1 | Beautifully Mashed-Up Photos Show The Glory And Wreckage Of Detroit | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

1 | Beautifully Mashed-Up Photos Show The Glory And Wreckage Of Detroit | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation:

Beautifully Mashed-Up Photos Show The Glory And Wreckage Of Detroit

The Detroit Now and Then project artfully combines vintage photos of the city with images of what’s there now, providing a poignant reminder of what the city was, what it is now and--maybe--what it could be again.

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Several years after the original Cass Tech High School in downtown Detroit was abandoned, a local photographer sifting through the ruins found decades of the school’s storied history in the chaos of what had been the yearbook room on the fourth floor. In a cabinet that had largely shielded the trove from water damage, he found boxes and boxes of loose photos and developed film taken throughout the school’s life.

Al--and this is not his real name--smuggled the images out over three or four trips and digitized them before turning over the originals to the school’s alumni association. The images show students, in black-and-white, seated in the library, or, more recently, mugging for the camera in full color in front of their lockers. Al later returned to the school with dozens of these photos and an “elderly” Canon camera in hand, trying 

Justice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children | The Raw Story

Justice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children | The Raw Story:

Justice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children

The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of Florida on Monday, accusing health officials of violating the Americans with Disabilities act by placing almost 200 handicapped minors in nursing homes usually used for elderly residents, Mother Jones reported.

The lawsuit, (PDF) filed after an investigation that began in 2011, charges that the practice shows the state “acting with deliberate indifference to the suffering of frail and severely disabled children.”

Florida is the 12th state sued by the department over alleged mistreatment of physically or mentally disabled residents in the past four years. The Miami Herald reported that while the state has increased patient care payments to $550 per day for children placed in nursing homes, lawmakers also cut $6 million from a program allowing residents to get private health care at their homes.

“Unnecessary institutionalization denies children the full opportunity to develop and maintain 

NYC Educator: Getting Rid of "Bad Teachers"

NYC Educator: Getting Rid of "Bad Teachers":

Getting Rid of "Bad Teachers"

That's what AFT President Randi Weingarten focused on in some sort of AFT gathering. I don't get invited to AFT gatherings in my lowly capacity as representative of the largest high school in Queens, but that's only because a prerequisite is to support whatever the union supports, like mayoral control and junk science evaluation. Better we send someone from a school with twelve teachers who really knows what's going on, to wit, do what you're told and shut the hell up about it.

Now no one actually wants bad teachers. No one wants bad weather, bad haircuts, or bad karma either, but there you go. But what is a bad teacher? Well, according to the new APPR, for which the union helped compose a state law, it's anyone whose students don't get sufficient test scores. Yet, according to brilliant math teacher Gary Rubinstein, who actually crunches the numbers, and Diane Ravitch, whose statue I keep on my car dashboard, judging teachers by test scores is junk science. This means teachers will be rated, continued, or fired based on junk science, essentially on a random basis next year.

Am I a bad teacher? Who knows? I'll just have to wait and see the test scores of my students. Since they don't actually 

Support Rolls in for ConnectEd | ED.gov Blog

Support Rolls in for ConnectEd | ED.gov Blog:

Support Rolls in for ConnectEd

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Cameron Brenchley

Seal of Approval

In June, President Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take the steps necessary to build high-speed digital connections to America’s schools and libraries, ensuring that 99 percent of American students can benefit from advances in teaching and learning. Improving our schools’ technology infrastructure—especially in rural and geographically-isolated communities—is necessary to unlock the power of technology to transform learning.

Last Friday, the FCC’s commissioners voted to move forward on the President’s challenge, and since then, a broad, diverse set of leaders from across the country spoke up in support of the FCC’s actions. Here is a collection of several of those statements:

Read President Obama’s statement andSecretary Duncan’s statement.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee: I fully support the steps the FCC is taking to modernize the E-Rate program so that our schools and libraries can keep up with the digital demands of the 21st century. Expanding the speed of broadband, not just availability, is essential to this endeavor, and the proposed rulemaking will help advance America’s classrooms and libraries. We live in a world where broadband is a necessity, not a luxury, for the next generation to learn and compete.

Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia: By expanding high-speed internet in the nation’s schools and libraries, the federal government can ensure that teachers and students have access to tools that make learning more personalized and more engaging, making it possible for all students to reach their learning destinations.

Communications Workers of America (CWA): Our schools and libraries need much higher capacity networks to enable students to take advantage of the great potential of digital learning and new technological advances. Our goal should be at least 1 gibabit per second capacity to every school in our nation. Today’s FCC action is a good step forward.

American Library Association Executive Washington Office Director Emily Sheketoff: ALA has heard from dozens of our members sharing examples of what the E-rate program has enabled in our communities—particularly as it relates to meeting community employment, education and government online information and service needs. Library Internet access has been a lifeline and a virtual ladder for many Americans needing to stay afloat and move ahead in a time of economic turmoil and swift technological change. Now is the time to shift from making sure every library and school is connected to focusing on developing the telecommunications capacity desperately needed to support 21st-century digital learning needs.

Matthew M. Polka, American Cable Association (ACA) President and CEO: ACA applauds acting Chairwoman Clyburn and Commissioners Rosenworcel and Pai for initiating this serious review of the E-Rate program. ACA has many local service provider members that participate in the program and many others that are experienced voice and broadband providers whose participation could enhance the value of the program. That the program has been valuable for schools and libraries is unquestioned.  We now need to address flaws in the program and reorient it to deliver today’s essential high-speed broadband service.

