NYC Educator: Mayor Bloomberg Redesigns Merit Pay Program

NYC Educator: Mayor Bloomberg Redesigns Merit Pay Program:

Mayor Bloomberg Redesigns Merit Pay Program

by NYC Educator

In a stunning turnaround, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced fundamental revisions to his proposed merit pay scheme.

"I've been reading the NYC Parents Blog lately," said the Mayor. "It turns out that test scores don't actually determine who is and is not a good teacher, and that none of this stuff is proven. Not only that, but merit pay has been kicking around for a hundred years, and it's never produced any results whatsoever. In fact our trial in NYC didn't work either, and I don't even know what made me want to do it again."

The Mayor went on to explain that he'd been getting most of his information from pro-"reform" sites, and was dismayed to learn that the commenters he'd relied upon for information were largely motivated by the prospect of gift cards for  free footlongs from Subway.

"How the hell can you rely on people who write things so they won't have to pay for their sandwiches?" mused 

NJ Spotlight | Cerf Goes His Own Way on Proposed Charter Regulations

NJ Spotlight | Cerf Goes His Own Way on Proposed Charter Regulations:

Cerf Goes His Own Way on Proposed Charter Regulations

With legislation to overhaul law going slow -- for now -- BOE will consider plan to expand state’s role with charter schools

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By John Mooney, July 31, 2012 in Education |1 Comment

The Christie administration is moving ahead with new regulations for charter schools, jumping ahead of the Legislature and its plans to take up the issue -- and maybe a whole new law -- in the fall.

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Charter Regulations Public Comment and Proposal

The state Board of Education will hear on Wednesday the latest version of the administration’s proposed regulations that have come under criticism for expanding the size and scope of charters in the state.

The proposal had been going before the board last month and was delayed for further review. In that time, the new version released yesterday does make changes that appeared to address some of the criticism.

For one, it takes out its main reference to online charter schools, one of the primary targets of concern. However, the new regulations appear to still allow for the online model, just not explicitly

Louisiana Educator: Creating More Failing Schools

Louisiana Educator: Creating More Failing Schools:

Creating More Failing Schools

by Michael Deshotels

The La State Dept. of Education has been releasing its list of schools rated as failing based on school performance scores for the past school year. See the Advocate story. The list of failing schools has increased over last year solely because the state has raised the passing score from 65 to 75. Purely arbitrary! No reason given except that BESE wanted to raise the bar. Why not simply decree that all students must score above average or their school would be rated as failing?

Jindal claims to be trying to attract industry and jobs to Louisiana. What will this arbitrary grading system for our public schools do to the attractiveness of our state? These people on BESE are not experts in determining the success of a school (and neither are the TFA and other non-educators occupying our Department of Education).

Last Stand for Children First: Fear and Bloating in the Motor City

Last Stand for Children First: Fear and Bloating in the Motor City:

Fear and Bloating in the Motor City

by Last Stand for Children

30,000 teachers descended on Detroit last weekend and I think I surprised a lot of people by being among them.  Why did I decide to go to a city without a single Michelin starred restaurant with these lazy public servants enjoying their luxurious Summer vacations?  Because I go where the story is.

I have a natural distrust of Randi Weingarten if for no other reason than the Weingarten Rights she won for union employees, but I soon found myself rooting for her in what seemed to be a battle between the New York union and the Chicago union.  One particular bill which the New York faction was behind suggested that perhaps excessive standardized testing wasn't the best idea.  Chicago wanted to go further and actually do something 

The in box. Save Our Schools this weekend in DC. « Fred Klonsky

The in box. Save Our Schools this weekend in DC. « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. Save Our Schools this weekend in DC.

by Fred Klonsky

Ten Reasons to Attend The Save Our Schools Convention Aug. 3-5

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC

Hear author Jonathan Kozol’s prescription for saving public schools
Meet the next generation of student activist leaders
Learn from Deborah Meier, the first public school teacher to win a MacArthur “genius” award
Be briefed by civil rights lawyers about the latest initiatives to protect parents and educators
Talk to school board members spearheading the opposition to failed policies
Explore with Nancy Carlsson-Paige the concerns of early childhood educators
Find out organizers’ plans for expanding the testing opt-out movement
Examine the assessment reform agenda for replacing “No Child Left Behind”
Listen to grassroots leaders debate the Peoples Principles platform
Discover why education activists from across the U.S. support Save Our Schools
For details about registration or discounted hotel accommodations:  http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/
The full program schedule is online at: http://saveourschoolsmarch.com/conventionpdfs/Schdl.pdf

The 30th Edition Of The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Is Up! | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The 30th Edition Of The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Is Up! | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

“What Parents and Educators Want from Assessments”

by Larry Ferlazzo

What Parents and Educators Want from Assessments is the title of an Edutopia blog post today from Anne O’Brien.
It’s about a recent report on assessment, which I’ve previously posted about — see “What Parents & Educators Want from Student Assessments.”
Anne makes some very interesting points. It’s worth reading the entire post, but here are a couple of excerpts:
A survey commissioned by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) and conducted by Grunwald Associates earlier this year looked at the views of parents, teachers and district administrators on assessment 

