Chronic Absence and Kindergarten | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Chronic Absence and Kindergarten | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Chronic Absence and Kindergarten

by obriena

Chronic absenteeism is often thought of as a middle and high school issue. As children become responsible for getting themselves to school, those who are disengaged stop showing up.
But did you know that nationally, one in ten kindergarten and first grade students miss the equivalent of a month of school each year? In some districts, it is more than one in four. Why don’t we talk more about these shocking statistics?
Perhaps because we don’t know them. I had no idea that chronic absenteeism (when a child misses 10% or more of the school year) in the early grades was so common until a session last week at the Coalition for Community Schools’ 2012 National Forum, when Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works, and 

U.S. Department of Education Issues Resource Document that Discourages Restraint and Seclusion | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Issues Resource Document that Discourages Restraint and Seclusion | U.S. Department of Education:

U.S. Department of Education Issues Resource Document that Discourages Restraint and Seclusion

MAY 15, 2012

Contact:  

 Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov 

Today, the U.S. Department of Education issued a publication that outlines principles for educators, parents and other stakeholders to consider when developing or refining policies and procedures to support positive behavioral interventions and avoid the use of restraint and seclusion.

The goal of this resource document is to help ensure that schools are safe and healthy environments where all students can learn, develop and participate in instructional programs that promote high levels of academic achievement.

“As education leaders, our first responsibility must be to make sure that schools foster learning in a safe environment for all of our children and teachers,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “I believe this document is an important step toward this goal. I also want to salute leaders in Congress for their vigilance on this issue.”

The 15 principles that frame the document ultimately highlight how schoolwide behavioral interventions can significantly reduce or eliminate the use of restraint or seclusion. These guiding principles offer states, districts and other education leaders a framework for developing appropriate policies related to restraint and seclusion to ensure the safety of adults and children.

“Ultimately, the standard for educators should be the same standard that parents use for their own children,” Duncan added. “There is a difference between a brief time out in the corner of a classroom to help a child calm down and locking a child in an isolated room for hours. This really comes down to common sense.”

The document also provides a synopsis of ongoing efforts by federal agencies to address national concerns about using restraint and seclusion in schools, and includes links to state restraint and seclusion policies and procedures.

To access this document, click here.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charter authorizers group slips quietly out ALEC's back door

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Charter authorizers group slips quietly out ALEC's back door:

Charter authorizers group slips quietly out ALEC's back door

by Mike Klonsky

No sooner had I posted about the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) relationship with ALEC, then I received this NACSA press announcement via Business Wire.

Our work with ALEC has been focused entirely on promoting excellent charter schools. As part of our annual review processes, however, we determined that alternative strategies would be more effective in achieving these policy objectives. Thus we will not be renewing our membership in ALEC when it expires next month.”

If there ever was a more cowardly statement or a more unethical stand taken by an education group, I haven't seen it. When first questioned by Huffington writer Ziad Jilani, about NACSA's current participation in ALEC, using public school money to pay their ALEC bills, director Greg Richmond refused to comment. The implication being that the charter school group's affiliation ended long before the recent exposure of ALEC as a far-right, 

Privatizing Public Education in Philadelphia? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Privatizing Public Education in Philadelphia? - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Privatizing Public Education in Philadelphia?

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,
Philadelphia is about to take a fateful step. Thomas Knudsen, the recently retired chief executive officer of the Philadelphia Gas Works and now temporary CEO of the school system, has released a plan that will lead to the dismantling of public education in Philadelphia. The plan, or "blueprint," was written by a business strategy organization called Boston Consulting; it recommends the closing of 40 of the city's 249 schools in the coming year, with additional school closings in the years to come. The goal is to have a school district where the central district is phased out and a large portion of the students are enrolled in privately managed charter schools.
The most comprehensive (and alarming) account of the disestablishment of public education in Philadelphia is Daniel Denvir's article "Who's Killing Philly Public Schools?" As Denvir concludes, "If Knudsen's proposal goes through, the country's eighth-largest school district, in its fifth-largest city, will no longer exist in any meaningful sense. And neither will any remaining pretense that America offers everyone, regardless of race or class, an equal shot."
As Denvir reminds his readers, the public schools have been under state control since 2001, and privatization is not a new idea. For the past decade, the Philadelphia schools have been managed by a five-member School 

U.S. Charter Schools tied to Islamic movement? - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

U.S. Charter Schools tied to Islamic movement? - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock:

U.S. Charter Schools tied to Islamic movement? Harmony Public Schools say no

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) -

60 Minutes aired a story Sunday night, centered on possible ties bet

ween American charter schools and the Gulen movement. The Gülen movement is inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic theologian 

Fethullah Gülen. According to the CBS report, the Imam taught his followers to build schools instead of mosques, to teach math, science and values instead of religion, and to embrace certain western traditions such as capitalism and democracy.

