Tribune scores a D-minus on teacher evaluation essay Parents United for Responsible Education

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Tribune scores a D-minus on teacher evaluation essay

by admin

I sent the letter below to the Chicago Tribune editors this morning in response to their thoughtless editorial about the need to raise the percent of student test score “growth” in teacher evaluation from 25% to 50%. They won’t print it, but I will!

The Tribune deserves a “D-minus” for today’s editorial on the new Chicago Public Schools’ teacher evaluation plan. In it you commend CPS for making student standardized test score growth 25% of the evaluation, but claim that 50% would be better. Tribune Math score C- : there’s no evidence that simply doubling a percentage improves the result. In fact, doubling a figure that is considered by experts to be unreliable likely yields no value. The National Academy of Sciences has come out strongly against use of student tests for purposes other than those for which they were designed – 

Throughout April: Supportive Education Communities — Whole Child Education

Throughout April: Supportive Education Communities — Whole Child Education:

Throughout April: Supportive Education Communities

April 5, 2012 by Klea Scharberg

Preparing our students for their future college, career, and citizenship success is our common purpose and responsibility. Essential to student success is access to personalized learning and support from qualified, caring adults. Students as learners are also students as people with social-emotional, physical, and mental health needs.

Supportive education communities are places where school staff, community-based service providers, families, and other adult stakeholders work together to identify and address students' needs and provide a coordinated, whole child approach to their education. Join us throughout April as we examine building and sustaining communities in which each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

The Whole Child Podcast

Download the Whole Child Podcast next week to hear about the wide range of programs designed to meet the 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 44 years after Dr. King's death attacks on unions continue

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 44 years after Dr. King's death attacks on unions continue:

44 years after Dr. King's death attacks on unions continue

by Mike Klonsky

Dr. King in Memphis, 1968

"That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1968 assassination of  Dr. King, who was killed while defending the rights of black public workers in Memphis, to unionize. How ironic then, 44 years later, to hear school reformer Geoffrey Canada's declaration of war on the teachers union.

Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children's Zone and co-star, along with Michelle Rhee, in the anti-teacher, propaganda film, Waiting For Superman, was quoted in Tuesday's New York Times:

Ms. Rhee and Mr. (Joel) Klein have a confrontational history with teachers’ unions. But some 

Official: Tests, not schools, are failing | New Hampshire NEWS04

Official: Tests, not schools, are failing | New Hampshire NEWS04:

Official: Tests, not schools, are failing

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Unio Leader

Published Apr 4, 2012 at 3:00 am (Updated Apr 3, 2012) 

      ShareThis

CONCORD— With 71 percent of New Hampshire schools failing to make the grade, the state's top education official on Tuesday gave an explanation used by students since education began.

She blamed the test.

“Over 70 percent of schools and 65 percent of districts failed to make (Adequate Yearly Progress) in 2012. This is ample evidence that the accountability system is broken, not that the vast majority of schools in New Hampshire are failing,” said Education Commissioner Virginia Barry. 

Barry made her remark in releasing the 2012 report on Adequate Yearly Progress. Based on student test scores, it judges whether schools and districts have reached benchmarks under the 

What Happened to Creativity in the Classroom? | Edwize

What Happened to Creativity in the Classroom? | Edwize:

What Happened to Creativity in the Classroom?

by Carol Oxman

[Editor's note: The author is a retired New York City public school teacher.]
One of the many luxuries of retirement that I now enjoy is time to spend browsing the newspaper, especially the Sunday Times. Occasionally I find myself glancing through the Business Section thinking there will be nothing there to hold my interest. Invariably, however, I become engaged in a human interest story, biography, or innovation that is detailed in this section.
Several Sundays ago a piece about creativity in the work place captivated my interest. A primary focus of the story was that architects and designers were formulating nooks, hallway spaces, etc. to encourage employees to sit and think quietly, reflect and think creatively. During the same time period I happened to tune into a documentary about the old Ma Bell business model. Since the telephone company was a monopoly for an expanse of time, funding was rarely an issue. Employees at Bell Lab were encouraged to invent and create without necessarily addressing specific needs or problems. A result of this environment was the invention of laser technology and early prototypes for cell phones. Indeed an astounding number of patents came directly 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Talking to Your Child without a Parent Present

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Talking to Your Child without a Parent Present:

Talking to Your Child without a Parent Present

by Melissa Westbrook

When I attended a DeBell community meeting a couple of months back, there were some very unhappy McClure parents.  They had numerous issues but one was that two of their students had been pulled out of class - for different reasons relating to higher level behavior issues - and questioned by administrators.  One of the fathers was upset that neither he nor his wife had been contacted about the questioning.

