The Paradox of Teachers and Technology in the U.S. | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Paradox of Teachers and Technology in the U.S. | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

The Paradox of Teachers and Technology in the U.S.

by larrycuban

U.S. Presidents, philanthropists, parents, and researchers all say, no, swear,  that teachers are the most important in-school factor in children and youth learning. Yet those very same teachers, professionals with advanced degrees, have little say in determining access or use of hardware and software in their classrooms. Policymakers decide, not teachers, to buy and deploy new technologies for classroom use.
School boards buy iPads for kindergarten teachers. Superintendents contract with companies to supply every classroom with interactive whiteboards. Sure, maybe a few teachers show up on a district-wide committee that advises the school board and superintendent but decisions to spend and distribute machines are seldom made by teachers, the foot soldiers of reform who are expected to use them in lessons.
Teachers–most of whom already use an array of electronic devices at home–are expected to use new 

An Urban Teacher's Education: Loss Aversion: Paying Teacher More and Less for Inferior Instruction

An Urban Teacher's Education: Loss Aversion: Paying Teacher More and Less for Inferior Instruction:

Loss Aversion: Paying Teacher More and Less for Inferior Instruction

by James Boutin

You may have of a recent suggestion for enticing teachers to find ways to raise test scores: give teachers money at the beginning of the year, and then take it away from them if their scores don't improve appropriately. Its academic name is "Loss Aversion." The idea is that people work harder when an undesirable behavior might cause them to lose something they already have than if a desirable behavior might earn them something in the future.

This scheme has come recently to the public debate following a recently publised study conducted on Chicago teachers, which was subsequently reported on in The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal.

Educators have understandably reacted negatively to the suggestion that districts might do well to consider 

NYC Public School Parents: The "Irreplaceables"; another flawed report from TNTP

NYC Public School Parents: The "Irreplaceables"; another flawed report from TNTP:

The "Irreplaceables"; another flawed report from TNTP

by Leonie Haimson

A new report from The New Teacher Project (TNTP), focused on the need to keep good teachers, who they call "irreplaceable",  is posted here.   

In a press release, Bloomberg used its release as an occasion to push his proposal for a $20K bonus for high-performers that he first mentioned in his State of the City address last winter, and blamed the UFT for blocking it:

The study released today by TNTP – and which New York City participated in – confirms that school districts across the country must do more to keep great teachers in our classrooms. That’s exactly why we have offered to add a $20,000 annual stipend to 

AWKWORD - Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons) - Listen & Download

AWKWORD - Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons) - Listen & Download:

Avg Rating:    4.3 ( 4 total votes )

AWKWORD - Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons)

Producer: L.Ment

Album: World View

Label: Sub-City Productions

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America doesn’t do anything in moderation. When we’re thirsty we grab a 64-ounce Double Big Gulp, when we watch TV we flip on a 72-inch HD, and when it comes to locking people up, we’re not just number one, we crush the competition. There are currently more than 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S. - China’s a distant second with a meager 1 million - and yet most Americans don’t think of their homeland as the world’s biggest prison state. Here to help change that is AWKWORD and his new world premiere Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons). With Toronto producer L. Ment laying down a pacing and bluesy beat AWK gets right to work with bars aimed at tearing the bars off America’s myriad of prisons: “Born into prisons, most ghetto buildings got bars / when you live without sh*t, go head and worship them cars.” Sometimes it really is bigger than hip-hop. For more music that’s not 

Reform Springfield. Send Patti Bellock a message. She’s ALEC’s State Legislator of the Year. « Fred Klonsky

Reform Springfield. Send Patti Bellock a message. She’s ALEC’s State Legislator of the Year. « Fred Klonsky:

Reform Springfield. Send Patti Bellock a message. She’s ALEC’s State Legislator of the Year.

by Fred Klonsky

You need know nothing more about why we need to Reform Springfield than this: State Representative Patti Bellock from suburban Westmon is ALEC’s State Legislator of the Year.

