UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-13-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

When Will Public Schools in Texas Close Down?

by dianerav

The new AYP figures are just out in Texas, and only 44% of the schools in the state made adequate yearly progress.

Next year it will be a lot worse.

By the rules set out in the NCLB law, the schools that can’t make it in a five-year frame will have to do something dramatic:

They can turn into a charter school.

They can fire all or most of the staff.

They can be taken over by a private management firm.

They can be taken over by the

About Race to the Top for Districts

by dianerav

With the launch of Race to the Top for school districts, the U.S. Department of Education demolishes federalism,
Congress should de-fund the Race to the Top.
Arne Duncan has absolutely no justification for foisting his unfounded, evidence-free ideas on the nation’s school 

Anyone Want to Promote This Woman and Her School?

by dianerav

I just got an email from an advertising firm offering me access to a charter founder in Tucson. The assumption is that since I blog, I’m looking for story material. It is a reasonable assumption. I am always looking for story material, but I have a hard and fast rule. I never do anything suggested by a paid agent for anything or anyone. I get requests from PR people all the time to write about whatever they are promoting. I delete at once. I get solicitations of that kind and this kind every day, often several times a day. Now that I have a daily blog, I get more and more. And I will never abuse my readers’ trust by promoting anything of the sort. If I review a book–and I do and will–it’s because I happen to like it, not because I want to sell it. If I mention my own book, I’ll tell you to go check it out of the library, if you still have one.
Reading this made me think about the money that charter schools spend on marketing and advertising, which

Will Fixing Schools Cure Poverty?

by dianerav

The corporate reform crowd thinks that fixing schools will fix poverty.
They say that poverty is an excuse for bad teachers.
They think that closing schools where test scores are low will improve education.
They have all kinds of wrong ideas, but wrongest of all is their notion that schools by themselves will fix the

This Texas Teacher Wishes They Would Let Her Teach

by dianerav

Being a Texan, though long removed from my native soil, I always react with a start and with more than a bit of pleasure when I hear the authentic voice of a fellow Texan. We Texans don’t like to be pushed around. We like to express ourselves with vigor. Some of us care a lot about learning. Here is a Texas teacher who is fed up with the bullies who want to fence her in:

The exact same thing is happening in Texas. The scripted lesson plans actually cause me anxiety. Teaching is an ART! How dare they try to tell me to throw away all my lessons that facilitate my kids’ learning, so I can follow their “teacher” proofed script. Never!! Nev-uh!! I shut my door, and when they walk in, I fake it if I have to. My kids are so sweet; they just play along. Once the devils leave, I teach REAL reading and writing–no multiple Does Value-Added Make Sense? by dianerav Many people assume that value-added assessment started with Race to the Top. Value-added assessment or value-added modeling means judging teachers by how much students scores went up. Actually, it started in the 1980s, when William Sanders, an agricultural statistician in Tennessee, claimed that it was possible to measure student growth the way he was accustomed to measure the growth of plants, with the teacher as the independent variable. In Dallas, at about the same time, a group of school district statisticians developed their own model to measure teacher effectiveness. You would think that by now Tennessee and Dallas would be leading the nation, having figured out this stuff that

Ryan's VP Nod: What's It Mean for Education? :: Frederick M. Hess

Ryan's VP Nod: What's It Mean for Education? :: Frederick M. Hess:

Ryan's VP Nod: What's It Mean for Education?

by Frederick M. Hess  •  Aug 13, 2012 at 8:29 am

Cross-posted from Education Week

On Saturday, Mitt Romney announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee, has been perhaps the leading voice among House Republicans pushing for a smaller, more disciplined federal government. What's Romney's choice mean for education?

First, let's keep in mind that the importance of VP picks is always overrated. That said, the Ryan selection is important because of what it signals about Romney and the kind of race we're likely to see this fall. Ryan was the most ideologically compelling running mate that Romney could have selected. In choosing Ryan, Romney passed on safer picks like former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and Ohio senator Rob Portman, in favor of an unapologetic champion of overhauling entitlements and downsizing the federal government.

Ryan's budget has been the litmus test for serious conservatives, and Romney has already endorsed it. The 

Court backs union, sends LAUSD layoffs case back to judge | EdSource Today

Court backs union, sends LAUSD layoffs case back to judge | EdSource Today:

Court backs union, sends LAUSD layoffs case back to judge

August 12th, 2012 | 2 Comments | 
By John Fensterwald

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Handing United Teachers Los Angeles a significant procedural victory, a state appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling challenging the contractual rights of teachers in Los Angeles Unified.

