When Reporters Preach the Party Line :: Frederick M. Hess

When Reporters Preach the Party Line :: Frederick M. Hess:

When Reporters Preach the Party Line

For more than a decade, I've regarded my pal Richard Colvin as one of the nation's best education reporters. But even the best of us whiff sometimes. And Richard's most recent monthly column for the Phi Delta Kappan ("Movement even during inaction") is a whiff that also sharply illuminates the bias that colors so much education coverage today.

In a piece that doubles as an enthusiastic brief for President Obama's education efforts, Colvin serves up a raft of self-serving lines from Obama appointees and "independent" progressives. He quotes Amy Wilkins of Education Trust (the proudly liberal Children's Defense Fund spin-off) saying the Ed Trust used to "scream at Democrats and Republicans" but now "the Republicans have gone so crazy, there's no working with them." He reports that Carmel Martin, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Education, "Encourages her team 'to make sure we're getting both sides of every issue and question.'" He quotes her saying, "We've tried to be balanced philosophically and politically in who we talk to." Colvin quotes no Republicans, Republican staff, or individuals associated with conservative organizations.

Now, let's be clear. I like Wilkins, Martin, and the others that Colvin quotes. Moreover, they're certainly free to 

Modern School: Cutting Services Okay, Except for Special Ed

Modern School: Cutting Services Okay, Except for Special Ed:

Cutting Services Okay, Except for Special Ed

by Michael Dunn

"Education, It's Your Time to Go." (Image from Flickr by dullhunk)

As school districts across the country grapple with dwindling revenues and growing budget deficits, they are cutting more and more programs and services. So far, there has been a lot of whining and complaining by teachers and parents, but not much action.

Now, the California Department of Education is planning to investigate whether San Francisco Unified School District violated federal law by denying summer school services to students with special needs in order to save money. According to a report by The Bay Citizen,  the district’s head of middle school special education, Lisa Miller, told teachers and staff to check with her before authorizing summer school for special needs students because it was too expensive.

The directive, sent to teachers via an email obtained the Bay Citizen, may have violated the 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Teacher Says "I QUIT": The (Un) or Intended Consequences of Common Core?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Teacher Says "I QUIT": The (Un) or Intended Consequences of Common Core?:

Teacher Says "I QUIT": The (Un) or Intended Consequences of Common Core?

by stlgretchen

One more bullet point: Ask school administration how much Common Core mandates had to do with the resignation. Explain that to a small child: a "one sized fits all" education is good enough for her.

Parents, when you go to conferences, take a copy of a teacher's (Kris Nielsen) letter below and ask your child's teacher and administrators their thoughts on what this teacher has written.  Ask: 

• how common core has affected their teaching and district autonomy
• how a top down centralized "one size fits all" program actually "fits" all the students they teach

Louisiana Educator: VAM Based on False Assumption

Louisiana Educator: VAM Based on False Assumption:

VAM Based on Invalid Assumption

by Michael Deshotels

“Research has shown that teacher effectiveness is the greatest determinant of student outcomes followed closely by principal effectiveness”. This totally inaccurate statement which is based on an incorrect quote of research findings is included on page 113 of Louisiana's ESEA Waiver proposal as part of the justification for using student value added data as part of the COMPASS evaluation system to evaluate and certify teachers in Louisiana. It is inexcusable that State Superintendent John White would continue to use a bogus assumption for making such serious career decisions for teachers and principals.

The correct quote of research conclusions regarding the influence of teacher effectiveness relative to other factors states that “of all school related factors, teacher effectiveness is the greatest determinant of student outcomes followed closely by principal effectiveness”. While it is difficult to absolutely quantify the effect of various factors on student performance, most researchers have concluded that non-school factors including socioeconomic 

Maybe Representative Reuven Carlyle will reconsider his stand on Initiative 1240 | Seattle Education

Maybe Representative Reuven Carlyle will reconsider his stand on Initiative 1240 | Seattle Education:

Maybe Representative Reuven Carlyle will reconsider his stand on Initiative 1240

by seattleducation2011

The 36th Legislative District Democrats voted overwhelmingly in favor of opposing Initiative 1240 in a vote held this month. Unfortunately Representative Reuven Carlyle is not on the same page as his constituents.

Maybe when he realizes that even his children’s schools could be converted into charter schools without his knowledge he might change his mind.

