning filing for a Temporary Restraining Order.

Jack Hassard: A Skeptical Look at Science Standards - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Jack Hassard: A Skeptical Look at Science Standards - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Jack Hassard: A Skeptical Look at Science Standards

by Anthony Cody

Guest Post by Jack Hassard.

Over the next two posts I am going to focus on standards- and test-based educational reform with an eye toward opening a conversation about how standards and high-stakes tests might actually impede science teaching and learning.

We begin by examining the science standards, which have been an integral part of science education since the publication of the National Science Education Standards by National Research Council in 1995. Then in 2011, the National Research Council published A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas. The Framework is now being used by Achieve, Inc. to develop Next Generation Science Standards. Achieve, Inc. is the company that wrote the Common Core State Standards in K - 12 English Language Art, and Mathematics.

Standards as Reform

Why Teachers Are Political [A Rant] | The Jose Vilson

Why Teachers Are Political [A Rant] | The Jose Vilson:

Why Teachers Are Political [A Rant]

by Jose

I think it’s time for new political parties, and I mean it. After the debacle that was the release of teacher data reports, we saw a well-rated teacher say it’s crap, and a badly-rated teacher say it’s crap. Yet, the people chosen to represent “us” have yet to outright dismiss the multimillion dollar monster they created and unleashed upon our villages. NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and others implicitly think it’s Frankenstein’s monster: misunderstood and unintended for the public. The rest of us see this as the original Godzilla, crushing buildings and breathing fire into our public edifices at the taxpayer’s expense. (Joel Klein, in fact, wanted the monster to be released upon the villages, even when he knew it wasn’t safe. Mad scientist, indeed.)

Unfortunately, we can’t reopen all the closed schools and undo the damage to the thousands of kids affected.

Because of this, teachers don’t have much of a choice when it comes to their political identity. Our current education system is a function of our government, and our views about education is a piece of our core beliefs.

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas | Scathing Purple Musings

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas | Scathing Purple Musings:

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas

by Bob Sikes

Editors of the Tampa Bay Times are calling on republican senators to join their democrat colleagues in voting against SB 1718, the Parent Empowerment Act. The editorial, titled Parent Trigger Gimmick Further Erodes Public Education, points to two troubling examples of Bay area charters as reasons not enable their expansion is such a reckless manner.

Republican sponsors claim their goal is to empower parents, but it’s really just another gimmick distracting from lawmakers’ continued indifference to investing in public schools. Even with the restoration of $1 billion next year to cover most of this year’s cut in public education spending, Florida still ranks among the lowest in the nation in per pupil spending.

Two recent lessons in the Tampa Bay region also should inform senators’ votes before they open

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas | Scathing Purple Musings

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas | Scathing Purple Musings:

Tampa Bay Times Says No on Parent Trigger, Points to Controversial Charters in Pinellas

by Bob Sikes

Editors of the Tampa Bay Times are calling on republican senators to join their democrat colleagues in voting against SB 1718, the Parent Empowerment Act. The editorial, titled Parent Trigger Gimmick Further Erodes Public Education, points to two troubling examples of Bay area charters as reasons not enable their expansion is such a reckless manner.

Republican sponsors claim their goal is to empower parents, but it’s really just another gimmick distracting from lawmakers’ continued indifference to investing in public schools. Even with the restoration of $1 billion next year to cover most of this year’s cut in public education spending, Florida still ranks among the lowest in the nation in per pupil spending.

Two recent lessons in the Tampa Bay region also should inform senators’ votes before they open