(By higher level behavior issues, I mean things like fighting, drugs found, etc.)

The father said something to the effect of "well, if it had been the police I would have been notified."  That stuck with me and I finally got around to checking.

The policy in question that answers this issue is D78.00 School-Police Relations (it is to be reviewed as part of 

Board Votes to add Extra Days to School Year

by Melissa Westbrook

From SPS:

The Seattle School Board on Wednesday decided to extend the school year by two days to make up for January’s inclement weather.

The last day of school will be Friday, June 22. Seattle students lost three days of school in January because of severe winter weather conditions. One day was made up on Jan. 27.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE « Teachers Fight Back

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE « Teachers Fight Back:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE

by alkleen

Yesterday, the Tribune ran an editorial about the revelation that the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois is terribly underfunded and in serious danger of insolvency in the near future.
One particular section of the editorial stated the following: “Teachers and other unionized public workers need to ask labor leaders why they didn’t object when legislators and governors repeatedly failed to make full payments into the pension system.”
What? Tribune, you are the all time leader in hypocrisy and chutzpah in the history of the American press. The Tribune has spent the last several years bashing teachers and teacher unions. They have stated that incompetent teachers and unions are responsible for every ill that plagues mankind. They blamed the whole pension mess on teachers and greedy public sector workers and their unions. I don’t ever recall the Tribune 

Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding?

by Nancy Flanagan

As a professional flutist, I frequently play for weddings, funerals and other life-transition occasions. Once, after sharing some melancholy Irish ballads and Van Morrison tunes at a contemporary's funeral, his brother approached, wiping his eyes, and said "I was fine until you started playing--and then I lost it."
And I thought--no, you weren't fine. Until the music began, and made it possible for you to release your full humanity and experience your loss.
And there, in a nutshell, is the reason all schools ought to incorporate music programs: because music truly is a universal language, and the arts are our must potent means of human expression. Not because student musicians get higher test scores.
Yesterday, the Learning First Alliance asked Can Arts Education Help Close the Achievement Gap? I appreciate 

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE « Teachers Fight Back

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE « Teachers Fight Back:

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE

by alkleen

Yesterday, the Tribune ran an editorial about the revelation that the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois is terribly underfunded and in serious danger of insolvency in the near future.
One particular section of the editorial stated the following: “Teachers and other unionized public workers need to ask labor leaders why they didn’t object when legislators and governors repeatedly failed to make full payments into the pension system.”
What? Tribune, you are the all time leader in hypocrisy and chutzpah in the history of the American press. The Tribune has spent the last several years bashing teachers and teacher unions. They have stated that incompetent teachers and unions are responsible for every ill that plagues mankind. They blamed the whole pension mess on teachers and greedy public sector workers and their unions. I don’t ever recall the Tribune 

Schools Matter: Krash Course #5: Reform We Need

Schools Matter: Krash Course #5: Reform We Need:

Krash Course #5: Reform We Need

by P. L. Thomas

Each time I publish or post a critique of the education reform insanity coming from the Corporate Reformers, I receive badgering responses asking what I would do instead. So here is a list of Reform We Need:

• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan needs to resign, and apologize for his inexpert leadership and harm done to public education.

• Federal and state policies must address the lives of children in the U.S. A first best step would be universal health coverage for everyone 18 and under as well as all people enrolled in school until the age of 30. A next set of policies must address stable and well paying work for poor and working class families. Food security among children as well as in the homes of people in poverty and working-class families must be addressed also.

