Wednesday, May 8, 2013

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-8-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch




Voucher Decision a Blow to Jindal 2016 Campaign

Good article in the Washington Post about the major decision by Louisiana’s top court to strike down funding of vouchers with public school dollars.
More than 700,000 students in the state, only 8,000 have vouchers. Many vouchers used in schools that resolutely refuse to teach modern science, math, or history. Funny place for Jindal to stake his claim. He is determined to find the money some other way, though he would surely prefer to carve it out of the public school 


Charter Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation Week

By some strange coincidence, Teacher Appreciation Week coincides with National Charter School Week.
Bear in mind that almost 90% of charters are non-union, that charters may fire teachers at will, that charter teachers do not have tenure, that many charters are known for high teacher turnover due to the stress of longer school days, and that many do not hire certified teachers. In some states, lie Ohio, charter teachers earn half as much as public school teachers, because the charter teachers are typically younger and less experienced.
Just thinking about that when I read President Obama’s proclamation.

Paul Thomas: Now Is the Time for Non-Cooperation

Paul Thomas reacts here to Randi Weingarten’s call for a one-year moratorium on high-stakes testing associated with the Common Core and to Jennifer Jennings’ apology to Secretary Duncan for being booed at AERA.
He warns that moderation and civility are not appropriate responses to extreme conditions.

Texas: The Surefire Plan to Destroy Public Education

You think it can’t happen here?
You think your state is immune?
Read about the war on public education in Texas and think again.
Some part of this radical agenda is being promoted in almost every state.
Yours too.
This comment was written by Bonnie Lesley of “Texas Kids Can’t Wait”:
“I worry a lot whether public schools will continue to exist in some states. Our organization, Texas Kids Cant

John Merrow’s Investigation of Michelle Rhee

John Merrow deserves enormous praise for his dogged investigative journalism in pursuing the allegations if widespread cheating in the DC public schools during the tenure of Michelle Rhee.
Perhaps even more impressive is that he recognized his own error in his past coverage, which had presented Rhee in a heroic light. Merrow, by his account, ran a dozen segments on Rhee, which were very positive. It was only towards the end of his last story that he began to dig deeper, especially after he heard the story of Adell 

Anthony Cody: Will a Moratorium Save Common Core?

In one of his characteristically thoughtful and provocative essays, Anthony Cody ponders Randi Weingarten’s call for a one-year moratorium on the high stakes associated with Common Core testing. Randi praised the Common Core standards lavishly but warned that they would fail if high stakes are attached to them before teachers and students are prepared to master them.
Cody does not agree. He maintains that the Common Core testing will have even higher stakes than NCLB. Not only will there be more testing, but teachers and principals will be fired, schools will close, communities will be 

Diane in the Evening 5-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | #thankateacher

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: *#thankateacher* Teachers: You Must Not Internalize the Blame by dianerav This teacher realized that she could not be free to think for herself until she stopped internalizing and accepting the reproaches of the corporate reformers. She was free when she realized that her training and experience as an educator mattered. She was free when she realized that when she did not attain perfection every day, it was not her fault. She wrote: “Can’t speak for everyone, but the way it worked for me was this way… initially... more »

Teacher Appreciation Week: It's About the Little Things - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Teacher Appreciation Week: It's About the Little Things - High School Notes (usnews.com):


Teacher Appreciation Week: It's About the Little Things

May 8, 2013 RSS Feed Print
A high school science teacher works with students. Show teachers your appreciation throughout the year by acknowledging their hard work.
Show teachers your appreciation throughout the year by acknowledging their hard work.
Teachers devote their lives to educating the nation's youth. They serve as mentors, coaches, counselors and yes, even baby sitters, often with limited resources and little recognition.
These challenges can take their toll. Year after year, high school teachers report high stress levels and low job satisfaction rates, according to annual surveys by the MetLife Foundation.
National Teacher Appreciation Week – May 6-10 – gives parents and administrators the nudge they need to show 

UPDATE: The attack on the IRTA + The dust hasn’t settled on the pension deal. | Fred Klonsky

The dust hasn’t settled on the pension deal. | Fred Klonsky:


Ten minute drawing. Good cop, bad cop.

good cop bad cop

 


Quote of the week. Elaine Nekritz.

nekritz
“For them to say that the legislature is giving people two choices, neither of which they have today, both of which are less than what they have today, I don’t know how that’s different from what we’re saying,” – Elaine Nekritz

 


Meanwhile at City Hall, protesters want to know why Rahm hasn’t walked the walk.