“Exit,” “Voice” & Schools

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 hours ago

Malcolm Gladwell has written a profile of the famous distance runner Alberto Salazar in this week’s New Yorker magazine (unfortunately, most of it is behind a paywall). Here’s a passage that struck me (I hope you can see it in … Continue reading →

This Looks Interesting: The Against Violent Extremism (AVE) Network

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago

The Against Violent Extremism (AVE) Network is an organization with an engaging website. Here is how it describes itself: The Against Violent Extremism (AVE) Network is a unique and powerful new global force in the ongoing struggle to tackle violent … Continue reading →

“This Day In Tech”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago

This Day In Tech is a regular Wired feature highlighting important moments in the history of technology. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The History Of Technology.

Resources On The Mars Rover Curiosity

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago

The Mars Rover Curiosity is projected to land on Mars this weekend. Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity: Precision Landing on Mars is a New York Times graphic. NASA Mars … Continue reading →

This Week In Web 2.0

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth sharing, I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth … Continue reading →

Today’s Resources On The Olympics

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics: Immigrants on the U.S. Olympic Team is from About.com. Here’s a great U.S. Olympic Team Tribute To Muhammad Ali: Visualizing The Evolution Of Olympic … Continue reading →

The 30th Edition Of The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Is Up!

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

David Deubelbeiss has just posted the 30th Edition of The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival. Here’s how he described it in his invitation for submissions: The theme for this blog carnival is The Best Posts For Helping New Teachers. September is a … Continue reading →

Resources For The First Day Of School

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

A new school year will be beginning for most of us sometime over the next five weeks, and I’ve just made some new additions to The Best Resources For Planning The First Day Of School. I’ll also be making it … Continue reading →

Happy Seventh Birthday, Edublogs!

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 8 hours ago

Edublogs, the platform hosting this blog and two million others, is celebrating its seventh birthday today! It’s been hosting this blog since I began writing it five-and-a-half years ago. I think it’s the best place for any teacher or student … Continue reading →

Vocabulary Instruction Ideas From #ELLCHAT

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 9 hours ago

#ELLCHAT takes place every Monday evening. This chat was about making vocabulary instruction meaningful, and I’ve made a quick “Storify” of the information and resources shared. I’m also adding this to The Best Sites Where ELL’s Can Learn Vocabulary. [View … Continue reading →

“First line of defense for ESL students are ESL teachers”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 10 hours ago

Source: shareasimage.com via Larry on Pinterest Gaby Pacheco, a leader of the campaign to get the DREAM act, spoke at the American Federation of Teachers Convention. Here organization’s website, United We Dream, is clearly the best place to get … Continue reading →

Teachers Take A Stand. Will You? | OurFuture.org

Teachers Take A Stand. Will You? | OurFuture.org:

Teachers Take A Stand. Will You?

by Jeff Bryant

If you've noticed lately the tendency in car commercials to show the vehicle against a background of an empty city street, you can assume it's likely due to the abundance of empty city streets available in the place famous for being home to the major automotive companies -- Detroit.
While many of America's biggest cities are experiencing large influxes of new residents, Detroit stands in stark contrast, losing a staggering 25 percent of its population from 2000-2010.
During the day, the city's still-grand architectural feats are silent sentinels towering over sparsely populated sidewalks. At night, pockets of bright lights -- a constellation amidst a darkened cityscape -- mark the few destinations where families and revelers can come to dine, drink, and gamble.
Yet, it was amidst this twilight landscape that the American Federation Teachers chose to stage its annual convention.
When AFT decided to locate its meeting in Detroit -- likely some time ago -- they perhaps were ready for this landscape of vacant buildings and empty parking lots. But it's doubtful they anticipated they'd be descending into the epicenter of the most vicious attack, so far, on American public education.
Welcome To Detroit's Education New Normal
The Huffington Post's ever-useful Joy Resmovits has the necessary background on the situation in Detroit. But 

The Gates Foundation Responds: How do we Build the Teaching Profession - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

The Gates Foundation Responds: How do we Build the Teaching Profession - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

The Gates Foundation Responds: How do we Build the Teaching Profession

from Living in Dialogue by Anthony Cody

Guest post by Irvin Scott.
This is a response to Anthony Cody's post of a week ago, Dialogue with the Gates Foundation: How do we Build the Teaching Profession. This is also posted at the Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimist blog.

