Missouri Education Watchdog: Inner City School Failures - Is It A Case Of Too Many Carrots?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Inner City School Failures - Is It A Case Of Too Many Carrots?:

Inner City School Failures - Is It A Case Of Too Many Carrots?

by Anngie

ST LOUIS - The Turner v. Clayton and King-Willmann v. Webster Groves cases continue to wind their way through the court system. It is expected that the Turner case will wind up today in St Louis County Courts. The question the court is addressing is whether or not surrounding districts must allow children from unaccredited districts to enroll. Though this is a highly charged debate, nothing ground breaking will come out of these trials because this is the only question being addressed. The law seems pretty clear. The surrounding districts are looking primarily for some organized way to handle the transfer. The better question to be asked and answered is not going to be addressed; Why did the St. Louis City schools (and for that matter Kansas City too) fail?

Unless and until someone of character is willing to address that issue, all the fixes proposed in the recent legislation (annexation, transfers, charter schools, tax credits for private schools) will simply be band aids, and you know band aids don't stick for very long. How do we know the problem will persist? Senator Chappelle-Nadal (District 14) said, at the recent public education panel on the Turner Fix at Washington University, that

NYC Public School Parents: Bloomberg raising money for charter schools as he continues to cut our public schools to the bone

NYC Public School Parents: Bloomberg raising money for charter schools as he continues to cut our public schools to the bone:

Bloomberg raising money for charter schools as he continues to cut our public schools to the bone

by Leonie Haimson

Just as Bloomberg is planning on cutting millions more from public school budgets -- leading to an loss of a thousand more teaching positions and even larger class sizes -- he appeared last night at a fundraiser for Democracy Prep charter schools, which already has four charter schools in Harlem, with more planned in the future.

Bloomberg with Seth Andrew of Democracy Prep; photo credit: Schoolbook

This is how NYT/SchoolBook reported it yesterday:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is speaking at a benefit on Tuesday night for Harlem Prep Charter School — a formerly independent charter school called Harlem Day that had its charter revoked for poor performance. In an unusual

Coming soon: A tougher GED exam | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Coming soon: A tougher GED exam | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Coming soon: A tougher GED exam

The changes are due in 2014. The goal is to align the tests with demands of the workforce and postsecondary programs.

by Connie Langland

Photo: Velvet S. McNeil, Velvet Multi Media

Veda Henderson, transition director, teaches a GED class at YESPhilly in North Philadelphia.

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The GED program, a battery of tests that has proved a lifeline to many a high school dropout, is about to get tougher.

And local providers of adult education worry that changes to the tests, set to take effect in 2014, may overwhelm the aspirations of some learners, dealing them a severe setback.

The changes to the GED will count as the biggest overhaul to the credentialing program since its inception 70 years ago. It will align GED goals with business, government, and foundation initiatives promoting strong skill sets and postsecondary training.

"We're not doing anyone any favor [with weak tests]. We know 80 percent of jobs

Steve Jobs' widow, tech leaders help undocumented students - latimes.com

Steve Jobs' widow, tech leaders help undocumented students - latimes.com:

Steve Jobs' widow, tech leaders help undocumented students

In the absence of Dream Act legislation, a group of Silicon Valley technology leaders is helping undocumented students attend college, prepare for jobs and, when possible, find ways to legalize their status.

The Dream Act would create a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who are college students and military service members.

Palm Pilot inventor Jeff Hawkins described the tech group as a loose coalition. It includes the family foundations of Mark Leslie, founding chairman and chief executive of the former Veritas Software Corp., and Andrew Grove, co-founder of Intel Corp.

Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple's Steve Jobs, has also helped promote access for undocumented students through organizations and personal advocacy.

Most of the group's work and donations are benefiting Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), which provides

Ravitch: A war on public education in Louisiana - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Ravitch: A war on public education in Louisiana - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Ravitch: A war on public education in Louisiana

by Valerie Strauss

Ravitch: A war on public education in Louisiana

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 13 minutes ago

*This* *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. The item was first published on March 6. In their blog, Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to ... more »

Teacher job satisfaction plummets — Survey

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 10 hours ago

This *was written by Kevin G. Welner, a professor of education policy and program evaluation in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and director of the National Education Policy Center. The center is housed at the university’s School of Education and sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third party reviews of think tank reports.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

What GOP candidates said about education in Tuesday night speeches

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 11 hours ago

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul each addressed supportive crowds Tuesday night as the results of Republican presidential nomination contests in 10 Super Tuesday states came rolling in. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

