Modern School: California Abandoning Algebra for Eighth Graders

Modern School: California Abandoning Algebra for Eighth Graders:

California Abandoning Algebra for Eighth Graders

by Michael Dunn

Image from Flickr, by ajaxofsalamis

California, which had some of the toughest academic standards in the nation, had to dumb down its curriculum and its expectations for students when it approved the Common Core Standards (CCS). One example is Algebra I, which used to be required for all eighth graders. Now, like other states that have adopted the CCS, California will allow students to take either Algebra I or an alternate course that includes some algebra, while the as yet unwritten new CCS exams will focus on content from this alternate course.

Many teachers and student advocates argue that this is appropriate since not all eighth graders are ready for algebra. When students are placed in courses for which they lack the requisite skills they are far more likely to struggle or fail, thus contributing to low self-efficacy 

Today in Labor History—February 12, 2012

by Michael Dunn

Darwin Caricature, 1871

February 12, 1809 – Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was born on this date in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The Origin of Species, published November 24, 1859, sold out immediately. (From the Daily Bleed)

February 12, 1853 – Illinois passed a law requiring any blacks entering the state & staying more than 10 days to pay a $50 fine. If unable to pay, they would be sold into slavery for a 

Ed Notes Online: Mulgrew the Carpenter: Measure Once, Vote Twice in UFT Backing for Politician Supporting School Closing

Ed Notes Online: Mulgrew the Carpenter: Measure Once, Vote Twice in UFT Backing for Politician Supporting School Closing:

Mulgrew the Carpenter: Measure Once, Vote Twice in UFT Backing for Politician Supporting School Closing

by ed notes online

....When thinking chapter leaders and delegates reasonably supported Jamaica chapter leader James Eterno's request not to endorse Lancman, Mulgrew called for a second vote. The fact that a leader would instantly call for a second vote when things do not go his way is, in itself, quite a statement. ---NYC Educator, UFT Leadership: Those With Conscience Need Not Apply.

NYC Educator was writing about James Eterno's DA report on the ICE blog: (OPPOSITION TO SCHOOL CLOSING SHOULD BE REQUIRED FOR A POLITICIAN TO RECEIVE UFT ENDORSEMENT)

Unity Caucus hacks are out in force on the MORE blog bragging about how Mulgrew stood up against closing schools. But as I always say, watch what they do not what they say.

So what do these hacks do when faced with endorsing a candidate who backed the DOE closing of Jamaica 

Considering How to Use Competition and Conflict - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Considering How to Use Competition and Conflict - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Considering How to Use Competition and Conflict

by Deborah Meier

Dear Alfie,
Yes, I think conflict and competition are not necessarily compatible—or incompatible. One can be for one, both, or neither! Indeed, the "resolution" of conflict is not always related to "winning," but often enough just to "clarifying." At its best, both "sides" are ahead in a good argument, for example. I engage in internal thought-conflicts with myself if I've no one to argue with. And I "enjoy" reading or hearing an opponent's view (when it isn't formed in grossly disrespectful language) as a way of testing out my own ideas, and noting their weaknesses.
Yet the most powerful changes of mind that I've engaged in happened slowly and at times unnoticeably for quite a long time. Aha, I realized not so long ago, I no longer believe in "revolutionary" change—in people, institutions, or societies. In fact, I'm suspicious of them. But I was a thoughtful and independent-minded socialist who, while I 

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

In Praise of Senator Lamar Alexander

by dianerav

Some 20 years ago, I worked as Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of President George Herbert Walker Bush.
I was in charge of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement and also Counselor to the Secretary of Education, who was Lamar Alexander.
Secretary Alexander took a big risk with me because I was a Democrat with no prior experience in government.
I developed great admiration for him as a thinker and leader. He understood the limits of federalism and he was 

Why Is Education Talk So Vacuous?

by dianerav

Jersey Jazzman deconstructs Michelle Rhee’s appearance on Jon Stewart’s show and wonders why interviewers allow her to avoid any real analysis of her policy recommendations. Instead of asking what is the evidence for her views, she is allowed to get away with glittering generalities about how much she loves teachers.
Jon Stewart is one of our very best interviewers, yet she spun her blather past him.
Jersey Jazzman writes:
“Our nation’s dialogue about education has been commandeered by a bunch of ill-informed, intellectually

Jeb Bush: Change the Rules of the Game and Win

by dianerav

Matt Di Carlo of the Shanker Institute here dissects the claims of Jeb Bush about the success of the state letter grade system.
As he shows, the number of A-rated schools went up because the state changed the rules of the game.
You can always get more points on the basketball court if you

Superintendent: Race to the Top Costs His District

by dianerav

Superintendent Ken Mitchell took a close look at what his district is getting to comply with Race to the Top mandates and what it will cost his district to comply.
It is not a pretty picture.

