Super Tuesday States Haven't Heard Candidates On Education, Say Teachers, School Leaders

Super Tuesday States Haven't Heard Candidates On Education, Say Teachers, School Leaders:

Super Tuesday States Haven't Heard Candidates On Education, Say Teachers, School Leaders

by Joy Resmovits

It's Super Tuesday, and Ohio kindergarten teacher Nicole Kessler is frustrated. Budget cuts turned her life upside down this year: To save money on bus routes, her district turned half-day kindergarten into two full days a week and every other Monday. Her school can't afford field trips or professional development, and her classroom supplies were cut in half.

But, as Kessler puts it, you wouldn't know it from watching the Republican presidential campaign. As teachers, parents and education officials in the 10 states that head to the polls today struggle to make it through a distinctly rough patch in education, they, like Kessler, have heard virtually nothing on the topic from the presidential candidates.

So far, the candidates have only discussed education to bolster their conservative credentials, rarely addressing the academic well-being of the country's students or education's impact on the future of the economy. According

Police Anonymity Demands Thwart Release of UC Davis Pepper Spray Report « Student Activism

Police Anonymity Demands Thwart Release of UC Davis Pepper Spray Report « Student Activism:

Police Anonymity Demands Thwart Release of UC Davis Pepper Spray Report

by Angus Johnston

As I noted last month, only one of the dozens of police officers involved in the notorious November 18 UC Davis pepper-spray incident has yet been publicly identified. Now a police demand for continued anonymity has delayed today’s intended release of the university’s report on the incident.

Attorneys for the officers claim that because the report includes “confidential peace officer matters such as the name of the peace officers and some sort of description of wrongdoing,” its release would violate state law.

The report, originally slated for a December release, has already been delayed multiple times. The most recent stumbling block came in response to a police union request for redaction of information about individual officers. A judge has scheduled a March 16 hearing on the issue.

The authors of the report have compromised with police before, but it seems like their patience may be wearing

School official outs 8th-grader as pregnant - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

School official outs 8th-grader as pregnant - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

School official outs 8th-grader as pregnant

by Valerie Strauss

“We learn by example and by direct experience,” wrote Malcolm Gladwell in “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” “because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.”

And herein lies a fundamental obstacle to increasing efforts across the country to counter bullying by young people: adult bullies.

Read full article >>

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education Reform: Socks Worn Inside-Out

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education Reform: Socks Worn Inside-Out:

Education Reform: Socks Worn Inside-Out

by Charlie Mas

I have touched on this idea a couple of times before, but with the Board poised to vote on the contract with Teach for America I think it is time to bring it back.

I am not an advocate for the status-quo. I'm surprised that I even have to write that. Holy cow, if I haven't established myself as a critic of the education establishment, then I don't know what you have to do to qualify. Just the same, for clarity's sake, I will spell it out. It is clear to me that the current practices that dominate public K-12 education are serving the bulk our students poorly with dreadful consequences and, in the case of students from low-income homes, English language learners, minorities, boys, and students with disabilities, the service is even worse and the consequences are tragic. I'm not a fan.

That said, the education reform landscape does not look promising either. Most of the "solutions" presented by the Education Reform industry have little or no promise. The dominant solutions are not centered on students. The charter school movement is about school governance and ownership, not about student learning. There's a whole set of issues around the teacher contracts - hiring, firing, pay, training, evaluations and more - that also

Florida Parent Groups Frustrated by Lack of Access « Parents Across America

Florida Parent Groups Frustrated by Lack of Access « Parents Across America:

Florida Parent Groups Frustrated by Lack of Access

by leoniehaimson

Check your pockets when a Corporate Education reformer claims to care about parent empowerment; nearly always, as in this case, they are working for their own private ends.

For immediate release.Tallahassee, Florida

On Saturday, March 3, 2012, for the third time in a matter of weeks, a real Florida parent was cut off mid-sentence during testimony opposing SB 1718/”Parent Empowerment” and told by a sitting Senator that there was no time. This came after the Senate Budget Committee listened to hours of testimony from paid education industry lobbyists.

On Monday, March 5, 2012, members of the broad alliance of Florida education advocacy groups including: Citizens for Strong Schools, 50^th No More, Florida PTA, Fund Education

Fresh Evidence: Pascale Mauclair’s Report Should be Declared Invalid | Edwize

Fresh Evidence: Pascale Mauclair’s Report Should be Declared Invalid | Edwize:

Fresh Evidence: Pascale Mauclair’s Report Should be Declared Invalid

by Jackie Bennett

Last week, Leo Casey gave Edwize readers the real story of Pascal Mauclair, whom the NY Post declared was the “at the bottom of the heap” when the DOE released the Teacher Data Reports to the press. The DOE gave Ms. Mauclair a “0” on her report, but the results seemed, to put it mildly, arbitrary. As Casey pointed out, Ms. Mauclair was graded on a small number (11) of high-need (ESL) students who were compared to other students learning in very different, departmentalized, classrooms. Aside from that, Ms. Mauclair has a reputation as an excellent teacher. As her principal said, “I would put my own child in her class.”

All this alone should be enough to clear Ms. Mauclair’s name. But this week fresh evidence shows that Ms. Mauclair’s report should be declared invalid altogether by the DOE.

In order to understand the problem with Ms. Mauclair’s report, you need to understand the important role of

Answering Questions of Fundamental Fairness | ED.gov Blog

Answering Questions of Fundamental Fairness | ED.gov Blog:

Answering Questions of Fundamental Fairness

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Cameron Brenchley

Earlier today, Secretary Duncan released new data from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that reveal unfortunate truths about our nation’s schools. The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a first-of-its kind national data tool that highlights schools that are making real progress in closing opportunity gaps, as well as educational inequities around teacher experience, discipline and high school rigor.

