On #MayDay: Strike For Education With The Free University! | OccupyWallSt.org

On #MayDay: Strike For Education With The Free University! | OccupyWallSt.org:

On #MayDay: Strike For Education With The Free University!

by OccupyWallSt

PopoutThe Free University is a collective educational experiment that will be held on May 1, 2012, from 10am-3pm. In solidarity with the general strike, the Free University offers a public space for the 99% to disengage from an unequal system and imagine a model for alternative education. Those gathered in Madison Square Park, and those meeting in other spaces in solidarity, will create a university that is open to all, without debt or tuition for students, without pre-requisites, age limits or any other disqualifying requirements. Learning can only happen through interaction, exchange, and dialogue. To create a living future together, all must be included and welcome.
The Free University is an open invitation to educators around New York City to participate in May Day 2012. During the day, lectures, workshops, skill-shares, and discussions will be held — all open to the public. If you are in solidarity with the general strike but cannot cancel your class, bring it here! We also invite all educators interested in volunteering special sessions and classes for the day. We will have designated spaces for the quieter and more intimate classes.
No single day, park, or effort can contain our vision; instead, we propose and will struggle to make all our universities places of free education, inquiry, and access to knowledge for all. We demand that our society put forward the necessary resources to provide such an education for all.
Free U is a project made in partnership with educators and students from Brooklyn College/CUNY Grad Center/Eugene Lang College/New School for Social Research/Hunter College/ /Pratt Institute/New York University/Queensborough Community College/ Rutgers/Columbia University/Princeton.
Follow on Twitter: @FreeUnivNYC

In New Federal Program to Reward Teachers, Flawed Assumptions | Outside the Cave

In New Federal Program to Reward Teachers, Flawed Assumptions | Outside the Cave:

In New Federal Program to Reward Teachers, Flawed Assumptions

by Stephen Lazar

I wrote my latest piece for the New York Times in response to a focus group on the US Department of Education’s proposed Project Respect in which I participated last month.  Like far too many education policies, in Project Respect I saw some good ideas poorly implemented:

Project Respect calls for a three-pronged reform of the teaching profession. It envisions a reorganization of schools that would use technology and aides to put more effective teachers in front of more students, coupled with a longer school day to give teachers more time for professional growth.
To find more effective teachers, it calls for an expansion of entry points into the profession, with a higher bar for earning a permanent position. Finally, it calls for increased compensation for career 

Click and post: CST security breach | Thoughts on Public Education

Click and post: CST security breach | Thoughts on Public Education:

Click and post: CST security breach

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What won't they put on Facebook and Twitter?

Posted on 4/28/12 • Categorized as Standardized tests

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

The Age of Instagram is creating headaches for the state Department of Education and ETS, the contractor for the state’s standardized tests. At least 100 students from 34 school districts had posted images on social media of materials from various state tests they took this week, according to Paul Hefner, spokesman for Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torakson.

For students, the photos may have reflected just another mundane moment in a running record of their daily lives. For the Department, they were a breach that prompted Torlakson to send out a bulletin Friday to remind districts to follow security protocols, which include prohibiting access to cell phones. (They might also ask where the proctors were when 

A Very Pricey Pineapple - NYTimes.com

A Very Pricey Pineapple - NYTimes.com:

OP-ED COLUMNIST

A Very Pricey Pineapple

By GAIL COLLINS

Published: April 27, 2012

Let’s talk about talking pineapples.

 Actually (spoiler alert!) I’m going to use the pineapple as a sneaky way to introduce the topic of privatization of public education. I was driven to this. Do you know how difficult it is to get anybody to read about “privatization of education?” It’s hell. A pineapple, on the other hand, is something everybody likes. It’s a symbol of hospitality. Its juice is said to remove warts. And you really cannot beat the talking-fruit angle.

This month, New York eighth graders took a standardized English test that included a story called “The Hare and the Pineapple,” in which you-know-what challenges a hare to a race. The forest animals suspect that since the pineapple can’t move, it must have some clever scheme to ensure victory, and they decide to root against the bunny. But when the race begins, the pineapple just sits there. The hare wins. Then the animals eat the pineapple. The end.

There were many complaints from the eighth graders, who 

Grumpy Educators: New York: Bringing Parent Opposition and Resistance Out of the Shadows

Grumpy Educators: New York: Bringing Parent Opposition and Resistance Out of the Shadows:

New York: Bringing Parent Opposition and Resistance Out of the Shadows

by Sandra

From zero reporting on parent opposition to excessive testing, news stories published in mainstream press are popping up here and there - a good sign.
AP Buffalo covered parents opting out in that area:

"A small but growing number of local parents are deciding to have their children opt out of the state standardized tests in English and math."