Dear Friend,
Please join me in congratulating State Rep. Patti Bellock for being named “Legislator of the Year” by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for her extensive work on Medicaid reform. 
Rep. Bellock spent thousands of hours in meetings crafting Medicaid reforms that protected the most vulnerable while helping put our Medicaid system back on a path toward financial stability.  This was by no means an easy task.  All along the way, she faced strong resistance from many Democrats and interest groups who want to see Medicaid expanded, not reduced.   Once initial 

RheeFirst! » StudentsFirst staff member gets caught paying for favorable comments, tries to play the victim

RheeFirst! » StudentsFirst staff member gets caught paying for favorable comments, tries to play the victim:

StudentsFirst staff member gets caught paying for favorable comments, tries to play the victim

by admin

On Friday, Parents Across America posted an email from StudentsFirst’s regional outreach director Catherine Durkin Robinson.  The letter reads, in part:

“Also, starting right now, there will be a monthly contest for the best rapid response. The more comments you leave on blog posts, the more times you can enter! Post a polite and persuasive pro-reform comment and email me the link so I can check it out.
That’s all you have to do!
At the end of the month (August 26th at midnight) I will announce the winner. Not only will that 

How Can the 4 C's Be Used to Achieve Common Core State Standards? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

How Can the 4 C's Be Used to Achieve Common Core State Standards? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

How Can the 4 C's Be Used to Achieve Common Core State Standards?

by Cheryl S. Williams

Editor's Note: This post first appeared on the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills’ blog in July 2012. Reposted with permission.
As both a former classroom teacher and long-time nonprofit executive, I'm well aware of the importance of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication (the Four C's) to success in both the classroom and the workplace. So I've been a strong supporter of imbedding the acquisition of those skills into formal education even before the inception of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) and the creation of the impressive tools that have resulted from the P21 work. Also, I've been impressed with the thoughtful (and collaborative) work that's gone into the creation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematic

Sacramento Press / Mayor Kevin Johnson Helping Shape Democratic Platform

Sacramento Press / Mayor Kevin Johnson Helping Shape Democratic Platform:

Mayor Kevin Johnson Helping Shape Democratic Platform

by Steven Maviglio

Mayor Kevin Johnson traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota last Friday to speak before the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee, which is charged with drafting the party's stance on key issues facing the nation. The platform will be voted on by Democratic delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September, which Johnson also will attend. With his remarks, Mayor Johnson represented the Democratic mayors of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the national organization that represents the city's leaders.
Mayor Johnson spoke on a variety of issues, including public safety, education, and infrastructure.
Below are excerpts from his remarks made on Friday:
"U.S. cities are global powerhouses. Some U.S. cities have greater economies than entire countries. New York has a larger economy than Mexico and South Korea; Los Angeles outpaces Switzerland while Chicago surpasses Sweden. And there are also many cities who metro economies are larger than entire states. Miami has a larger economy than Arizona; Houston’s GDP is higher than the state of Georgia.
"And these numbers will continue to grow in the decades to come, especially with a 32% increase in metro population expected over the next 30 years. Cities are where this country does its business, where its people live, and where its innovations are born. And it is essential for the federal government to strongly invest in cities if we hope to restart this nation’s economy.
"We as mayors stand ready to be part of the solution to put this country back on track. Just last week, mayors gathered in Philadelphia, for 2.5 days where we produced a report entitled “Building a Better America.” This document identified the 10 major areas of need for our cities. Mayor Nutter charged us to pare this list down to the 3 most important issues that define the urban agenda: our plan to stimulate the economy, put people back to 

Quinn is calling an August session to deal with cost swap and retirement tax. The IEA takes no position on the cost swap. « Fred Klonsky

Quinn is calling an August session to deal with cost swap and retirement tax. The IEA takes no position on the cost swap. « Fred Klonsky:

Quinn is calling an August session to deal with cost swap and retirement tax. The IEA takes no position on the cost swap.

by Fred Klonsky

Michael Madigan has already announced that he will be calling the Illinois House into August session to try and pass HB1447, a retirement tax on state employees. It would require a forced choice on seniors, retired state workers, between health care and a cost of living adjustment or COLA.
Now Governor Quinn, who has declared that he was put on this earth to gut the pension system, is calling the legislature back to address the pension cost swap. This is the plan that would allow the state to dump its pension obligation onto local school districts.

Quinn, speaking at the City Club of Chicago, called pension reform “the single biggest challenge facing the state of Illinois.”