• All aspects of the accountability era, including standards-based testing, must be dismantled. Testing used to 

My Island View Pizza, Wine, and Vasectomies

My Island View:

Pizza, Wine, and Vasectomies

by tomwhitby

What is not to love about a zone of comfort; it is a comfy cocoon. It is a pleasurable place that is safe, sound, and satisfying. It is a place where alliterative adjectives may abound with abandon. Comfort zones are safe havens where residents of those zones need not do anything that would in any way slow the flow of comfort. Comfort zones exist in our personal lives as well as our professional lives.
My personal favorite comfort zone is created on Friday nights. I have a Pizza delivered; open a bottle of wine; turn the computer off, and the TV on, and all is right with the world. It is difficult for me to accept any alternate plan for my Friday evening. If my wife commits us to anything else, I put on “the Grumpy Face” and very reluctantly go along with whatever uncomfortable thing I am forced to do, and almost anything else will be uncomfortable. Comfort zones seem to create patterns of habit that way.
There is little that people will not do to create, or maintain their comfort zones. Basketball fans are a great 

Elizabeth Catlett. The power of the image. « Fred Klonsky

Elizabeth Catlett. The power of the image. « Fred Klonsky:

Elizabeth Catlett. The power of the image.

by Fred Klonsky

As a kid in the 50s and 60s, I could walk into any home of my parents’ friends, politically progressive and more often than not Jewish, and see two framed prints on their walls. Of course, my parents had them as well.
One was by the African-American artist, Charles White. The other was by the African-American artist Elizabeth Catlett.
White’s was a lithograph of a man releasing a dove of peace.  Catlett’s was a wood cut of a woman in a wide-brimmed hat.
They were heroic images. Faces of great dignity.
In ways quite profound, these two images helped to form my sense of the world as a child. Their ubiquity 

For they are not doing what they can’t yet do « Cooperative Catalyst

For they are not doing what they can’t yet do « Cooperative Catalyst:

For they are not doing what they can’t yet do

by Chad Sansing

Don't read on me by c

In mulling over the school to prison pipeline and the cosmetic differences between grouping and tracking, I’ve found myself asking the same questions over and over again:
Is there a link between early-childhood placement in a reading remediation program or scripted learning environment and eventual incarceration? (Don’t click if you hate Elseiver.) Even if there is only a correlative link, is it worth unpacking to find what, if any, role rigid instructional prescription plays in the lives and behavioral, cognitive, and moral development of our children?
When and where do we enforce such programs most strictly? Is there a correlation between the implementation of such programs and zero tolerance policies, tracking practices, and/or drop out and graduation rates?
What roles do we teachers play in the school to prison pipeline? Does our complicity in delivering remediation 

A last, desperate plea for Iowa legislators to not retain 3rd graders | Dangerously Irrelevant

A last, desperate plea for Iowa legislators to not retain 3rd graders | Dangerously Irrelevant:

A last, desperate plea for Iowa legislators to not retain 3rd graders

by dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

Dear Iowa legislators,
I am pleading with you to not pass an education reform law that includes retention of 3rd graders.
4+ decades of unanimous peer-reviewed research studies show that retention of elementary students results in short-term academic gains that disappear completely in later school years. What you get for that now-you-see-it, now-you-don't test score bump is incredible damage to students' self-concept, substantial increases in students' dropout rates, and significant reductions in students' future life success.
If you read them, the handful of recent non-peer-reviewed research studies that are being cited in favor of this proposed legislation actually reinforce - rather than rebut - all existing studies: short term test score gains that wash out in later years, accompanied by no mitigation of long-term, negative dropout rate or life success 

Opting out of the testing madness, why and how | Seattle Education

Opting out of the testing madness, why and how | Seattle Education:

Opting out of the testing madness, why and how

by seattleducation2011

For the “why” of opting out of the testing madness that has taken hold of our school districts, a great article to start with is Testing Our Limits by Melissa Bollow Tempel in the latest issue of Rethinking Schools. To follow is an excerpt:
I walked away from the rest of my class and over to the three computers in the corner of my classroom.
Two of my 1st graders, Jasmine and Jayden, sat at their computers with their headphones off, waiting for me to reset their computers to Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test number 2.
“I got 162,” said Jasmine. “You got

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Creative Approach Schools

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Creative Approach Schools:
Creative Approach Schools

by Charlie Mas

There was a meeting Tuesday afternoon to answer questions about Creative Approach Schools. The meeting, led by Phil Brockman, Executive Director of Schools for the Northeast Region, went through the timeline, process, and rules for Creative Approach Schools.