BJwMImiCEAAstqi.jpg-large


The attack on the IRTA is a disturbing dimension of the pension debate.

I’ve heard this.
Let the union leadership bargain the best deal they can, and then go to court anyway. If the courts rule in defense of the constitution then all is good and the legislature will have to go back and address the revenue issue like they should have. If the courts rule that the legislature can ignore the constitution, then at least we will have the better of the two bad deals.
You know your living in Illinois when your forced to engage in that kind of thinking.
I believe that the We Are One legal minds say that by coming up with this bargain SB2404 emerges constitutional.
The law allows for a modification of a contract.
By conceding to the diminished benefits of SB2404 the We Are One coalition, the IEA included, undermines any 


The dust hasn’t settled on the pension deal.

Yesterday was a wild day here at fredklonsky.com
I have never received so many comments. Many of them extended and passionate.
3,000 site visits. Nearly 100 comments.
Two people were supportive of the We Are One coalition’s concession. All the rest were critical.
Of course, my readership is somewhat self-selecting.
But again, Kudos to brother Bob Haisman. Bob and I are long-time activists for our union (Bob has a few years 

Ed Notes Online: Updated: Jennifer Jennings (formerly Eduwonkette) apologizes to Secretary Duncan over the booing at AERA

Ed Notes Online: Updated: Jennifer Jennings (formerly Eduwonkette) apologizes to Secretary Duncan over the booing at AERA:


Updated: Jennifer Jennings (formerly Eduwonkette) apologizes to Secretary Duncan over the booing at AERA

I have heard this before; critiques from the people in power or their apologists saying “why can’t you be more civilized.”  In my mind, it is similar to a well-equipped army that invades your country, takes over your institutions, and then argues with the natives that their resistance is not “civilized” enough. ... Leonie Haimson
Jennifer Jennings is one of my favorite people of all time even though I disagree with almost every word in Jennifer's apology to Duncan which today surprised the world of long-term Real Reform activists battling ed deform. One commentator used the term, "bizarre."

Given Jennifer's former superstar status when she blogged anonymously as Eduwonkette from Sept. 2007 to Aug. 2008 and through her final post in Jan. 2009 under her own name, this was somewhat of a bombshell.

I wouldn't classify this, as some may have, as the reverse of the Ravitch desertion of the ed deform camp but Jennifer's absence from the public discourse over th

Links and Lessons for K-12 Schools and Hospitals (Jeff Bowen) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Links and Lessons for K-12 Schools and Hospitals (Jeff Bowen) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:


Links and Lessons for K-12 Schools and Hospitals (Jeff Bowen)

Dr. Jeffrey Bowen has served as superintendent of the Yorkshire Pioneer Central School District in western New York, research director for the New York State School Boards Association, and supervisor of on-the-job training in an Air Force hospital.  He is a founding member and vice president of the Healthy Community Alliance in Gowanda, New York.  
Since 2000, hospital bills have increased at an annual average rate of 10 percent.  Surveys show most Americans think that health care costs seriously threaten the economy.  Issues of access and quality complicate the picture.  Health care is gobbling up 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Meanwhile, funding cutbacks are distressing K-12 schools.  More than half the states are spending less per student this year compared to last.  As thousands of teachers are laid off, school boards and superintendents are reverting to bare-bones core academic programs and nervously depleting fund balances..
Schools and hospitals have many similarities.  These include for profit and nonprofit types, boards of directors and CEO’s, differentiated patient or pupil treatments, stringent confidentiality of records, specialized and 

‘Change Without Reform in American Education’ — book excerpt

‘Change Without Reform in American Education’ — book excerpt:


‘Change Without Reform in American Education’ — book excerpt

cubanLarry Cuban is a former high school social studies teacher and a school district superintendent (in Arlington, VA) who has been  teaching at Stanford University for more than 20 years and conducting research on wave after wave of school reform and their effects. In just about every case, the effects of reform effects have been less than promised. In his new book, “Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change Without Reform in American Education,” he takes us into classrooms and drills down into research to make his case. (My colleague Jay Mathews reviewed the book here.) Here is an excerpt from the book.
By Larry Cuban
In this book, I have highlighted the errors of reform-driven policymakers and entrepreneurial business and civic elites for supporting initiatives that have, in my judgment, been unhelpful in schools and misled the public. Yet in criticizing these policymakers I have neglected to point out positive outcomes these reform-minded diverse policy elites with similar interests have achieved over the past three decades.
Positive Outcomes of Three Decades of Economic-driven School Reforms
  1. Hastened shift from defining school effectiveness as the level of resources that go into schooling children and youth to exclusive concentration on outcomes.
Since the late-19th century, policymakers judged school quality and effectiveness by how 

Eighth grader: What bothered me most about new Common Core test

Here’s a piece from an eighth grade student named Isaiah Schrader about his recent experience with the new Common Core-aligned assessment tests he and other New York students just took. Isaiah, who is 14 years old, attends Anne M. Dorner … Continue reading →
   

What one teacher wants for Teacher Appreciation Week

What do I want for teacher appreciation week @networkpubliced? For teachers to not be thrown under the bus in the name of ed reform. — Michelle Gunderson (@MSGunderson) May 8, 2013  

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Weiner discipline

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Weiner discipline:


Weiner discipline

Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner is planning to run for mayor of New York, a position that would also put him in control of the schools. Why New Yorkers would want to put this creep anywhere near school children is beyond me. But then, Mark Sanford was just elected in South Carolina, so what do I know?

(N.Y. Post pic)
Monday, protesting NYC students made it clear that they want no part of Weiner's ideas on public education. Those ideas were laid out in a policy booklet released last month. In the document, titled “Keys to the City,” he wrote that his first educational priority was to “streamline the process of removing troublesome kids from the classroom.” What he would be "streamlining" is Mayor Bloomberg's current policy which emphasizes using suspensions and arrests to enforce school safety.

The students did their homework and found that arrests and suspensions in NYC schools disproportionately and unfairly involve black and Hispanic students.

According to the Times:
“Instead of proposing an ineffective and harmful policy for student safety, you should embrace 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Now I've Heard Everything

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Now I've Heard Everything:


Now I've Heard Everything

I am working on a series on Common Core (which is coming at you like a Japanese bullet train.)  But there are some pretty funny things happening so I just couldn't wait.

Conservatives and Dem ed reformers and corporate ed reformers have been able to join hands and sing Kumbaya over charters, TFA, teacher evaluation, etc.

But here comes Common Core and it all falls apart.  The conservatives loathe Common Core and have succeeded in spreading the word.  The GOP passed a resolution against it and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have lined up against it.  At least 10 of the 45 states that signed on to Common Core have introduced backpedalling legislation.  A few, like Virginia, are still holding out.

Agendas for Upcoming Ctm Meetings/Work Sessions

 Executive Committee agenda for Wednesday.  Hey, all of you waiting for next year's school calendar - they will be discussing that.  (I note that other districts have theirs published already.)

Audit& Finance agenda for Thursday.  I see there is a "resolution" about moving leases and rental revenue to the General Fund.  Well, okay but ONLY if it goes to building maintenance.  Those are really capital dollars and should go to capital needs.  But I'll bet they won't. 

Work Session presentation on Boundaries. 

Highlights:
  • I'm quite surprised but they indicate that the "initial focus" for boundary changes will be elementary and middle schools.  High schools to come later.
  • Community engagement will be "Let's Talk!" meetings in June and August.  Which is really great because 

UPDATE: Missouri Education Watchdog: Post Dispatch STL Today's Disingenuous Editorial on Common Core Standards. Susan Ohanian Chimes In.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Post Dispatch STL Today's Disingenuous Editorial on Common Core Standards. Susan Ohanian Chimes In.:



Missouri Call to Action. Show Your SB210 Support to Shed Transparency on Common Core Cost/Data Retrieval.