Key findings of the new data released today include:

Disparate Discipline Rates

African-American students, particularly males, are far more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than their peers. Black students make up 18% of the students in the sample, but 35% of the students suspended once, and 39% of the students expelled.

Students with Disabilities

Nationally, students with disabilities are also more than twice as likely to be suspended as students without disabilities.

Unequal Access to Rigor

Just over a quarter of high-minority high schools offered Calculus, while over half of schools with the lowest black and Hispanic enrollment offered the course.

Teacher Equity

Teachers in high-minority schools were paid $2,251 less per year than their colleagues in other schools.

Duncan noted that the Department is not alleging overt discrimination in some or all of these instances, but that “these are long-held patterns of behavior and until the data is tracked and evaluated, many educators may not even be aware of the discrepancies.”

Read more about the new data released today, and visit the Office for Civil Right’s new and improved CRDC website that contains data from both phases of the 2009-10 CRDC.

Cameron Brenchley is Director of Digital Engagement at the U.S. Department of Education

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Dozens Arrested in California and New York Capitol Protests « Student Activism

Dozens Arrested in California and New York Capitol Protests « Student Activism:

Dozens Arrested in California and New York Capitol Protests

by Angus Johnston

Running around today, but wanted to at least quickly follow up on the student protests in Sacramento and Albany yesterday.

The New York Times has a good overview of the Albany action. Excerpt:

About 300 students, most of them from public universities in New York, rattled the Capitol on Monday with an outburst of loud protests, in the gallery of the Senate Chamber and outside the governor’s office.

The students, part of a statewide coalition of campus organizations called New York Students Rising, were objecting to the tuition hikes that were approved last year under a measure that permits public univer

Chicago Public School Students Face Racial Discipline Gap: Education Department

Chicago Public School Students Face Racial Discipline Gap: Education Department:

Chicago Public School Students Face Racial Discipline Gap: Education Department

by Joy Resmovits

In Chicago public schools, black students receive harsher punishments for in-school infractions than white students, a fact that mirrors a nationwide trend, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday. The report paints a startling picture of racial disparities in how students are disciplined in schools across the country.

Nationally, black students are more than three-and-a-half times more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled, according to the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights' survey, known as the "Civil Rights Data Collection." More than 70 percent of students arrested in school or handed over to law enforcement were black or Hispanic.

In Chicago, white students comprised three percent of suspensions -- and 10 percent of the total student

Parent trigger: A farce in Florida - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Parent trigger: A farce in Florida - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Parent trigger: A farce in Florida

By Valerie Strauss

There’s one important thing missing from the effort in Florida to pass a bill that would institute a “parent trigger” allowing parents to force specific changes at low-performing public schools: support from Florida parents.

The legislature has been considering whether to join a movementstarted in California that gives parents with children at low-performing (based on standardized test scores) to ask the state or school district to bring in a private company or charter school operator to take over the school. Upwards of 20 states are considering similar laws, and a few have already passed “parent trigger” legislation.

When this was first tried in Compton, Calif., the effort was organized by a pro-charter school organization called Parent Revolution — a Los

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Look who's taken by surprise

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Look who's taken by surprise:

Look who's taken by surprise

by Mike Klonsky

Chicago Public Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard, second from left, takes part in a panel discussion Monday with moderator Tim Knowles, left, director of the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute, Michael Milkie, CEO of the Noble Network of Charter Schools, and Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools. (Antonio Perez / March 5, 2012)

Taken aback yesterday was corporate reformer Tim Knowles, who directs the Unversity of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute. Knowles was moderating a panel before an audience of business execs at the

How Should Education be Transformed? (Guest Post by Occupy High Students) « Cooperative Catalyst #ows

How Should Education be Transformed? (Guest Post by Occupy High Students) « Cooperative Catalyst:

How Should Education be Transformed? (Guest Post by Occupy High Students)

by dloitz

Note: I have been following the Occupy High Students since October 2011, and have been inspired by their continued effort to transform their own education and to show people of all ages that “student’s do care about their education”. I have also had the pleasure to work and get to know many of them along their teachers/co-learners, Ned Dougherty and Josán Perales. I am excited to be able to share with you their ideas about education transformation.

There is no explicit curriculum to help a teacher instruct for a year about public education. Perhaps because in doing so, the teacher wants to avoid engaging students in metacognitive strategies every class of every day. Perhaps because we don’t believe that students can engage in the discussion about transforming education. Perhaps because, if we opened this can of worms, we would be admitting defeat every lesson in which we question the direction of what we are doing.

I believe it is time to open this can of worms pedagogically. The only snag is that we have convoluted public

Schools Matter: CCSS, Anyone?

Schools Matter: CCSS, Anyone?:

CCSS, Anyone?

by P. L. Thomas

The Common Core State Standards movement is being allowed to propagate unchecked like the cancer that it is. But there is ample evidence of what the inevitable conclusion of this insanity will produce.

From The Telegraph (U.K.):

Bright students 'cannot write essays', say Cambridge dons

Some key excerpts:

...
"Robert Tombs, professor of history at St John's College, Cambridge, warned that students were 'drilled into writing' in a formulaic manner between the age of 11 and 18, leaving them unable to articulate their ideas on degree courses."
...
"
"One of the things that one notices in student essays is how much damage has been done by the