Common-Core Implementation Lags in California, Report Argues - State EdWatch - Education Week

Common-Core Implementation Lags in California, Report Argues - State EdWatch - Education Week:

Common-Core Implementation Lags in California, Report Argues

by Andrew Ujifusa

Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in California is falling behind in contrast to other states, and policymakers must be more aggressive than they have been since the state adopted the standards in English/language arts and math more than two years ago, a new report from a California education policy group argues.
While some districts in California are attempting to fill the gap left by the state's department of education and other state policymakers, the state leadership appears to have deviated from its historically strong position of standards-based K-12 policy changes, according to the report from Education Trust-West, an education advocacy and research group in Oakland. The report, "Catching up to the Core," also receives endorsements from the California Office to Reform Education and Latino advocacy groups like the National Council of La Raza and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The report says that if the state's failure to be aggressive in implementing the standards continues, it will hit low-income and minority students and English-language learners particularly hard.
The report's authors compare the schedule of common-standards implementation in California with that in New 

Hite releases school closing plan | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Hite releases school closing plan | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Hite releases school closing plan

by thenotebook on Dec 13 2012 Posted in Latest news

Superintendent William Hite early this morning announced his school closing planin an email to District personnel.

The 12-page document identifies 44 schools that will be either closed or relocated to new buildings; 37 facilities will be shuttered.

Full details of the plan are expected to be announced at a 2 p.m. press conference.

The final list of closing recommendations includes some schools that were not on a list obtained and published by some media outlets.

Hite's email follows:

Dear Colleagues,

I decided to join The School District of Philadelphia this fall as superintendent because of the potential to create a better-run, safer and higher-performing system. Above all, I believe that every child can succeed. By keeping the focus on students' needs, outcomes and hopes, I feel that we can bring families, educators and supporters together around the common goal of preserving and improving public education in this city.

To meet this goal, we must achieve two objectives: improve learning opportunities for all our students and overcome massive financial challenges. We are, as you know, facing tough times that require even tougher choices. On Thursday afternoon, I will release a plan detailing the steps that must be taken to put us on the road towards long-term academic success and financial stability. It is a plan that focuses on better harnessing our 

Top questions about school closings: “A year of turmoil and uncertainty” | Parents United for Public Education

Top questions about school closings: “A year of turmoil and uncertainty” | Parents United for Public Education:

Top questions about school closings: “A year of turmoil and uncertainty”

by parentsunitedphila

(Photo: NewsWorks)

Read the complete list of school closings here.
This afternoon the district will announce the closing and consolidation of dozens of schools listed above, setting in motion a year of turmoil and uncertainty for thousands of families across the District. We are deeply concerned about the District’s ability to prioritize and re-invest in the District-managed neighborhood schools under its care. While past conversations have discussed facilities modernization and management, this conversation has been primarily on consolidation and closure with far too little mention of what additional resources will flow to schools.
We have significant questions and concerns about the list above:

1. The stated savings of the school closings (which are typically ambitious according to most studies) is 

Big Picture Saved My Life. Really. « Cooperative Catalyst

Big Picture Saved My Life. Really. « Cooperative Catalyst:

Big Picture Saved My Life. Really.

by nflanagan

Publishing this story on behalf of John Dubie, a senior in the Big Picture program in Burlington, VT. John is also a stand-up comedian (catch his act in various locales around Vermont) and an organizer for IDEA. This is his autobiography.
For as long as I can remember I was the kid in class who was never expected to succeed. Whatever the opposite of an honors student was, that was me. I was the Dishonor student throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
My earliest memory of this pattern was in second grade. The teacher would go through each assignment we had throughout the quarter (which then consisted of worksheets and word searches) and name the people who hadn’t turned one in in front of the class. I heard my name called for most of the assignments every time. Every time she would look at me like I was doing it to spite her. She was mad at me. Not doing my homework was ME hurting HER; as if my intention was to piss her off by not being able to focus on homework. Worse yet I believed that was true. That not doing homework was mean to the teachers.
I spent my K through eighth grade years at Mater Christi School, a private Catholic school. I’d wake up every 

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

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Secret Agreement Revealed Between New Jersey and Broad Foundation

by dianerav

The New Jersey Star-Ledger published news of a secret agreement that was leaked to the paper.
The state of New Jersey entered into an agreement with the Broad Foundation to meet the foundation’s demands; the money awarded to the state is available only so long as Governor Chris Christie remains in office.
This suggests that New Jersey has outsourced its education policy to the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation. The foundation is known for its desire to control its grantees, but the idea of controlling a large northeastern state seems audacious indeed.
A crazy idea, but then the state’s Acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf is a graduate of the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, as is Cami Anderson, the superintendent of the Newark public schools, as are a few other of the state’s superintendents.
Remember when we thought that the policies of the public schools were determined by the citizens of the district or the state?