Joel Klein, the Quintessential Corporate Reformer

by dianerav

Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council of Teacher Quality.
Earlier entries reviewed the bios of Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, and other prominent figures whose lives intersect again and again on the boards of the groups seeking control of American education, with the full-

Is There a Method Behind the Madness of “Calibrating” Principals?

by dianerav

Jersey Jazzman read Carol Burris’s account of her “training” sessions where she was being “calibrated” by people who know how to calibrate principals.
He saw behind the smokescreen.
The goal is to create a system so “objective” that principals have no room for judgment and teachers may be

Diane in the Evening 2-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: Gerald Coles Replies to Critics: Obama’s Second Term by dianerav I posted Gerald Coles’ predictions about President Obama’s second term. Many commenters responded. This is Coles’ response to those who raised questions: With respect to the suggestion that the “federal govt. should get out of the classroom entirely,” I think that’s a complicated issue, given, for example, the federal government’s role in ending LEGAL segregation of schools. While issues of curriculum and what should and should not be discussed in the classroom do caution against a A Reader... more »

UPDATE: We should not valorize all educators with impunity + Competition, Choice and Market Forces – @ the chalk face

Competition, Choice and Market Forces – @ the chalk face:

We musn’t forget the Big Score from 1999

by Chalk Face, PhD

I’m in the Library of Congress today doing some work the old-fashioned way. I grabbed a book off the shelf with a collection of historical documents in education. One of them, interestingly enough, refers to an article in Newsweek from 1999 that I’ve never read called “The Big Score.” It’s all about the pressures of testing. And, apparently, a group of Chicago students at Whitney Young High School organized and whipped up resistance against the system’s “testmania.”
We have been over and over this for roughly 14 years after this article was written, which means the roots of “testmania” reach back even further, back to the turn of the century when intelligence testing cried its first prescient cries and was used to justify all sorts of rotten decisions in the years following.
Read this article, see if any of these names are still fighting the good fight. But then realize that more testing since 1999 has not yielded anything of significance in education. It’s just cost us more money.

We should not valorize all educators with impunity

by Chalk Face, PhD

Because of this woman, an Indiana bigot
educator who wants to exclude students who are gay from prom. We have to admit, as ardent public school and teacher advocates, that not everyone in the classroom is playing with a full deck.

Competition, Choice and Market Forces

by Activism in paradise - Voices from down under

When it comes to education, governments bandy the word choice around with evangelical fervour saying, amongst other things, they are opening charter schools for us, the parents.
Rubbish.
In New Zealand we have heaps  of choice already: Special Character schools, Steiner Schools, home schooling, private schools, bilingual schools, correspondence school, Te kura kaupapa Maori (Maori language schools), State integrated schools, special schools, Health Units, and teen parent units, single sex schools, day schools, boarding schools and more.  How much darned choice does anybody need?
No, it’s not about choice.  It’s about selling off education system to private companies and leaving it to the same market forces that lead to the world economic crisis in which we currently languish. seems to me ironic and 

Daily Kos: What not being covered by FMLA now means for us

Daily Kos: What not being covered by FMLA now means for us:

What not being covered by FMLA now means for us

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

As many know, I have been on leave from the school in which I had been teaching since we found out about my wife's cancer.   I had been prepared to return as soon as Wednesday, but knowing that I would periodically have to take time off - for example, when she begins chemo next Wednesday.
I had informed the school that I would not be returning for next year.  It is not a great fit for me, even though they were quite pleased as what I had done with the students.
In order to be eligible for rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, one must have worked worked for the employer for at least 12 months and in the 12 months immediately previous to applying for FMLA leave have worked at least 1250 hours.  Since I went under contract after Thanksgiving, I had no rights under the law.  Were I planning to return next year, perhaps they would have made a different decision, perhaps not.
I would not have been paid for any additional time off I took, but I could have earned money to help cover our additional expenses.  We are not sure what will happen next financially, but we will work our way through it.
Please keep reading