Maybe when he understands what schools like KIPP are all about, he might change his mind. See Bay Area KIPP schools lose 60% of their students, study confirms and Study Finds High Dropout Rates for Black Males in KIPP Schools,  regarding IEP students, “At KIPP, I would wake up sick, every single day”,  and

Time, Not Calories, May Leave High School Students Feeling Hungry - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Time, Not Calories, May Leave High School Students Feeling Hungry - High School Notes (usnews.com):

Time, Not Calories, May Leave High School Students Feeling Hungry

By KELSEY SHEEHY

October 29, 2012 RSS Feed Print

New school lunch guidelines put fewer calories but more fruits and vegetables on students’ plates.

High school students are grumbling over their school lunches—and so are their stomachs.

Their complaints aren't about mystery meat or inedible entrees. Instead, students are staging brown-bag protests and filming YouTube videos to voice their frustrations over portion sizes.

New federal guidelines cap school lunches at 750 to 850 calories for high school students, down from the previous 825-calorie minimum requirement, and double the amount of fruits 

Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-29-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

How Rhee Demonstrates Her Love for Teachers

by dianerav

Michelle Rhee, through her organization StudentsFirst, dropped $500,000 into a ballot initiative in Michigan, where there is an effort to establish the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution. Rhee thinks this is a terrible idea, because she loves teachers, but only “effective” teachers, the kind that get high test scores very year. If teachers join unions, the teachers won’t be effective any more or they might protect teachers who don’t get high scores every year.

Does Value-Added Assessment Ever Work?

by dianerav

The Los Angeles Times (!) has an outstanding article by reporter Teresa Watanabe about the new teacher evaluation system. It is based on growth in test scores and on computer modeling. The focus is on one teacher who seems to do all the right things: last year, he got a good rating but not this year. What changed? Nothing.
The United Teachers of Los Angeles has been fighting the LAUSD’s efforts to impose this flawed system on all teachers.
Eventually, after we have spent billions of dollars on these mechanical systems, the policymakers will figure out 

Romney Says Disaster Relief Is Immoral

by dianerav

A year ago, Mitt Romney said that the federal government should not provide en
Emergency relief to victims of tornadoes and floods. He recommended that FEMA be privatized. Remember that when he talks about his concern for victims of the hurricane,

Charter Sponsor Is Very Successful

by dianerav

Vavan Gureghian runs a successful charter school called the Chester Community Charter School. The school is nonprofit, but Mr. Gureghian supplies its good and services through his for-profit company and collects millions of dollars as a management fee. Meanwhile the local Chester Upland public schools–whose funds pay for the students in the charter school–is in bankruptcy and under the control of a Governor-appointed “chief recovery officer.” Poor Chester Upland has been controlled by the state for most of the past decade,  yet gets blamed for the fiscal insolvency that the state has deepened and may now use as an excuse to eliminate its public schools.
The following is copied from the newsletter of the Keystone State Education Coalition, which sends out a daily newsletter with news from Pennsylvania:
“Vahan Gureghian was Governor Corbett’s largest individual campaign donor at $384,000.  His Charter 

Are Georgia Public Schools for Sale?

by dianerav

Billionaires are dumping campaign cash into Georgia referendum on charters.
Georgia already has nearly 200 charters, but the governor of Georgia wants to enact an ALEC law that gives him the power to override local control and open charters wherever he (and his hand-picked commission) choose.
Nearly 80% of the funding for the ballot initiative has come from out of state sources.
Alice Walton of Arkansas has dropped $600,000 to increase the number of charters in Georgia.

Ann Romney’s Shocking, Extremist View of American Education

by dianerav

In a recent interview, Ann Romney was asked which issue she cared most about. This was her answer.
“AR: I’ve been a First Lady of the State. I have seen what happens to people’s lives if they don’t get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers’ unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system.”
We may safely assume that Mrs. Romney is expressing the views of her husband, the candidate.
This is the line of thought:
1. Charter schools–privately managed, deregulated schools–are the answer to the problems of American 

Waiting for the Hurricane

by dianerav

I live in New York City, which is now on almost complete lockdown waiting for the hurricane to arrive.
All traffic has come to a halt. The only people on the street are those walking their dogs.
The mayor and governor halted all mass transit Sunday night at 7 pm. Most stores and restaurants closed by 5 or 6 pm to allow their employees time to get home. Most people don’t work near their place of residence. Last night, supermarkets had been swept clean of water, milk and all essentials. There won’t be any more deliveries 