Tough, complicated issues like education often don't get the kind of debate they deserve. People who disagree don't see where they have common ground. Each side isn't willing to concede that the other has a valid point of view. So it is especially gratifying that against this often vitriolic backdrop Anthony Cody was willing to come to the Gates Foundation and participate in a dialogue about our work and our shared concerns. Like him, we agree that the education debate often deteriorates to shouting past one another so we welcome the opportunity to engage in a public dialogue about some of the areas where we have common ground. Our goal here is to better understand the perspectives of those with whom we occasionally disagree and to more clearly state where we stand and where we simply just don't know the answers.
In his first blog in this series (also posted here on Impatient Optimists), Mr. Cody raised the issue of building the teaching profession. This is a goal we 

OMG Voucher schools include some teaching creationism - SFGate

Voucher schools include some teaching creationism - SFGate:

Voucher schools include some teaching creationism

MELINDA DESLATTE, Associated Press

Updated 03:41 p.m., Monday, July 30, 2012

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Taxpayer dollars in Louisiana's new voucher program will be paying to send children to schools that teach creationism and reject evolution, promoting a religious doctrine that challenges the lessons central to public school science classrooms.

Several religious schools that will be educating taxpayer-subsidized students tout their creationist views. Some schools question whether the universe is more than a few thousand years old, openly defying reams of scientific evidence to the contrary.

Critics say it's inappropriate to spend public money on such religious teaching, arguing such programs undercut a strong science education and threaten the adequate preparation of students for college science courses.

"What they're going to be getting financed with public money is phony science. They're going to be getting religion instead of science," said Barbara Forrest, a founder of the

A Dialogue with the Gates Foundation: How Do We Build the Teaching Profession? | Impatient Optimists

A Dialogue with the Gates Foundation: How Do We Build the Teaching Profession? | Impatient Optimists:

A Dialogue with the Gates Foundation: How Do We Build the Teaching Profession?

ANTHONY CODY , IRVIN SCOTT

July 30, 2012

This post originally appears on Anthony Cody's blog, Living in Dialogue. It is the first post in a weekly series of posts, over the next five weeks, between teacher Anthony Cody, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Irvin Scott, Deputy Director in the College Ready program.

Two weeks ago I traveled to Seattle and spent most of the day meeting with leaders of the Gates Foundation, discussing their work around education reform. I have been critical of the impact their agenda has had, but they expressed an interest in opening up a dialogue. This blog post will be the first in a series of exchanges that will explore some of the key issues in education. We plan a process where we will take turns posting our perspective on a given theme, followed by a response from the other party. All posts will be carried here, and at the Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimists blog. We will ask everyone to join in a lively discussion. The education reform debate has deteriorated at times—our goal is to engage in a constructive conversation, to turn down the heat, and to seek a bit more light.

In the weeks to come we will get into some nitty gritty issues, such as what it means to "measure" teacher effectiveness? What is the role of poverty in relationship to education reform? What is the purpose of a k-12 education? And what role should the drive for profit play in our schools? But as our starting point, we are going to take a narrower focus, and tackle something a bit more concrete. This first exchange will focus on these questions: How can educators create a strong professional culture in our schools? How do we 

AUTHOR

Anthony Cody

Anthony Cody worked for 24 years in the high poverty schools of Oakland, California and now hosts the Living in Dialogue blog at Education Week.

@anthonycody

My original post is now re-posted at the Gates Fnd Blog here: please comment there:  A Dialogue with the Gates Foundation: How Do We Build the Teaching Profession? | Impatient Optimists: …

Irvin Scott

Irvin Scott is the Deputy Director, Effective Teaching, in our College Ready program.

OUSD: Changes in the principal’s office - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

OUSD: Changes in the principal’s office - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

OUSD: Changes in the principal’s office

Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 4:55 pm in No Comments

Here it is, your long-awaited account of who’s in and who’s out of various Oakland schools this year. From this 2012-13 directory, I count 15 new principals — seven at elementary schools, three at middle schools and five at high schools. Did I miss any?
This means that about 17 percent of OUSD’s 86 schools will have new leaders. Last year, if you recall, there were 20 new principals for 98 schools.
Two schools are also trying out the co-principal model — two people who share the job. Burckhalter Elementary School, which expects to take on dozens of children displaced from the shuttered Lakeview Elementary, will take on Lakeview’s former principal as well — along with its existing leader. Claremont Middle School, which has 

Schools Matter: Instead of worrying about applying the standards, we should be resisting them. To do this, we have to work together.

Schools Matter: Instead of worrying about applying the standards, we should be resisting them. To do this, we have to work together.:

Instead of worrying about applying the standards, we should be resisting them. To do this, we have to work together.

by skrashen

The Common Core Standards is a tsunami that will destroy all of us unless it is stopped. It is going to cost billions, bleeding money from where it is badly needed and it will soon impose what can only be described as an astonishing amount of testing. All this is happening under false pretenses. There is no evidence that our schools require these harsh measures, and plenty of evidence that they will not improve student achievement. There is plenty of evidence that the Common Core will further enrich the .01%, those whose only concern is profit:

Let me repeat: This will destroy all of us. 

Professional groups, with the exception of NABE, have not opposed the standards. They have only been