School official outs 8th-grader as pregnant

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 16 hours ago

“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 >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Parent trigger: A farce in Florida

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 16 hours ago

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. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Romney, Santorum, Paul, Gingrich: Where they stand now on education

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 16 hours ago

The American public education system is going through historic changes but you couldn’t tell that if you have been following the Republican campaign to tap a candidate to take on President Obama in the fall. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Obama to give commencement speeches in Joplin and at sister’s alma mater

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 16 hours ago

President Obama will deliver the commencement address at Joplin High School in Missouri later this month, the first graduation at a high school in the town that was decimated by a deadly tornado last year. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Flunking Arne Duncan by Diane Ravitch | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

Flunking Arne Duncan by Diane Ravitch | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books:

Flunking Arne Duncan

Diane Ravitch

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan loves evaluation. He insists that everyone should willingly submit to public grading of the work they do. The Race to the Top program he created for the Obama Administration requires states to evaluate all teachers based in large part on the test scores of their students. When the Los Angeles Times released public rankings that the newspaper devised for thousands of teachers, Duncan applauded and asked, “What’s there to hide?” Given Duncan’s enthusiasm for grading educators, it seems high time to evaluate his own performance as Secretary of Education.

Here are his grades:

Does Duncan respect the limited role of the federal government in education, which all previous secretaries have recognized?

No. Duncan has expanded the role of the federal government in unprecedented ways. He seems not to know that education is the responsibility of state and local

Read Conmigo, the Infinity Auto Insurance program to enrich the bilingual learning environment for every family.

Read Conmigo, the Infinity Auto Insurance program to enrich the bilingual learning environment for every family.:

Read Conmigo (http://readconmigo.org/library), the parent-focused literacy program that promotes reading by providing parents free, bilingual books to help improve the learning environment in their home.

Read Conmigo launched last year, and has already distributed more than 70,000 free books to Latino families and to educators.

The program targets parents and grandparents who might be hesitant to read out loud to their children at home, for fear of only being able to read to them in Spanish. Read Conmigo aims to educate communities in need, helping them understand the value of fostering a positive reading culture at home (and to realize that bilingual reading is just as effective at laying a strong foundation for their children).

Bruce Springsteen Death to my Hometown

Teacher Survey | MetLife Foundation

Teacher Survey | MetLife Foundation:

MetLife Survey of the American Teacher

Overview

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, conducted annually since 1984 by Harris Interactive, shares the voices of teachers and others close to the classroom with educators, policy makers and the public. The Survey findings also inform MetLife Foundation’s support for education.

New Survey

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy examines the views of teachers, parents and students about the teaching profession, parent and community engagement, and effects of the economy on teaching and learning in schools (2011). 

Previous Surveys

The entire MetLife Survey of the American Teacher series is now available online at the ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) website: http://eric.ed.gov. ERIC document (ED)

• The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers examines the meaning of college and career readiness, its place among priorities for the education of all students, and the implications for teaching. The Survey includes the views of public middle and high school teachers, students and parents, and Fortune 1000 business executives (2010). ED519278
• The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success examines the views of teachers, principals and students about respective roles and responsibilities, if and how they collaborate, and their expectations for the future. The Survey findings were originally released in three parts addressing the issues of effective teaching and leadership, student achievement and teaching as a career, all of which are combined in this report (2009). ED509650
• The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Past, Present and Future looks back to important questions posed in the earliest surveys to examine changes in the perspectives of teachers, principals and students about teachers, teaching and learning, and professional and parent relationships, and consider future implications (2008). 25^th Anniversary Edition.ED504457

• The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: The Homework Experience examines the perspectives and experiences of teachers, students and parents regarding the purposes, quantity, quality, and value of homework (2007).ED500012
  
  
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Why most teachers don’t know what they don’t know. « My Island View

Why most teachers don’t know what they don’t know. « My Island View:

Why most teachers don’t know what they don’t know.

by tomwhitby

Most professions have professional journals. Professional journals have long been the method by which innovations to professions have been introduced. Lengthy articles explaining the: who, what, where, when, why and how of an innovation in the profession was spelled out for all to read. Follow-up journal articles weighed the pros and cons. Journals historically have been a form of print media, but with the advent of the internet many are transitioning to a digital form in addition to the printed version.

The process for innovators to get things published in these professional journals can be long and arduous, but the pay-off is usually worth the wait. These journals have readerships of great numbers of people in the very profession that specific innovators want to reach. There are: journals for Medicine, journals for Law, and journals for Education just to name a few.

At one time, to keep up with the journals was to keep up with the profession. That was true when change came