Bush’s Florida Model: “claiming credit for what’s on the scoreboard after having changed the rules of the game” | Scathing Purple Musings

Bush’s Florida Model: “claiming credit for what’s on the scoreboard after having changed the rules of the game” | Scathing Purple Musings:

Bush’s Florida Model: “claiming credit for what’s on the scoreboard after having changed the rules of the game”

by Bob Sikes

The next round in the statistical war between Bush advisor Matt Ladner and Shanker Institute fellow Matt DiCarlo is here. DiCarlo’s last look at Florida’s numbers prompted Ladner find DiCarlo “Bounded in a Nutshell but Counts Himself a King of Infinite Space.” I for one can’t wait for the hissy-fit Ladner will have over DiCarlo’s latest  look at Bush’s school grade myth:

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was in Virginia last week, helping push for a new law that would install an “A-F” grading system for all public schools in the commonwealth, similar to a system that has existed in Florida for well over a decade.
In making his case, Governor Bush put forth an argument about the Florida system that he and his supporters use frequently. He said that, right after the grades went into place in his state, there was a drop in the proportion of D and F schools, along with a huge concurrent increase in the 

UPDATE: 'House Of Cards' Goes Where No Congress Has Gone In Recent Years; SOTU And Early Education: Ed Today + Education Content In State Of The Union Likely To Focus On Littlest Learners

Education Content In State Of The Union Likely To Focus On Littlest Learners:

'House Of Cards' Goes Where No Congress Has Gone In Recent Years; SOTU And Early Education: Ed Today

by Joy Resmovits

Netflix Reauthorizes No Child Left Behind? Or so quips this EdWeek headline. Real-life Congress hasn't yet reauthorized NCLB (since 2007!), but characters on the Netflix series "House of Cards" do. "[Writer Beau] Willimon noted on Twitter that he hinged the plot on education because it affects us all directly and indirectly, and because of the contention that often revolves around education reform," EdWeek writes. Read the full story for a taste of which education fights the show covers. My take: Obviously TV isn't reality, but there are a few major inaccuracies. The most glaring one in my eyes is that teachers unions can't legally hold a national strike over some federal legislation they dislike!

Pre-K Push In The State Of The Union? While the State of the Union is a very fluid speech until the president delivers it, and it's impossible to know what, exactly, will be in it until then, we're hearing that tonight's version 

Education Content In State Of The Union Likely To Focus On Littlest Learners

by Joy Resmovits

President Barack Obama made K-12 education a major component of his 2012 State of the Union Address -- so much so that the topic garnered the most traffic on sites like Twitter. But this year, education advocates are expecting something entirely different.

The White House mostly has been tight-lipped about its State of the Union plans, but to the extent that the administration is saying anything, they're looking at Tuesday night's speech as an opportunity to "bookend" their K-12 plans, sources say. Instead of focusing on the compulsive, public kindergarten through high school school system, advocates are expecting the president to offer more of a focus on early education, with a little bit of higher education thrown in.

That might be because the Education Department is already in implementation mode on K-12. Obama 

Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? | toteachornototeach

Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? | toteachornototeach:

Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart?

by aristotlethewise

Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart?

By PO BRONSON and ASHLEY MERRYMAN
Noah Muthler took his first state standardized test in third grade at the Spring Cove Elementary School in Roaring Spring, Pa. It was a miserable experience, said his mother, Kathleen Muthler. He was a good student in a program for gifted children. But, Muthler said, “he was crying in my arms the night before the test, saying: ‘I’m not ready, Mom. They didn’t teach us everything that will be on the test.’ ” In fourth grade, he was upset the whole week before the exam. “He manifests it physically,” his mother said. “He got headaches and stomachaches. He would ask not to go to school.” Not a good sleeper anyway, Noah would slip downstairs after an hour tossing in bed and ask his mom to lie down with him until he fell asleep. In fifth grade, the anxiety lasted a solid month before the test. “Even after the test, he couldn’t let it go. He would wonder about questions he 

CalSTRS board to forward options for saving teacher pensions | EdSource Today

CalSTRS board to forward options for saving teacher pensions | EdSource Today:

CalSTRS board to forward options for saving teacher pensions

February 12th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

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Later this week the board of the California State Teachers Retirement System, or CalSTRS, will forward to the Legislature a report laying out options for raising higher contributions into the pension system to ensure its long-term viability.