In 2010, Superior Court Judge William Highberger ruled that massive layoffs of teachers with limited or no seniority at three of the district’s lowest-performing middle schools had violated the constitutional right of students in those schools to an equal education. The layoffs of nearly two-thirds of the teachers in those schools had disrupted school improvement efforts and left students with substitute teachers for much of the year. Judge Highberger subsequently approved a settlement between the district and parents who brought suit that protected 45 schools from future teacher layoffs and required that no school in the district be disproportionately affected by a reduction in force.

But on Friday, with one judge dissenting, a three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal 

Summer programs turning struggling students into readers - by Susan Frey

by Susan Frey

When “The Hunger Games” became the hottest ticket in town, about 350 middle school students in Fresno already knew how the movie would end. They had spent the previous summer reading the post-apocalyptic book by Suzanne Collins that the movie was based on as part of Fresno County Office of Education’s efforts to keep kids reading after school is out. “We want to be the leaders and not the...

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Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Is Education a National Security Issue: A Critique of the Rice-Klein Report

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Is Education a National Security Issue: A Critique of the Rice-Klein Report:

Is Education a National Security Issue: A Critique of the Rice-Klein Report

by YongZhao

In March the Council of Foreign Relations released the report of a task force chaired by former head of New York City Public schools and now a News Corp. executive vice president and close advisor to the media giant’s chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch and former secretary of state Condoleeza Rice. The report U.S. Education Reform and National Security makes education an national security issue, which is of course not new, but still garnered tremendous media attention. I have seen different responses to the report and found Hostra University Professor Denny Taylor‘s perspective unique and refreshing. Her critique is part of a long blog post Can the American People Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World? Not If U.S. Political, Corporate, and Financial Decision Makers Destroy the Planet First. She has given me the 

Students Last: "No Teachers Will Be Hurt"

Students Last: "No Teachers Will Be Hurt":

"No Teachers Will Be Hurt"

by Students Last

This story updates an older one entitled, "Stoning Teachers Raises Some Eyebrows"

WARNING: THIS STORY IS SATIRE. IT IS NOT REAL. IT IS NOT TRUE.  SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS HAVE LED US TO BELIEVE YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS.

August 12, 2012 9:00am EST
"Who would have thought that a concert that was supposed to honor teachers could engender so much controversy?" With these words, a sheepish Les Moonves, CBS President and CEO, began apologizing for his network's support of a concert at which attendees could throw rocks at teachers. At a press conference held yesterday in Los Angeles, CBS's head honcho explained, “We will still broadcast ‘Teachers Rock’ but absolutely no public school teachers will be hurt. Not in jest. Not for fun. Not at all.”

Inundated with complaints from an outraged public, those involved with the production, including corporate monstrosity 

Skipping High School Can Lead to Fines, Jail for Parents - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Skipping High School Can Lead to Fines, Jail for Parents - High School Notes (usnews.com):

Skipping High School Can Lead to Fines, Jail for Parents

By KELSEY SHEEHY

August 13, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Teens could lose their license for skipping school, while their parents could face fines and jail time.

Parents of students atAdrian High School inMichigan will face stiffer penalties if their teen skips school this year. The city's commissioners approved an ordinance last week that could potentially punish parents of absent teenswith a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

Michigan is not the only state using legal avenues to crack down on truancy. In Illinois, excessive absences—nine 

Eight problems with Common Core Standards - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Eight problems with Common Core Standards - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Eight problems with Common Core Standards

By Valerie Strauss

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

By Marion Brady

E.D. Hirsch, Jr.’s book, “Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know,” was published March 1, 1987.

So it was probably in March of that year when, sitting at a dining room table in an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, my host — a
Third grade teachers learn how to teach common core mathematics in Tennessee. (Mark A Large/AP)publishing executive, friend, and fellow West Virginian — said he’d just bought the book. He hadn’t read it yet, but wondered how Hirsch’s list of 5,000 things he thought every American should know differed from a list we 

It Really Doesn’t Matter Who Is Named Next Florida Ed Commish | Scathing Purple Musings

It Really Doesn’t Matter Who Is Named Next Florida Ed Commish | Scathing Purple Musings:

It Really Doesn’t Matter Who Is Named Next Florida Ed Commish

by Bob Sikes

Gerard Robinson found out real fast that he wasn’t needed for policy. Someone else does that. Writes retired school administrator and current chair of Florida School Choice Parent Advisory Council, Bill Person, in theTampa Tribune:

I found your recent editorial concerning the possibility of Hillsborough County School Superintendent MaryEllen Elia serving as our new state commissioner of education most informative and interesting (“Go local for education chief,” Aug. 7). I agree with your assessment of Elia’s ability to provide “relevant” leadership for public schools in our great state.
I wonder if it is possible for anyone to lead our Florida public school districts in a meaningful, 

Teachers are only part of the student learning equation | Dangerously Irrelevant

Teachers are only part of the student learning equation | Dangerously Irrelevant:

Teachers are only part of the student learning equation

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

Here’s a slightly-modified version of a comment I left over at The Des Moines Register regarding teachers’ impacts on student learning outcomes…

Sure, what happens in the classroom matters. But peer-reviewed research shows over and over again that between 2/3 and 4/5 of student achievement is based on non-school factors. Schools only contribute about 20% to 33% to students’ overall learning outcomes.