It was a second meeting, following an introductory meeting for principals. This meeting was for principals to return with their school teams to learn more. A number of schools were well represented, including Cleveland, Rainier Beach, Lowell, and Thurgood Marshall among attendance area schools. Lowell identified as "Lowell Capitol Hill". There was also one woman there from Emerson and two teachers from Madrona. The option schools were also represented.

It was made clear that Creative Approach isn't the way to get a waiver from board-adopted instructional materials. There is a different process for that.

Whatever your creative approach, it has to be budget neutral. Budget neutral includes transportation, nutrition, 

The in box. Richard Ingram must go. « Fred Klonsky

The in box. Richard Ingram must go. « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. Richard Ingram must go.

by Fred Klonsky

As retired teachers, we urge you to fire Mr. Ingram immediately.  As executive director, Mr. Ingram’s duty is not only to protect the interests of TRS and its members, but also to defend the Illinois Constitution.  Some think it is only the job of the Supreme Court to defend the Constitution.  They are wrong.  It is also the obligation of the governor, the legislators, leaders of executive departments, etc.  

First, Mr. Ingram presented a set of worst-case scenarios.  He then used the hypothetical results to bolster an argument that “political reality” trumps the Constitutional protection for pension benefits.  Our governor and legislature take an oath to defend the Illinois Constitution.  They are not allowed to cross their fingers behind their backs when they swear their solemn oaths.  

Mr. Ingram has done incalculable harm to the retirees whom he is paid to protect.  We don’t think 

Jersey Jazzman: Living Large at the NJ DOE

Jersey Jazzman: Living Large at the NJ DOE:

Living Large at the NJ DOE

by Duke

Chris Christie tells us over and over, “We cannot spend money we don’t have.” Well, apparently, New Jersey can somehow find money to pay education consultants big bucks.

Last week, ACTING Commissioner Chris Cerf of the NJ DOE had to explain to the legislature how the state could afford some hefty consulting fees:

In documents provided to the OLS in its budget review, the department disclosed consultants on the Cerf’s school funding proposal made as much as $1,000 or even $2,500 a day.

“That’s certainly an interesting amount,” said state Sen. Nellie Pou (D-Passaic) of the latter figure. “Imagine if that went a full year, that would break all records.”

One assistant commissioner, Penny MacCormack, was hired last fall for three months at $1,000 a day until she could be confirmed by the state Board of Education as a permanent hire in January. She is now earning a salary of $135,000 a year, officials said.

Cerf defended the extra pay, saying MacCormack was a critical hire and the consultants 

Louisiana Educator: Governor's Education "Deform" Passes Senate

Louisiana Educator: Governor's Education "Deform" Passes Senate:

Governor's Education "Deform" Passes Senate
by Michael Deshotels

Click on this link to read the Times Picayune article about HB 974.

HB 974 passed the Louisiana Senate Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 23-16. I will report the names of the Senators voting for and against the bill in my next post. The bill must now go back to the House floor for a vote because several amendments were added on the Senate floor. If the House approves the bill as amended, it would then go to the Governor for his signature. If the House rejects the amended bill, it would be sent to a conference committee that would most likely be controlled by allies of the Governor who would probably act to put the bill back close to its original form.