How to Make Kindergarten a Terrible Experience

by dianerav

Here is a good way to ruin the lives of very small children.
Give them lots of tests. Start when they are very young, say, five, in kindergarten.
Instead of letting them play or giving them age -appropriate instruction, test them.
In Chicago, the little ones will be tested again and again. By the reckoning in this article, as much as one-third of 

Stop Disclosing Confidential Student Data

by dianerav

Please consider signing this petition.
Several states plan to share confidential student data with a corporation funded by the Gates Foundation. This information may be shared with other entities, for purposes that are not clear.
As parents, grandparents and educators, we must protect our children’s rights to privacy.
We expect schools to understand the needs of children. We do not expect them to share this information with 

Stand for Children Failed in Chicago

by dianerav

Jersey Jazzman points out in an illuminating post that Jonah Edelman was hired by the plutocrats to make sure teachers would never be able to strike again.
So Jonah Edelman and his deceptively-named group Stand for Children drafted legislation, bought up most of the high-priced lobbyists, and pushed through a bill to make the hedge fund managers happy. Now, said Jonah, the teachers will never be able to get enough member votes to strike again. This is what it means today to bear the 

Ann Romney: ‘We need to throw out’ public school system:

Ann Romney: ‘We need to throw out’ public school system

Posted by Valerie Strauss on October 29, 2012 at 3:00 am

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Ann Romney on “GMA.” (IDA MAE ASTUTE – ABC)

The magazine Good Housekeeping has a new interview with Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, in which she reveals “the answers” to ensuring that all  students get “a proper education.”

Here’s the relevant question and answer:

GH: Can you tell me, what campaign issue is closest to your heart?

AR: I’ve been a First Lady of the State. I have seen what happens to people’s lives if they don’t get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers’ unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system.

And here’s a bonus question:

GH: And have you picked yet what your issue will be? What do you feel most 

Letter from disgusted teacher: ‘I quit’

by Valerie Strauss

The resignation letter below was written by teacher Kris L. Nielsen of Monroe, N.C. and sent to Union County Public Schools. Why is Nielsen quitting right now? “Because…I refuse to be led by a top-down hierarchy that is completely detached from the classrooms for which it is supposed to be responsible,” and “I will not spend another day under the expectations that I prepare every student for the increasing numbers of meaningless tests,” and more. Read the whole letter, which first appeared on Diane Ravitch’s blog.

Kris L. Nielsen

Monroe, NC 28110

 

Union County Public Schools

Human Resources Department

400 North Church Street

Monroe, NC 28112

October 25, 2012
To All it May Concern:
I’m doing something I thought I would never do—something that will make me a statistic and a caricature of the times. Some will support me, some will shake their heads and smirk condescendingly—and others will try to convince me that I’m part of the problem. Perhaps they’re right, but I don’t think so. All I know is that I’ve hit a wall, and in order to preserve my sanity, my family, and the forward movement of our lives, I have no other choice.
Before I go too much into my choice, I must say that I have the advantages and disadvantages of differentiated 

Does Popularity In High School Add to Future Earnings? | toteachornototeach

Does Popularity In High School Add to Future Earnings? | toteachornototeach:

Does Popularity In High School Add to Future Earnings?

by aristotlethewise

Does Popularity In High School Add to Future Earnings?

If you were hoping that the popular high school football player and the cheerleader he dated didn’t go very far in life once they graduated, the National Bureau of Economic Research has some bad news for you. According to a new study released earlier this week, popularity among peers can translate to a wage premium of as much as 10% even four decades after graduation.
The good news is that the study’s authors – Gabriela Conti, Andrea Galeotti, Gerrit Mueller and Stephen Pudney – don’t view popularity as a personality trait one is born with. Instead, popular kids are often popular because they have already begun to figure out how to “play the game” in order to maximize the number of people who 

Renewing California’s commitment to new teachers | EdSource Today

Renewing California’s commitment to new teachers | EdSource Today:

Renewing California’s commitment to new teachers - by Ellen Moir

by Ellen Moir

Ellen Moir

Over the past year, I was privileged to serve on State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Educator Excellence Task Force. As a native Californian and founder of a nonprofit that does extensive work developing teachers and leaders in this state, I am pleased at the Task Force’s vision for how the state can broaden educator effectiveness in districts to provide a much higher quality of education for California students.