Quinn called the special session for Aug. 17. House members were already to be 

Shanker Blog » The Irreconcilables

Shanker Blog » The Irreconcilables:

The Irreconcilables

by Matthew Di Carlo

The New Teacher Project (TNTP) has a new, highly-publicized report about what it calls “irreplaceables,” a catchy term that is supposed to describe those teachers who are “so successful they are nearly impossible to replace.” The report’s primary conclusion is that these “irreplaceable” teachers often leave the profession voluntarily, and TNTP offers several recommendations for how to improve this.
I’m not going to discuss this report fully. It shines a light on teacher retention, which is a good thing. Its primary purpose is to promulgate the conceptual argument that not all teacher turnover is created equal – i.e., that it depends on whether “good” or “bad” teachers are leaving (see here for a strong analysis on this topic). The 

Darry-Error | Mr. Teachbad

Darry-Error | Mr. Teachbad:

Darry-Error

by teachbad

Oh, my. Big changes are afoot at the Colum­bia Heights Edu­ca­tion Cam­pus (CHEC) in Wash­ing­ton, DC. I taught social stud­ies in this hell hole for three years. The head of my depart­ment was an assis­tant prin­ci­pal because teach­ers were not trusted to hold this position.

This man was the worst of the worst of the bul­ly­ing, slo­ga­neer­ing, hard-headed, head-in-the-sand prin­ci­pal class to emerge in the last 10 years. Never in my entire work­ing life have I known some­body so uni­ver­sally despised and dis­trusted by those he was sup­posed to inspire, instruct and lead. An inse­cure, dis­or­ga­nized, dis­hon­est bully who single-handedly ruined teach­ing for dozens if not hun­dreds of teach­ers. Our depart­ment of 9 ran through 25 teach­ers in the three years I was there. He was also in charge of the ninth grade, which expe­ri­enced sim­i­lar car­nage. The over­all yearly teacher turnover is 40–50%. (This just in: What do we have to show for this? 40% pro­fi­ciency in Read­ing and 48% in Math, 2011. Seriously?)

He was noto­ri­ous for berat­ing teach­ers behind closed doors until they cried, fak­ing dates on eval­u­a­tions, sched­ul­ing 

The Use Your Teacher Voice Project: “My name is Randi Weingarten.” « Fred Klonsky

The Use Your Teacher Voice Project: “My name is Randi Weingarten.” « Fred Klonsky:

The Use Your Teacher Voice Project: “My name is Randi Weingarten.”

by Fred Klonsky

PopoutFacebook: Use Your Teacher Voice
Twitter: @UseYrTcherVoice, #UseYourTeacherVoice

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/UseYourTeacherVoice

Cullerton: “No letting teachers off the hook.”

by Fred Klonsky

The Algebra dispute.

by Fred Klonsky

I knew my math teacher friends would not be happy when I tweeted agreement with the Sunday NY Times article by Andrew Hacker questioning whether Algebra was necessary.

AFT REPORTS: Chicago’s Karen Lewis, other panelists, help AFT Peace and Justice Caucus understand how Chicago has been changed | Dailycensored.com

AFT REPORTS: Chicago’s Karen Lewis, other panelists, help AFT Peace and Justice Caucus understand how Chicago has been changed | Dailycensored.com:

AFT REPORTS: Chicago’s Karen Lewis, other panelists, help AFT Peace and Justice Caucus understand how Chicago has been changed

by Danny Weil

George Schmidt has done an excellent job covering the AFT convention and the Peace and Justice caucus.  The picture is of Karen Lewis of AFT discussing how to radicalize the union

On Friday, July 27, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Peace and Justice Caucus hosted a forum featuring teachers from California, Illinois, New York and Wisconsin on the topic “Standing up to the national assault on teachers and students.” The speakers were Lisa Gutierrez Guzman (United Educators of San Francisco), Kaja Rabane (University of Wisconsin Teaching Assistant’s Association), and Karen Lewis (President of the Chicago Teachers Union). Response was provided by Mike Fabricant (Treasurer of the Professional Staff Congress CUNY New York).

The program was adapted to the fact that it began a little after 7:00 p.m. but that Karen Lewis had to be gone by 8:00. As a result, the first two speakers spoke, then the audience was opened for questions and answers; then the last two speakers spoke followed by more questions after almost all of the Chicago people left for a 

All Things Education: So You Think You Can Be an Entrepreneur?