The Legislature has avoided action for a decade, and Gov. Jerry Brown’s  budget forecast for education, with healthy projections for revenue, doesn’t take into account the daunting cost of teachers’ pensions on the expense side of the ledger.

Funding ratio of CalSTRS’ defined benefit program for the past 35 years, through 2011. After being fully funded by 2000, the Legislature expanded benefits. Values fell, recovered, then plummeted in 2008. (Click for  a clearer image)

The remedies won’t come cheap. The choice that CalSTRS financial analysts recommend would boost payments, currently about $6 billion, by $4.5 billion per year, starting next year. That amount, a whopping 75 percent increase per year – would be borne mostly by the state and by K-12 and community college districts, as employers and not by current employees. If adopted by the Legislature, that option – 

UPDATE: Why introverts shouldn’t be forced to talk in class

Why introverts shouldn’t be forced to talk in class:

Why introverts shouldn’t be forced to talk in class

Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 12, 2013 at 4:00 am

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Suddenly there is a lot of talk about introverts and the power of silence, in part because of a popular new book by Susan Cain called “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” Making a different argument is a piece in the Atlantic magazine advocating required participation in class. Here’s a look at the issue, by Katherine Schultz, a professor and dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland. She is the author of the2009 book, “Rethinking Classroom Participation: Listening to Silent Voices.”

By Katherine Schultz

Jessica Lahey, a high school teacher and writer, argues in the Atlantic magazine that introverts should be required to speak in class. She claims that classroom participation grades are not only fair but are necessary. Drawing on recent work on introverts (e.g., Susan Cain’s popular new book, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking“), she suggests that in order to be successful in today’s world, it is imperative that introverted students be taught and coerced through grades and expectations to participate in

Jon Stewart on Harvard cheating scandal in U.S. government class

by Valerie Strauss

In the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff department, a cheating scandal in a Harvard University government class about Congress, put through the Jon Stewart filter on The Daily Show this week. Watch this video for a good laugh.   The Daily Show with Jon … Continue reading →

Next ELT Blog Carnival Coming Up! | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Next ELT Blog Carnival Coming Up! | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

Next ELT Blog Carnival Coming Up!

by Larry Ferlazzo

As I’ve previously mentioned, after 31 editions of ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival, it was time for it to be refreshed. So I’ve worked with other bloggers to “re-brand” it as The ELT Blog Carnival and it now has its own permanent site!
You can see links to all previous Carnivals there, along with plans for future ones.
Here’s the announcement for the next Carnival:
The next ELT Blog Carnival will be hosted by EFL Classroom 2.0 on March 01.
You can send your entry HERE or directly to teachers@eltblogcarnival.com
The Theme for this month’s carnival is
Using Your Students’ Lives: Personalizing Your Teaching.
The site also has this announcement about future hosts:
Want to host a blog carnival on your blog? Please contact us! We hope to have blog carnivals each month and hosting on your own blog will help share so many valuable blog posts written each month by teachers all over the world.
Check it out!

NYC Educator: Give Me Four

NYC Educator: Give Me Four:

Give Me Four

by NYC Educator

by Recovering ATR

I wrote before the end of last semester about the two hell-raisers in my class, the Terrible Twosome of Bobby and Johnny. Since I wrote that blog a lot has happened, and so I thought I'd give readers an update.

First of all I decided to take action and talk to Bobby's guidance counselor. The guidance counselor actually had heard numerous complaints about Bobby and Johnny. So I suggested changing Bobby's schedule, and moving him to another class. Say, the class where everyone is hard-working and respectful and he has no room to cause trouble. The guidance counselor agreed 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: After being locked out in the cold, we made our voices heard

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: After being locked out in the cold, we made our voices heard:

After being locked out in the cold, we made our voices heard

by Mike Klonsky

Outside the church, crowd chants, "Let us in!" (M. Klonsky pic)

While hundreds of us were enduring the sub-freezing Chicago night, locked outside the Armitage Baptist Church in Logan Square, where the Fullerton Network School Utilization meeting had been called, I was remembering a similarly cold night in 1987 following the death of Mayor Harold Washington. That night we stood in the snow