The strength of the Task Force’s recommendations, released last month and aimed at accelerating the effectiveness of beginning teachers, is notable. This is a critical priority because new teachers are more common in schools today than ever before. Whereas 25 years ago the most typical teacher was a veteran with 17 years of experience, today’s students are more likely to be taught by a novice teacher. The recommendations focus on restoring the structured professional support that once made California a national leader in meeting the needs of this burgeoning cadre of 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

"Throw out the [public school] system."

Ann Romney

I've been a First Lady of the State. I have seen what happens to people's lives if they don't get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers' unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system. -- Good Housekeeping

Ben Joravsky

The board members are like the two characters in Waiting for Godot. Only the Godot they're waiting for is Mayor Emanuel to tell them what to do on school closings, high-stakes testing, 

The disease of testing madness revealed in latest Calif. cheating scandal

by Mike Klonsky

The disease that is high-stakes, standardized testing is laid bare in Sunday's L.A. Times article by ed writer,Howard Blume, "State strips 23 schools of API rankings for cheating."

Blume reports that State officials have stripped the schools of a key state ranking for "cheating, other misconduct or mistakes" that in other times or in the eyes of artful, progressive educators might have been taken for -- well, just good teaching. For example, these misdemeanors included  failing to cover bulletin boards and 

Emperor Has No Clothes: Fairy Tales about Schools and the Economy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Emperor Has No Clothes: Fairy Tales about Schools and the Economy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Emperor Has No Clothes: Fairy Tales about Schools and the Economy

by larrycuban

For those readers who may have forgotten the story line of the fairy tale, as I had, here it is:
A clothes-mad king who spent the coin of the realm on colorful fashions and changed suits every few hours heard of two weavers–really grifters out to con the king out of royal coins–who wove the most beautiful suits that were invisible to anyone serving the king those telling the monarch that they were unfit to serve him and the people.
So the king thought: if I had this invisible suit, I would find those men in my kingdom who should not be serving me, and, better yet, sort out the wise from the foolish. he then ordered that the invisible suit be woven immediately.
The two fake weavers received gold and silk from the king’s ministers and set up their looms, seemingly working day and night as they wove invisible clothes. Of course they put the gold and silk given to them in their trunks 

Who cuts the barber’s hair? or Wither “accountability”? | AMPS

Who cuts the barber’s hair? or Wither “accountability”? | AMPS:

Who cuts the barber’s hair? or Wither “accountability”?

by Thomas J. Mertz

Professor Longhair, “Bald Head” (click to listen or download).

Educational “accountability” is in the news and on the agenda again this week.  It seems it is always in the news and on the agenda these days.  I have many problems with most conceptions of educational “accountability,” especially those that are based largely on standardized tests (a visit to the National Center for Fair  and Open Testing is in order if you don’t agree, or even if you do) and are proudly dubbed “data driven,” (the link takes you to old AMPS posts, Esther Quintero has an important post up on the topic this week at the Shanker Blog: “The Data-Driven Education Movement,” read it).  I’m not going to take on the big concepts here and now, but instead say a few things about the new Wisconsin Report Cards and offer some thoughts about imposing some accountability on those concocting and implementing educational “Accountability” systems, about cutting the 

Schools Matter: How the VAM/AGT pseudoscience worm turns

Schools Matter: How the VAM/AGT pseudoscience worm turns:

How the VAM/AGT pseudoscience worm turns

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

While value-added models are intended estimate teacher effects on student achievement growth, they fail to do so in any accurate or precise way — Dr. Bruce D. Baker
Maybe it's karma, but Kyle Hunsberger of the Gates Foundation backed astroturf TeachPlus, and one of Los Angeles Unified School District's biggest cheerleaders of the highly discredited VAM/AGT pseudosciences, isnow a victim of that selfsame modern phrenology.
This quote is pretty amazing coming from a bona fides member of the "no excuses" camp.

"I have to be reassured that I don't have to lobby for honors students," Hunsberger said. "I have to know that I have a shot at a good evaluation if I teach lower-performing kids."

Maybe he'll be a former member of that camp from here out, now that he's