In addition, teachers are only part of the school equation. They’re the most important part, but non-teacher 

UPDATE: I support the Chicago Teachers Union. Post widely. « Fred Klonsky

I support the Chicago Teachers Union. Post widely. « Fred Klonsky:

The in box. Jonah Edelman invited to ASCD?

from Fred Klonsky's blog by Fred Klonsky

There are questions about this invitation. Wonder if they will video tape it?

ASCD Presenter Bio

Jonah Edelman

It was the civil rights movement, combined with a life-changing volunteer experience teaching a bilingual 1st grader how to read, that inspired Jonah Edelman to commit his life to public service. Son of Marian Wright Edelman, he comes by it naturally, but he has earned his own accolades for his visionary work as one of our nation’s leading voices for children.

As cofounder of Stand for Children, Edelman has guided the innovative nonprofit advocacy group in harnessing citizen commitment to effect political decisions and elections to get results for children. Beginning with his organizing 

The in box. “If Edelman is invited to speak, I will not renew my 25 year ASCD membership.”

by Fred Klonsky

Fred,
My comment to ASCD sent today.
I see that John Edelman is a keynote speaker at the ASCD fall conference.
If he speaks, I will never renew my ASCD membership again. You will have lost a 25 year member. How shameful that ASCD would invite him to speak.
- Rodger Sanders

The Educated Reporter: Race To The Top: School Districts Will Compete For $400 Million

The Educated Reporter: Race To The Top: School Districts Will Compete For $400 Million:

Race To The Top: School Districts Will Compete For $400 Million

by Emily Richmond

The U.S. Department of Education sent out a rare Sunday press release yesterday to announce the next phase of the Race To The Top Grant program is underway, with individual school districts now able to apply directly for a share of $400 million in federal grants.

As the Politics K-12 blog reports, the rules have been heavily revised since the draft was first put out for public comment back in May, and more than 475 comments were received. I was particularly interested to note the provision requiring districts to have a mechanism in place for evaluating school board members has been scrapped. In a way that's not surprising, given the vocal opposition by the individuals who would have faced a new level of public scrutiny. According to Politics K-12 blogger Michele McNeil, the Education Department still believes performance evaluations for school board members are a good idea but "they don't think this contest is 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Banda To Hold Family And Community Meetings

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Banda To Hold Family And Community Meetings:

Banda To Hold Family And Community Meetings

by Melissa Westbrook

From the Seattle Council PTSA (co-presidents this year, Lauren McGuire and Rita Sheckler):

Seattle Public Schools is partnering with the Seattle Council PTSA to hold five family and community meetings this fall with Superintendent Banda. We invite you to come and meet Superintendent Banda, and hear his vision for Seattle Public Schools. 

 Central: September 17, 6-7:30pm at Mercer Middle School, 1600 S Columbian Way, Seattle, 98108
Southeast: September 18, 6-7:30pm at Rainier Beach High School, 8815 Seward Park S., Seattle, 98118
Northeast: October 1, 6-7:30pm at Bryant Elementary School, 3311 NE 60 St., Seattle, 98115
West Seattle: October 2, 6-7:30pm at Concord International Elementary School, 723 S Concord St., Seattle, 98108
Northwest: October 8, 6-7:30pm at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N 41 St., Seattle, 98103

BEX IV Community Meetings

by Melissa Westbrook

From SPS:

Seattle Public Schools will host three community meetings on September 20, 24 and 27 to share information and ask for comments about building construction projects to be included in the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) Capital Levy package.  Once approved by the School Board, the BEX IV Capital Levy resolution will be submitted to Seattle voters in February 2013. 

The community meeting dates are:
Thursday, September 20, 6:30-8:00pm at Whitman Middle School 
Monday, September 24, 6:30-8:00pm at Madison Middle School 
Thursday, September 27, 6:30-8:00pm at McClure Middle School

For more information on BEX IV, please visit: www.bit.ly/SPSBEX

On this topic, Rep. Reuven Carlyle weighed in on it at his blog.  McClure Middle School is in his neighborhood and he feels that people don't attend it (despite the elementaries around it being full) a

Lucy Calkins and Her Teacher's College Cult of Failure.southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Lucy Calkins and Her Teacher's College Cult of Failure

by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)

Would you feed someone that has high cholesterol, or heart problems KFC's Double Down (bacon, cheese, sauce, between two pieces of chicken), mashed potatoes w/gravy, and a mashed potato bowl? No.