When Brookings Honored a Governor Who Supports Vouchers

by dianerav

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gained a valuable national platform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, where he explained that vouchers were the path to excellent education for all.
Of course, he didn’t use the V word. Like all Republicans pushing a stealth agenda, he calls them “opportunity scholarships.”
Here is a

A Brilliant and Disturbing Analysis of the Future of Teacher Education

by dianerav

Bruce Baker of Rutgers has taken it on himself to dissect the claims and plans of the “reformers” about teacher education.
The reformers hate traditional ed schools, even those connected to major flagship universities. They blame them for accepting bottom third students and then training them poorly.
Baker looks at the issues and examines the “cures” offered by the reformers, none of which will solve any of the problems that identify.
Baker pointed out in an earlier post (and repeats it here) that most of master’s degrees in education are now 

Teacher: When I Dared to Ignore the Standards

by dianerav

A teacher writes:
“I went to the Thinking in the Deep End blog, as you suggested, and returned to your site resisting the urge to cry. As a recent arrival to the teaching field — as a creative writer/poet and journalist who did so at the ripe age of 48, that is — I am utterly distressed at the test-centric atmosphere of the urban high school where I teach Language Arts. The again, I feel like a giddy young rebel, as I recently decided to guide my students on a creative writing assignment with fewer parameters (read: no detailed rubric abiding strictly by the common core standards) than any of them are used to. It was initially confusing for some — as they are so used to being told 

The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

by dianerav

EduShyster here explicates the civil rights issue of our time.
She learned that the Feds were investigating the public schools of Fall River, Massachusetts, for their high suspension rate.
But, oh my, she discovered a group of schools with even higher suspension rates than Fall River.
Worse, these schools 

Advice to David Coleman: Revise the Common Core Standards

by dianerav

Dear David,
I know you must be pleased that the Common Core standards have been adopted in 46 states.
And now as president of the College Board, you will be able to align the content of the SAT with the Common Core.
But David, the Common Core is becoming a laughing stock at the same time that it has become Official 

Vouchers in Chile: Lessons Learned

by dianerav

Now that many Republican dominated states like Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin are enacting vouchers, it is a good time to look at the experience of vouchers in Chile. The Pinochet military dictatorship became infatuated with free-market ideas and imposed vouchers in the early 1980s.
To learn about the Chilean experience with vouchers, I turned to one of Mexico’s best-known independent researchers, Eduardo Andere.
Eduardo Andere writes:
“I began doing research about Chile in 2005. I was most struck by the fact that Chile is the country, perhaps together with New Zealand, that initiated a long and deep stream of education policy reforms since the 1980s . In 

What is Governor Tom Corbett’s Record on Education?

by dianerav

As Pennsylvania gears up for the next gubernatorial election, Governor Corbett’s spokesperson says the governor is proud of his education record. He claims that he has raised state spending on education to its highest levels.
Not so fast.
This Pennsylvania

Who Was Behind Michigan “Right to Work” Law

by dianerav

This past week, Michigan became the 24th state to pass a Right to Work (for Less) bill.
Wherever did the legislation originate?
The Center for Media and Democracy knows: it was copied almost verbatim from ALEC model legislation to quash unions.
ALEC, if you did not know, is a secretive organization with 2,000 or so members who are state legislators. It is 

Diane in the Evening 12-12-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: *Go Figure!* Tony Bennett Lands on his Feet in Florida by dianerav Tony Bennett, the defeated state superintendent from Indiana, has landed the job as state commissioner in Florida. Bennett is the hero to the rightwing “reform” sector, a champion of privatization, vouchers, charters, online for-profit schools, and the Common Core. His last action in Indiana was to lower standards for new trackers and Pennsylvania Should Veto Every Virtual Proposal by dianerav Pennsylvania has 16 online charter schools for K-12. They all get terrible results. Some are fo... more »

City charter system smells of insider trading cronyism « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

City charter system smells of insider trading cronyism « Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

City charter system smells of insider trading cronyism

by millerlf

By Dominique Paul Noth
Editor, Labor Press
Posted December 13, 2012

 

Marva Herndon (right) upset about greased wheels trickery in city charter approval also advocates for playwgrounds at voucher schools, a campaign that last summer brought support from now state senator Nikiya Harris.