The news report describes the reasons parents give for opting out:

• Too much stress on the children
• Exaggerated test-centric learning environments
• Narrowed

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else). - The Washington Post:

Parent to schools chief: ‘You don’t understand schools’

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 hour ago

This was* written by Helen Gym, a founder of Parents United for Public Education, a citywide parent group focused on school budgets and funding to improve achievement and accountability in the public schools. She is a former editor of The Notebook, an independent website about Philadelphia public schools. She is also a board member at Asian Americans United, a Chinatown-based community organization active in education, youth leadership, immigrant rights, and community development. She was named the Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Citizen of the Year” in 2007 for her work in education, im... more »

Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 22 hours ago

This was *written by Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who directs the Stanford University Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity*. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

A moving film about the life of a school

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

Too many films about school insist on showing the teaching and learning enterprise at its worst. Students are portrayed as at best troubled and often just rotten, teachers are stupid or mean; parents are arrogant or absent. “Monsieur Lazhar” doesn’t, and that is only part of what distinguishes this moving, intelligent Canadian film, which opens in the Washington D.C. region on Friday. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Pearson and how 2012 standardized tests were designed

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

This w*as written by Fred Smith, a retired New York City Board of Education senior analyst who worked for the public school system in test research and development.* By Fred Smith The recent Pineapple and the Hare fiasco does more than identify a daft reading passage on New York State’s 8th grade English Language Arts test. Education Commissioner John King scrapped the selection and its six multiple-choice items, admitting they were “ambiguous,” when the questions became public last week. The episode opens the door to discussing how the 2012 exams were put together. Read full a...more »

Bank forgives loan of dead student after six years and online petition

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

A bank that had refused to forgive the loan of a student who died six years ago has finally decided to do so after an online petition by the student’s brother collected more than 75,000 signatures. A news release from Change.org, the Web site where the petition was posted several days ago, says that Cleveland-based KeyBank has informed the family of the late Christopher Bryski that it will forgive his loan and review policies about how to proceed in such cases. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

Principal says many questions flawed on state standardized tests

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 day ago

This is a letter that P.S. 321 Principal Elizabeth Phillips sent to John B. King Jr., the New York State education commissioner, about questions she has seen on this year’s standardized tests recently administered to students in various grades. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

How NOT to extend the school day

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

In poll after survey after study, teachers have said that planning time is very important to them. In the 2006 Metlife Survey of the American Teacher, one of the top factors that emerged as a significant predictor of a teacher’s satisfaction with his/her career was having enough time for planning and grading. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

A ‘simple fix’ for school curriculum (and it’s not Common Core)

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

This was *written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.* By Marion Brady For more than 20 years, in language as strong as the editors of mainstream media will allow, I’ve been slamming the stupidities of the education “reforms” dreamed up by amateur educators in Congress, state legislatures, and corporate offices. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Deion Sanders and his charter school

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago

Stuff you can’t make up: Deion Sanders, who has been cited for misdemeanor simple assault in connection with a domestic disturbance that resulted in the arrest of his estranged wife, is opening a public charter school in Texas. And at that school he wants to film a reality show about the way he coaches the football team. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

NY principals: A ‘wrecking ball’ of reform aimed at schools

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

This is an open letter that a group of New York principals sent this week to the New York State Board of Regents about school reform and the standardized testing regime. More than 1,400 New York State principals have signed a petition asking state education officials to rethink their reform agenda. You can read about that effort at www.newyorkprincipals.org and @nyprincipals on Twitter. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

The meaning of the ‘talking pineapple’ test question

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days 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]

National resolution against high-stakes tests released

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 days ago

A national resolution protesting high-stakes standardized testing was released Tuesday by a coalition of national education, civil rights and parents groups, as well as educators who are trying to build a broad-based movement against the Obama administration’s test-centric school reform program. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

‘Mr. President, public education in the U.S. is on the wrong track’

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

This is the text of an open letter written to President Obama by Mary Broderick, president of the Arlington, Va.,-based National School Boards Association, a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their member districts. The letter, sent earlier this month to the president, asks for a national dialogue about the direction of public education reform. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Standardized test security questioned

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago

Tenth-graders in Florida took the state’s standardized test in reading on a staggered schedule because there weren’t enough computers available for them all to take it at the same time, raising concerns that security of test questions could be compromised, the Miami Herald reported. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Ed Dept seeks to bring test-based assessment to teacher prep programs

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

The Obama administration wants to expand the use of standardized test scores as an accountability tool from K-12 into higher education. The Education Department just tried — and failed — to persuade a group of negotiators to agree to regulations that would rate colleges of education in large part on how K-12 students being taught by their graduates perform on standardized tests. As part of this scheme, financial aid to students in these programs would not be based entirely on need but, rather, would also be linked to test scores. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [im... more »

Does Congress know reading is fundamental?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

This *was written by Carol H. Rasco, president and chief executive officer for the non-profit * * Reading Is Fundamental, * * the nation’s largest nonprofit children’s literacy organization. * By Carol H. Rasco Currently there are 16 million children in our nation living in poverty, thehighest number in two decades, and in low-income neighborhoods, there is only one book for every 300 children. The most recently reported National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that students in the United States continue to struggle with the most fundamental educational skill — re... more »

How zoning policies affect student achievement

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 5 days ago

This *was written by Richard D. Kahlenberg, senior fellow at The Century Foundation. It first appeared on the foundation’s website. * By Richard D. Kahlenberg Americans value equal educational opportunity, but our system has always undercut that goal with housing, zoning, and school assignment policies that consign low-income students to high-poverty schools where they tend to perform worse. A fascinating new study by Jonathan Rothwell of the Brookings Institution outlines how zoning policies that limit opportunities for inexpensive housing in more affluent neighborhoods, and sc... more »

‘Talking pineapple’ question on standardized test baffles students

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 week ago

A question about a “talking pineapple” on a standardized reading test given to eighth-grade students in New York has sparked something of an uproar among students and adults who say it doesn’t make any sense. And because of all the fuss, now the state’s education commissioner says the question won’t be counted in students’ scores. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Education reform protests pick up steam

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 1 week ago

In Texas, New York, Illinois and other states, protests by parents and educators are getting louder against school reform that insists on using standardized test scores as the basis for evaluating students, educators and schools. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]