All Things Education: So You Think You Can Be an Entrepreneur?:

So You Think You Can Be an Entrepreneur?

by Rachel Levy

A couple of months ago, there was a twitter exchange between Diane Ravitch and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's press secretary Justin Hamilton about entrepreneurship. Ravitch blogged about it here and there was an especially good summary of it on an Ed Week blog here.

My own tweet was:

@EDPressSec @DianeRavitch I think you mean public intellectual--remember those? Entrepreneur is something different.
— Rachel Levy(@RachelAnneLevy) May 19, 2012

Certainly some teachers are entrepreneurial and we should encourage and even teach students to think entrepreneurially (see this amazing project Chad Sansing did with his students). Entrepreneurship plays a unique and needed role in our country, though we should be certain to teach students to be ethical at the same time--to avoid being greedy, avoid treating workers badly, and to not dodge paying taxes. 

But really, teachers are not entrepreneurs and Diane Ravitch most certainly isn't one (no offense, Diane!). On the 

The Irreplaceables: Study says schools losing top teachers | Get Schooled

The Irreplaceables: Study says schools losing top teachers | Get Schooled:

The Irreplaceables: Study says schools losing top teachers

12:15 pm July 30, 2012, by Maureen Downey

I listened to a panel a few weeks ago on whether schools were aware of and keeping their top teachers. I have not had a chance to write up the findings but will soon. In the meantime, here is a new report from The New Teacher Project that addresses the same issue: Whether schools are doing enough to keep their best teachers.

A new study finds that urban schools are systematically neglecting their best teachers, losing tens of thousands every year even as they keep many of their lowest-performing teachers indefinitely—with disastrous consequences for students, schools, and the teaching profession.

The study by TNTP, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all students get excellent teachers, documents the real teacher retention crisis in America’s schools: not only a failure 

With $32 billion in subsidies, over half of for-profit students drop out | The Raw Story

With $32 billion in subsidies, over half of for-profit students drop out | The Raw Story:

With $32 billion in subsidies, over half of for-profit students drop out

By Kay Steiger
Monday, July 30, 2012 11:58 EDT

Share on facebookShare on redditShare on diggShare on twitterShare on farkShare on stumbleupon6

 

Topics: federal student aid ♦ tom harkin

 

A two-year investigation found that for-profit colleges, while receiving $32 billion in federal student aid and other taxpayer funds in the most recent year, also boast the highest dropout rates at 54 percent across all programs, according to a major report the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee released on Sunday.

According to the report (PDF), released by HELP chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), more than half a million for-profit students left before earning a degree or certificate, which breaks down across program types as 63 percent of students in associate degree programs, 54 percent of 

Policy Expert on For-Profit College Report Released NewAmerica.net

NewAmerica.net:

Policy Expert on For-Profit College Report Released Today

Washington, DC — Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released a comprehensive report detailing its findings from its two-year investigation into the for-profit higher education sector. The report provides a much-needed and long-overdue examination of an industry that has all too often put the interests of shareholders above the students they are supposed to be serving, according to the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation.

 

Senior Policy Analyst Stephen Burd is available to comment on the report and discuss why greater oversight over the for-profit higher education industry is needed.

 

To read the report, click here.

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Clara Hogan.

About the New America Foundation
New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.

Media Contact
Clara Hogan
(202)-596-3368
hogan@newamerica.net

Yes, algebra is necessary - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Yes, algebra is necessary - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Yes, algebra is necessary

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His newly published book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” This appeared on his Science and Education blog.

By Daniel Willingham

When I first saw yesterday’s New York Times op-ed, I mistook it for a joke. The title, “Is algebra necessary?” had the ring of Thurber’s classic essay, “Is sex necessary?”, a send-up of psychological sex manuals of the 1920s.

Unfortunately, the author, Andrew Hacker, poses the question in
(Astrid Riecken/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)earnest, and draws the conclusion that algebra should not be required of all students.

His arguments:

Texas’s standardized tests flawed, researchers say

by Valerie Strauss

Researchers say they have found a design flaw with the standardized tests that Texas students must take for “accountability” purposes — and the implications could be important across the country.
According to studies done by Walter Stroup, an associate professor at University of Texas at Austin, and two other researchers, the design flaw in the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) assessments suggests the exams “are virtually useless at measuring the effects of classroom instruction,” this story in The New York Times says.
Read full article >>