This an issue because the amendments to the bill may make it slightly more difficult for teachers to be fired for invalid reasons or because of personality conflicts between the teacher and the principal. One amendment added by Senator Adley would allow that a teacher who received a highly effective rating on the quantitative portion of the Act 54 evaluation, but an unsatisfactory rating by the principal on the qualitative portion of the evaluation, a chance to be reevaluated by a separate team of evaluators. I believe this scenario would be a rare occurrence that would affect very few teachers, but it is still good to have it in the bill. Unfortunately there is no 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Civics Lesson in Voting. Your Vote DOES Count. Maybe Your Candidate will Effect Some Meaningful Contribution if Elected, Rather than Just Being a Mouthpiece for the System.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Civics Lesson in Voting. Your Vote DOES Count. Maybe Your Candidate will Effect Some Meaningful Contribution if Elected, Rather than Just Being a Mouthpiece for the System.:

Civics Lesson in Voting. Your Vote DOES Count. Maybe Your Candidate will Effect Some Meaningful Contribution if Elected, Rather than Just Being a Mouthpiece for the System.

by stlgretchen

Missouri had elections on Tuesday and several of the races turned out to be whoppers.  The differences were razor thin in determining winners and losers.  The lesson learned from April 2, 2012: Every Vote IS important.  Take a look at some of these contests:

DIRECTOR KIRKWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT R-7
          (Vote for )  2
              (WITH 29 OF 29  COUNTED)
           ANDY STEWART  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     3,401   31.90
           HAMID R. HAMRAH  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .       413    3.87

NOT So Important to Swing State Voters in November: Vouchers, School Choice and Merit Pay | Scathing Purple Musings

NOT So Important to Swing State Voters in November: Vouchers, School Choice and Merit Pay | Scathing Purple Musings:

NOT So Important to Swing State Voters in November: Vouchers, School Choice and Merit Pay

by Bob Sikes

A fascinating survey from the College Board is getting significant play from the education media. Joy Resmovits reported yesterday of the survey’s interesting focus on what swing state voters were saying about education policy. So did Education Week reporter Alyson Klein who offered this:

Voters don’t necessarily place a priority on the issues that the Obama administration has steered money to. Just 31 percent want to see funding go to expand school options, such as charters. And just 24 percent place a priority on merit-pay bonuses for teachers. School choice doesn’t seem to register much either—just 17 percent of voters want to see money for vouchers to help low-income parents pay for private schools

I guess Rick Scott and his republican legislative allies aren’t in touch afterall with what actual voters want in Florida. Perhaps the only voices they hear are that of Jeb Bush, Patricia Levesque and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.  Have the three created a faux public clamor for vouchers, choice and merit pay that doesn’t exist? 

Shanker Blog » The Challenges Of Pre-K Assessment

Shanker Blog » The Challenges Of Pre-K Assessment:

The Challenges Of Pre-K Assessment

by Esther Quintero

In the United States, nearly 1.3 million children attend publicly-funded preschool. As enrollment continues to grow, states are under pressure to prove these programs serve to increase school readiness. Thus, the task of figuring out how best to measure preschoolers’ learning outcomes has become a major policy focus.
First, it should be noted that researchers are almost unanimous in their caution about this subject. There are inherent difficulties in the accurate assessment of very young children’s learning in the fields of language, cognition, socio-emotional development, and even physical development. Young children’s attention spans tend to be short and there are wide, natural variations in children’s performance in any given domain and on any given day. Thus, great care is advised for both the design and implementation of such assessments (see here, here, and here for examples). The question of if and how to use these student assessments to determine program or 

'Soft Science' & Less Certainty - Bridging Differences - Education Week

'Soft Science' & Less Certainty - Bridging Differences - Education Week:
'Soft Science' & Less Certainty

by Deborah Meier

Dear Diane,
Passing the playground at 77th and Amsterdam in 1995 I overheard a child in the sandbox say: "I have an idea!" with such enthusiasm that I stopped to watch and listen. Over the next few weeks I kept hearing variations on that delighted cry from my grandchildren. I decided it summed up what I've learned from years of parenting and teaching. Thus my first book was entitled, "The Power of Their Ideas."
We seem to be born with a love for ideas and for exploring each idea in turn, over and over again. (Those who care for children are driven a bit crazy with the tenacity of "their ideas" at times.)
It was that thought that led me to read last Sunday's New York Times op-ed: "Overcoming Physics Envy." Authors Kevin Clarke and David Primo talk about our glorification of the hard sciences vs. the "soft" sciences and our troubling confusion about the nature of "theories." This confusion is partially to blame for not recognizing the power of young children's ideas.
What Clarke and Primo are suggesting is that there is more than one way—"hypothetico-deductivism"—to seek