By Dominique Paul Noth
Editor, Labor Press
Posted December 13, 2012
Charter schools are public schools funded by state taxes. They are approved by review committees with little input from local citizens and less control by voters than exists with elected school boards.
The city’s charter school system is a rampant demonstration of how to lock out parents and educators with more sophisticated viewpoints. They’re getting away with it because of an aura surrounding the term “charter schools.” Major player Capital Roundtable is even holding conferences citing the boom in “Private Equity Investing in For-

City Officials Limit Public Comment on Charter Schools

by millerlf

So what are they trying to hide?
By Lisa Kaiser Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 ExpressMilwaukee.com
In the accelerating privatization of public schools, taxpayer-funded charter schools seem to have a better reputation than voucher schools because they are linked to a public entity—typically the city, a school board or an institution of higher learning—and they’re accountable to the public.
But an examination of the oversight of the handful of schools chartered by the city of Milwaukee shows that public meetings allow for no public comment; major decisions are made by a committee that doesn’t have its own website or report its meetings or activities on the city website; and a small network of charter school 

How do U.S. Students Compare with their Peers around the World? | toteachornototeach

How do U.S. Students Compare with their Peers around the World? | toteachornototeach:

How do U.S. Students Compare with their Peers around the World?

by aristotlethewise

How do U.S. Students Compare with their Peers around the World?

by Arne Duncan
New international assessments of student performance in reading, math, and science provide both encouraging news about American students’ progress and some sobering cautionary notes.
The encouraging news is that U.S. fourth grade students have made significant progress in reading and mathematics in the last five years. In fact, our fourth graders now rank among the world’s leaders in reading literacy, and U.S. student achievement in math is now only surpassed, on average, in four countries.
Unfortunately, these signs of real progress are counterbalanced by the fact that learning gains in fourth grade are not being sustained through eighth grade–where mathematics and science achievement failed to measurably 

Ed Notes Online: Nightmare on 8 Mile Road After Randi Negotiated Worst Contract in History

Ed Notes Online: Nightmare on 8 Mile Road After Randi Negotiated Worst Contract in History:

Nightmare on 8 Mile Road After Randi Negotiated Worst Contract in History

by ed notes online

Detroit Public Schools consultants are creating phony negative evaluations of experienced teachers in a “monstrous plot” to fire anyone making too much money and destroy the teacher’s union, according to Superintendent Dr. John Telford. “Some of the stories would make you cry,” Telford said Wednesday on the Charlie Langton Talk Radio 1270 show.

Remember that "great" contract hailed as "ground breaking" Randi helped the Detroit teacher union negotiate a few years ago and ratified in Jan. 2009? Rich Gibson in Substance predicted the death spiral after the contract was negotiated, calling it "The worst contract in the history of school-based bargaining."

Detroit schools in final death spiral?

Rich Gibson - November 27, 2010
The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) may be on its last legs. This was a once-proud union that fought like hell, alongside other workers, not only for the school worker force, but for kids. Last 

Engaging Parents In School… » Quasi-Interesting Survey On Parents Volunteering In Schools

Engaging Parents In School… » Quasi-Interesting Survey On Parents Volunteering In Schools:

Quasi-Interesting Survey On Parents Volunteering In Schools

by Larry Ferlazzo

The Corporation for National and Community Service in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship has just released the results of a survey of parent volunteering in schools. I learned about it from the Hartford Courant, which is where this graphic was originally published. You can also learn more about the study here.

Board games - News - Local Stories - December 13, 2012 - Sacramento News & Review

Board games - News - Local Stories - December 13, 2012 - Sacramento News & Review:

Board games

Activists, teachers call school board's replacement-pick side step undemocratic, push for special election

By Cosmo Garvin 
cosmog@newsreview.com

This article was published on 12.13.12.

Related stories: Dial M, not for money Sacramento charter commission looks to be less a distraction than Allen Warren’s campaign finances.SN&R, 10.11.12. Race to the wha? New districts, and mayoral meddling, shake up Sacramento school board elections. SN&R, 09.09.10. Sacramento City Unified School District proposes gutting schools City district offers up goodbye to sports, music, school-bus programs. SN&R, 02.09.12.

When Ellyn Bell decided to leave the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Trustees earlier this year—so she could live closer to a new job in San Francisco—her colleagues on the board decided it was too late and too expensive to call an election to fill her seat.
They decided instead to pick their own replacement to represent the district’s Area 1 (Land Park, Curtis Park and the grid) for the remainder of Bell’s term, which ends in December 2014.
This is allowed by state education law. But some community activists and labor leaders say it’s undemocratic and are now calling for a special election to replace Bell.
And they’re threatening a petition drive that would force an election, even if the board makes its own pick, which is expected to happen on December 20.
Annette Deglow is leading the effort. She was also one of the community activists who helped to write and pass measures J and K, which brought area elections to the district and replaced the at-large system in 2006. Deglow says the school board’s decision to appoint a new board member rather than allowing area residents to pick their own representative undermines the 

Fiscal cliff talks: One lousy civics lesson for students:

Fiscal cliff talks: One lousy civics lesson for students

Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 13, 2012 at 6:00 am

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(Charles Dharapak – AP)

The parties to the “fiscal cliff” negotiations — namely Congress and the Obama administration — have presented U.S. students with one lousy lesson in civics while violating the principles of cooperative learning and failing to follow good work/study habits.