Would you throw someone who is drowning a cinder block instead of a life preserver? No.

So why is it that in chronically poverty stricken  areas of NYC, where students come into kindergarten lagging so far behind, where each day it is a struggle to learn, where they don't get support at home, why is it we as real educators continually get shoved down our throats the teachings of the cult of Teacher's College reading and writing crap, led by its supreme 

Beyond the parent trigger hype and propaganda: just the facts « Parents Across America

Beyond the parent trigger hype and propaganda: just the facts « Parents Across America:

Beyond the parent trigger hype and propaganda: just the facts

by CarolineSF

Facts about the parent trigger

Researched by Caroline Grannan, San Francisco

Parents Across America founding member

1. There have been no successful parent triggers anywhere.ⁱ

2. Two parent triggers have been attempted, both in Southern California.ⁱ

3. The organization that created the parent trigger, Parent Revolution, organized both of those parent trigger campaigns.

4.Parent Revolution has been inaccurately described as “grassroots” and as founded by concerned mothers. Actually, Parent Revolution was created by charter school operator Steve Barr, who founded the Green Dot charter school chain^iv. Parent Revolution has a $1 million annual budget and 10 full-time staff members. Its funders include the Bill & Melinda 

A Paul Ryan Budget for Illinois? Be in Springfield Friday morning at 10:30 to say, “Keep your promises to state retiree pensions.” « Fred Klonsky

A Paul Ryan Budget for Illinois? Be in Springfield Friday morning at 10:30 to say, “Keep your promises to state retiree pensions.” « Fred Klonsky:

A Paul Ryan Budget for Illinois? Be in Springfield Friday morning at 10:30 to say, “Keep your promises to state retiree pensions.”

by Fred Klonsky

Democrats attack the Paul Ryan Budget. Then propose one for Illinois.
How ironic.
Now that Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his enabler, the Democrats are making much of the Paul Ryan Budget which proposes deep cuts, if not elimination, to Medicare.
But Democrats in Springfield want to do the same thing to seniors’ health care in Illinois.
HB1447 would force state employees to choose between a small yearly cost of living adjustment or continuing to 

Bill would force creation of standards for transitional kindergarten SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

Bill would force creation of standards for transitional kindergarten
By Kimberly Beltran
Friday, August 10, 2012
 

Even as hundreds of California schools prepare to launch transitional kindergarten for the first time this year, a bill awaiting a Senate vote would create standards for what and how the program’s not-quite 5-year olds should be taught.

AB 1853 by Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla of Martinez creates a plan for developing teaching standards for the program and for issuing a “recognition of study in transitional kindergarten” to holders of multiple subject teaching credentials, who will be teaching students enrolled in the classes.

The bill authorizes the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to convene a work group comprised of transitional kindergarten experts to develop program standards and to work with the state department of education to gather and make available best practices on curriculum and professional development.

Erin Sullivan, a consultant with the CTC’s Office of Governmental Relations, said concerned teachers, worried about a 

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: "Humiliation is Not a Classroom Management Technique!"

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: "Humiliation is Not a Classroom Management Technique!":

"Humiliation is Not a Classroom Management Technique!"

by Lisa M

I am offline until Friday, so I am posting some of my older blog posts from my Wordpress account.

 

 My youngest son is no angel, not in any way, shape, or form. He had been getting in  "trouble" since preschool. I would go to pick him up and he would wave and grin from the timeout area. He didn't know any better, he was just one of those kids that was always up and about. Back then, if you were that kid, you ended up in timeout.

 When he was in the second grade, I had a conference with his teacher. She couldn't wait for me to sit down as she proclaimed, "He needs to be on medication! You need to put him on medication!" (We won't go into the fact that legally a teacher cannot tell a parent to put their child on medication.) She then proceeded to show me what 

The Paradoxical Logic of School Turnarounds: A Catch-22 (Tina Trujillo) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Paradoxical Logic of School Turnarounds: A Catch-22 (Tina Trujillo) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

The Paradoxical Logic of School Turnarounds: A Catch-22 (Tina Trujillo)

by larrycuban

TINA TRUJILLO is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a Ph.D. in education from the University of California at Los Angeles and an M.A. in education from the University of Colorado Boulder. This commentary appeared inTeachers College Record on June 14, 2012. Sources cited here are listed in the online article.
In the 1955 classic novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller chronicles the absurdity of the bureaucratic rules and constraints to which a conflicted Air Force bombardier and countless others are subjected. Each character lives under the absolute, yet illogical, power of these policies. One by one, they come to see the paradoxical nature of the policies, and eventually the bombardier realizes that the main policy—Catch-22—is an empty one, based on