SENATE BILL 210 WITNESS FORM TO COMPLETE
URGENT! Hearing Thursday, May 9th -- Fill out a witness form NOW
  
 
SB 210 is a bill designed to shed some light on Common Core Standards, which the Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education intends to implement in 2014. This bill requires DESE to hold a series of public meetings and issue reports to the legislature.

Hundreds of citizens from around the state are concerned about Common Core resulting in an intrusive national database of very personal data about our children. This bill provides the transparency needed to establish the facts.
Find the witness form here.  


Post Dispatch STL Today's Disingenuous Editorial on Common Core Standards. Susan Ohanian Chimes In.

The definition of disingenuous amply sums up the St. Louis Post Dispatch's editorial on Common Core standards and the recent meeting DESE held "informing" the public on the initiative.  From a googlesearch of the word:

dis·in·gen·u·ous  

/หŒdisinหˆjenyo͞oษ™s/
Adjective
Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.

Synonyms
insincere - false - devious - hollow-hearted

You can read the editorial here.  The readers' comments are overwhelmingly against the PD's stance and the paper's integrity is called into question. Those with any factual knowledge about Common Core and who have read more than what the Post has published about CCSS will recognize this editorial as reprinting talking points about the initiative from either CCSSO or the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  There are no facts in this editorial piece to back up the editorial board's 

Louisiana Believes in Completely Denying Reality | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Louisiana Believes in Completely Denying Reality | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:


Louisiana Believes in Completely Denying Reality

STATEMENT FROM SUPERINTENDENT JOHN WHITE REGARDING LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT RULING
May 07, 2013
BATON ROUGE, La. – State Superintendent of Education John White issued a statement today concerning the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling on Act 2:
“On the most important aspect of the law, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of families. The Scholarship Program will continue, and thousands of Louisiana families will continue to have the final say in where to send their children to school. Nearly 93 percent of Scholarship families report that they love their school, and we will work with the Legislature to find another funding source to keep parents and kids in these schools.”
While those of you who are still able to read (after my concerted effort to systematically destroy Louisiana’s education system by replacing certified teachers with “certified chipmunks” and Japanese “dolls” we purchased with an E-rate technology grant for our international bachelorette program) might infer from the passage below that the State Supreme Court did not rule in my favor, just because they explicitly and repeatedly state they are 

How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison

How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison:


How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison


Filed under: Teachers
This timely study represents the most comprehensive analysis of American teacher unions’ strength ever conducted, ranking all fifty states and the District of Columbia according to the power and influence of their state-level unions. To assess union strength, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now examined thirty-seven different variables across five realms:

The strength of teacher unions in the U.S.

How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions?
1) Resources and Membership
2) Involvement in Politics
3) Scope of Bargaining
4) State Policies
5) Perceived Influence
The study analyzed factors ranging from union membership and revenue to state bargaining laws to campaign contributions, and included such measures such as the alignment between specific state policies and traditional union interests and a unique stakeholder survey. The report sorts the fifty-one jurisdictions into five tiers, ranking their teacher unions from strongest to weakest and providing in-depth profiles of each.

Download the state profiles (Click your state to download):






The Educated Reporter: Guest Post: Data Offers Education Reporters Fresh Angles on Familiar Stories

The Educated Reporter: Guest Post: Data Offers Education Reporters Fresh Angles on Familiar Stories:


Guest Post: Data Offers Education Reporters Fresh Angles on Familiar Stories

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) held its annual meeting in San Francisco last week, and I asked The Hechinger Report's John Marcus to share a guest post.

The Common Core State Standards. Teacher quality. College access.

None of these are particularly new topics on the education beat. But they can be reported in new ways using data, according to researchers who collect it.

Take the Common Core. Data shows that states whose education standards are already closest to the Common Core do best, said Bill Schmidt, co-director of the Center for the Study of Curriculum at Michigan State