130 charter schools are located in the United States. 36 are located in Texas. Harmony Science Academy in Lubbock is one of those Texas charter schools. According to HPS's district office spokesperson, Julie Shussler, HPS schools located in Texas "are not part of a national network of charter schools." In fact, Shussler said that HPS denies all ties to the Turkish imam.

"HPS are not affiliated in any way with any religious or political organizations, including the so-called Gulen movement," Shussler said in a statement.

All HPS schools are public schools, paid for by the state. According the statement KCBD 

A radical idea to transform what kids learn in school - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

A radical idea to transform what kids learn in school - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

A radical idea to transform what kids learn in school

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.

By Marion Brady
Exxon-Mobil is airing education-reform television ads. In the one I’ve seen most often, implicit and explicit messages are simple and clear: (a) We live in a dangerous, technologically complex world. (b) Our lives, liberties, and happiness hinge on our ability to cope with that world. (c) Coping requires mastery of math. (d) On standardized math tests, America ranks 25th in the world. (e) Be ashamed and afraid. (f) Get behind corporate education reform efforts.
Read full article >>

2012-13 Common Application previews available

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 hours ago

Previews of the 2012-13 Common Application for colleges and universities are now available online, meaning that today’s high school juniors can get an early start on their college admissions hunt. The official Common App won’t go live until August, meaning that students have to wait until then to actually send them to schools. But there is no law against starting to write essays and figure out the information needed to complete both the undergraduate application and the one for transfer students. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to ... more »

Obama’s Barnard commencement speech — text

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 14 hours ago

President Obama delivered a commencement speech on Monday at Barnard College, a woman’s college in New York affiliated with Columbia University, where he attended and earned a bachelor’s degree after transferring from Occidental College. Obama’s sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is an alumna of Barnard. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

Romney’s Liberty U commencement speech — text

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 14 hours ago

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney delivered the commencement speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., this past weekend. It was seen as an appeal to religious conservatives in the Republican Party who had opposed him earlier in the primary season. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

K-12 schools spared, for now | Thoughts on Public Education

K-12 schools spared, for now | Thoughts on Public Education:

K-12 schools spared, for now

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But automatic $5.5 b cuts if tax initiative fails

Posted on 5/15/12 • Categorized as 2012 election, Student spending

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

The state budget for next year has deteriorated by $6 billion since January, but Gov. Jerry Brown is not proposing to cut money for K-12 schools – immediately. But if voters in November reject Brown’s proposed $8.5 billion tax increase, schools will be a $5.5 billion piece of what the governor has called “a day of reckoning.”

In his revised budget, Brown is proposing massive reductions in the budgets for courts, as well as state worker furloughs and punishing Medi-Cal cuts to hospitals and nursing homes. Because state revenues have fallen, Brown also could have cut Proposition 98 

Big changes to weighted formula - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Responding to criticisms of his plan for school finance reform, Gov. Jerry Brown has significantly revised his weighted student formula, raising the base amount that all districts will receive, reducing the differences between district “winners” and “losers” by reducing extra money for disadvantaged students, assuring districts they will be repaid for past budget cuts, and [...]

ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC « Teachers Fight Back

ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC « Teachers Fight Back:

ILLINOIS RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION – YOU ARE PATHETIC

by alkleen

Just received an urgent e.mail from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association.  It was entitled, “It Is Time To Act”.  The e.mail went on to say that the General Assembly may soon be considering legislation that changes the promise for active and retired teachers. The Assembly was expected to vote on the bill the same day that it’s proposed. According to news reports, the Assembly could be acting as soon as tomorrow.
“It is time to act” ?  Really ?  Oh, why not wait until the legislation is actually proposed ?  What’s the hurry?  Time to act indeed!  No, IRTA, the time to act was many years ago and every year since the Assembly started stealing funds from the Teachers’ Pension Fund. The time to act was when you saw several years ago that certain political groups were targeting teachers and teacher pensions. The time to act was when the reformers, politicians and the press started making teachers scapegoats for the State’s financial difficulties. The time to act was when the Governor, Speaker of the House and the Mayor of Chicago met months ago to plot the attack on teacher pensions. The time to act was a few years ago when we saw public opinion beginning to agree with the 

Schools Matter: The NAEP Science Results: Inconsistent with American success in science: Are the Achievement Levels too high? And why ELLs scores are low.