One or both of the parties have procrastinated, blown deadlines, failed to set a timetable for getting their work done, engaged in name calling and scare tactics, refused to compromise for the good of the country, exaggerated or outright lied, blown their budget, failed to be transparent and show their work, and thoughtlessly ruined everybody’s holiday vacation.

Grade: F

Florida's real school reform record

by Valerie Strauss

Florida is in the education news again with the appointment of Tony Bennett as the Sunshine State's new education commissioner, this after the voters of Indiana decided they didn't want him to be in charge of their public schools anymore. Florida, of course, is home to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who launched school reforms more than a decade ago that have had influence across the country. Hailed as a "miracle," the reforms have not lived up to their hype. Here is a look at Florida's education reform record, by Julian Vasquez Heilig, an award-winning researcher and Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Planning at the University of Texas at Austin. A version of this appeared on his Education and Public Policy blog.
Read full article >>

Are exhausted students learning in school?

by Valerie Strauss

Encouraged by parents who want their teenagers to get more sleep, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr is assembling a work group to study whether it makes educational and practical sense to push back the start of school.
Read full article >>

Parents, Teachers Put Scott, Board of Ed and Bennett On Notice | Scathing Purple Musings

Parents, Teachers Put Scott, Board of Ed and Bennett On Notice | Scathing Purple Musings:

Parents, Teachers Put Scott, Board of Ed and Bennett On Notice

by Bob Sikes

The state’s established parent groups – including the PTA – began signaling the day before Tony Bennett’s appointment as Florida’s new education commissioner that the BOE’s  selection of candidates promised to be so divisive that it would  assign them as the spiraling out of control status quoers.. They did it anyway.  Blind to the realities of what Florida’s collapsing multiple accountability system actually means, the BOE unanimously appointed the one candidate who could deliver the most fuel to the fire.  The Herald-Tribune writer Lloyd Dunkelberger has this statement from FEA president Andy Ford:

The Florida Education Association is disappointed and disheartened at the selection of Tony Bennett to be Florida’s education commissioner. Bennett proved to be divisive in his tenure in the same position in Indiana and was voted out of office last month in the conservative state. He is a champion of the testing mania, unchecked expansion of charter schools and voucher programs and has proven to advance the Jeb Bush education agenda that has drawn fire from teachers, parents and experts in the field. That’s the same approach that has led to a flawed and chaotic 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Smith-Blum New School Board President

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Smith-Blum New School Board President:

Smith-Blum New School Board President

by Melissa Westbrook

: From: Office of Public Affairs
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 7:04 PM
Subject: School Board elects new officers

Seattle School Board elects new officers

The Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors on Wednesday night elected the following new officers for the 2013 calendar year:

Kay Smith-Blum – President

Betty Patu – Vice President

Sharon Peaslee– Member at Large

Smith-Blum was elected by a 4-3 vote, with Directors Betty Patu, Sharon Peaslee and Marty McLaren voting for her election and Directors Michael DeBell, Harium Martin-Morris and Sherry Carr voting against. Director Carr 

Why a privatized GED will fail students Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:

Why a privatized GED will fail students
Monty Vyse reports on the fallout from the takeover
of GED testing by for-profit Pearson Education--and
what it will mean thousands trying to take the exam
each year.

December 11, 2012-- socialistworker.org

SINCE THE 1940s, adult learners who have left high school without a diploma have had the option of taking the General Educational Development (GED) test. Nearly 700,000 people took the GED test in 2011--about half are Black or Latino [1].

Test-takers come disproportionally from under-funded, urban school districts. In New York state, for example, 63 percent of GED test-takers last year were in New York City. The average age for test takers is 26, making the GED a vital resource for adult learners in the workforce.

In 2011, Pearson Education, the world's largest for-profit testing company, entered into a "partnership" with the non-profit American Council on Education, the parent organization that created GED Testing Service, which in 

Nonprofits seek influence with political giving | California Watch

Nonprofits seek influence with political giving | California Watch:

Nonprofits seek influence with political giving

Amy Julia Harris

401kcalculator.org/Flickr

As executive director of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Scott Staub raises money to give to the city’s libraries. In his spare time, he raises money to give to politicians.
Staub heads a political action committee that is attempting to increase the political clout of the nonprofit sector in federal elections. Most of the committee’s members are affiliated with charitable organizations.
“We want to be a political player in a positive way,” said Staub, chairman of the Association of Fundraising Professionals PAC, an umbrella organization for charitable fundraisers. “There are lots of interest groups, and we decided we needed to have a greater voice for philanthropy.”
The PAC was formed about a decade ago and since then has contributed $68,000 to politicians who support pro-charity causes, especially maintaining the charitable tax deduction.
Charities are prohibited from donating to political campaigns as a condition of their tax-exempt status. But their