Schools Matter: The NAEP Science Results: Inconsistent with American success in science: Are the Achievement Levels too high? And why ELLs scores are low.:

The NAEP Science Results: Inconsistent with American success in science: Are the Achievement Levels too high? And why ELLs scores are low.

by skrashen

State	African American	Hispanic	White	Overall
Texas	4th	6th	8th	29th
California	30th	42nd	43rd	49th
Florida	23rd	9th	34th	39th
Illinois	36th	32nd	33rd	43rd
New York	15th	41st	29th	38th

The NAEP Science Results: Inconsistent with American success in science: Are the Achievement Levels too high? And why ELLs scores are low.
Stephen Krashen

The NAEP Science grade 8 results have been announced, and, as usual, it has stimulated reports about how poorly our students have done, accompanied by pious pronouncements about the need to improve science education.

The problem, we are told, is that only 32% of the students scored at or above the “proficient” level and only 65% performed at or above the “basic” level. This sounds terrible. It has been argued, however, that the NAEP achievement levels are set much too high, giving the impression that our students are doing much worse than 

National Association of Charter School Authorizers Outed as ALEC Funder

by Jim Horn

NACSA is the most visible and well-heeled of the corporate charter front groups posing as a professional organization dedicated to quality and oversight of charter schools.  What they were, and are, is the corporate cadillac of lobbying and pressure charter privateers laser-focused on removing any barrier at the national, state, or local level to expanding school privatization via charter school.  

NACSA also gets millions from cash-starved states, who hand over part of their federal grant money to fund NACSA, where big chunks of the cash have been funneled to ALEC to buy 

Opt-Out Parent in NJ: . . . the "nice" strategy to me nowhere

by Jim Horn

Posted at Opt Out of the State Test:

Jean Schutt McTavishWe are in week 2 of the opt out for my 4th grader in NJ. We met with the Superintendent and the Board of Education last night. The Superintendent seemed embarrassed that he had threatened me with a report of truancy to the child welfare agency in NJ. He avoided me like the plague. My sister tag teamed with me, so she talked to him for a good hour. Everyone seemed to agree with our 

NYC Educator: Where Do Troubled Kids Go in the Summer?

NYC Educator: Where Do Troubled Kids Go in the Summer?:

Where Do Troubled Kids Go in the Summer?

by Miss Eyre

As the school year starts to wind down, I'm getting worried about what will become of one of my students who's struggled with depression.  Because of the sensitive nature of this subject, I hesitate to say anything much about him, except that he seems isolated from his family and his (former) friends, and so I'm concerned about him being on his own for most of the summer.

There are summer programs for kids who need academic help, and jobs programs for kids who need money or resume building.  But I wish there was something for this middle-of-the-road student--or, rather, something he could be legally compelled to attend, since his lack of motivation probably will prevent him from getting out of bed to play basketball or 

Jersey Jazzman: Christie: Against TEACHNJ?

Jersey Jazzman: Christie: Against TEACHNJ?:

Christie: Against TEACHNJ?

by Duke

I came across this trying to find something else from the blog. Chris Christie from April of 2011:

Popout

0:41: First thing is that I think we have to have some form of tenure. Because we don't want folks to be fired for political purposes, retaliatory purposes. Teachers should not have to worry about what they say in a classroom and that they'll be fired because the principal doesn't believe in their political point of view or 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Who are the "Elves" behind Common Core Standards, Longitudinal Data Systems and Workforce Development? ALEC, Bill Gates and Others Revealed.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Who are the "Elves" behind Common Core Standards, Longitudinal Data Systems and Workforce Development? ALEC, Bill Gates and Others Revealed.:

Who are the "Elves" behind Common Core Standards, Longitudinal Data Systems and Workforce Development? ALEC, Bill Gates and Others Revealed.

by stlgretchen

Shh! We're not REALLY lobbyists.

 

The following is from an email (reprinted with permission) I received from Kris Alman, a physician in Oregon, who has been following the educational reform that includes Common Core, charter schools, longitudinal data systems, etc.  She was replying to the  EducationNext piece by Michael Petrelli in which he defends "conservatives" such as Christie, Daniels and Jeb Bush and their support of common core standards.