Brian Lewis, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE): ISTE recognizes the leadership of President Obama, Senator Rockefeller, and Commissioner Rosenworcel, and we thank them for their ardent support of high-speed broadband connectivity for all of our nation’s students. ISTE plans to file substantive comments on the E-Rate NPRM, and we urge all education and library stakeholders to do the same.

American Association of School Administrations (AASA): AASA looks forward to working with the FCC as we move forward with this rulemaking, and we are committed to the idea that the final conversation will include a permanent, significant increase to the E-Rate funding cap. The increased funding, in addition to accompanying programmatic changes, will bolster the long-term success of both the E-Rate program and the students, schools, and libraries it supports.

John Hill, Executive Director, National Rural Education Association: The National Rural Education Association supports efforts of the President to extend broadband service to all schools, especially rural schools. The expansion of broadband provides rural schools opportunities to access a wider variety of educational offerings and services. Furthermore, the expansion will give rural communities additional tools for economic development and telemedicine.

Ken Wasch, president of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA): The E-Rate program has been a critical means for the nation’s schools and students to access the digital learning opportunities necessary for their success. SIIA applauds Acting Commissioner Clyburn and the Commission for their vote today to modernize and enhance the E-Rate program to better meet today’s needs and to better support our nation’s educational and economic competitiveness.

Learn more about President Obama’s plan for connecting all schools to the digital age.

School Finance 101: Gaming Adequacy by Creating a Veneer of Empirical Validity | School Finance 101

School Finance 101: Gaming Adequacy by Creating a Veneer of Empirical Validity | School Finance 101:

School Finance 101: Gaming Adequacy by Creating a Veneer of Empirical Validity

Posted on July 23, 2013

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This post comes from a work in progress… and addresses games states play to validate their choices to spend less than might actually be needed in order to achieve desired outcome standards.  This post will be followed by another which reviews three major smokescreens commonly  used to argue that none of this matters anyway.

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Over the past two decades in particular, states and advocacy groups have engaged with greater frequency in attempting to define the amount of funding that would be necessary for achieving adequate educational outcomes. One might characterize the period as one of the rise of empiricism in school finance, which coincided with a shift in litigation strategies from emphasis on funding equity to emphasis on funding adequacy – specifically whether funding was adequate to either provide specific programs and services or to achieve specific measured educational outcomes.  In some cases, states have adopted their empirical strategy in response to judicial orders that the legislature comply with state constitutional mandate for the provision of an adequate education. In other cases, states have proactively set out to validate spending targets they know they can 

School Finance 101: Reformy Distractions, Diversions & Smokescreens from What’s Really Needed

This post is a follow up to the previous, and is based on work in progress. ===== We conclude with a discussion of three themes in the current political rhetoric regarding school finance that we see as creating significant barriers to substantive reforms. Three arguments in particular, are pervasive in the broader education reform debate, with implications for school funding equity and adequacy:

by schoolfinance101 / 19min

MIT technology trailblazer is a critic of computerized learning | Hechinger Report

MIT technology trailblazer is a critic of computerized learning | Hechinger Report:

MIT technology trailblazer is a critic of computerized learning

By Jill Barshay

Mitchel Resnick is the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. His research group is best known for inventing two blockbuster educational technologies: the programmable bricks used in the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits and Scratch, a computer programming language that allows children to create and share interactive stories, games and animations. The Hechinger Report talked to him about whether technology is changing education for better or worse.

Question: Millions of kids around the world are using your simplified computer programming language, Scratch. I once read that Scratch accounts for 10 percent of all visits to MIT websites. What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Answer:  One of the reasons for Scratch’s success is that it’s really easy to mix together different animations, photographs and graphics. And you can share them in an online community and see what other people have created. In our mind, two of the most important aspects of any learning experience are creating and collaborating.

But the creating and the collaborating were in two separate worlds. You had to download the Scratch software and create on your own computer. Then, when you went online to the Scratch community 

UPDATE: PARCC’s Convenient Release of Cost Analysis | Scathing Purple Musings

PARCC’s Convenient Release of Cost Analysis | Scathing Purple Musings:


The Florida Five: Common Core’s Republican Shills

From John O’Connor in StateImpact:  Five former Republican Party of Florida leaders have sent out an email asking state GOP members to support new education standards adopted by Florida and 44 other states. The letter is signed by state Sen. John Thrasher and four other former state party chairmen. When Florida has raised its standards in the past, Thrasher wrote in the email, it has resulted in b

by Bob Sikes / 1h 

PARCC’s Convenient Release of Cost Analysis

Posted on July 23, 2013by Bob Sikes

Pearson pushed back this week. Reeling from the news that Florida’s top two legislative leaders wanted out of the PARCC testing consortium that are part of Common Core Standards, Pearson, who was awarded the contract for PARCC, released a cost analysis of PARCC. And surprise! It costs less that FCAT. From Jeff Solochek in Gradebook:

When questioning the need to remain in the PARCC testing consortium, House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz referred to concerns over cost.

“To date, the cost of the full implementation of PARCC assessment materials is indeterminate, let alone the costs for the technology and professional development infrastructure necessary to effectively administer a valid assessment program,” they wrote July 17 in a letter to commissioner Tony Bennett.

On Monday the consortium issued its cost estimate for its testing: $29.50 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-23-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Before Detroit’s Fire Sale Begins, Call the Experts

With bankruptcy looming, buzzards are flying by to pick meat off the Motor City’s bones. Before they do, someone should talk to experts on the dangers of privatization: Contact: Richard Allen Smith July 23, 2013 rasmith@inthepublicinterest.org **** MEDIA AVAILABILITY**** As Detroit Contemplates a “Fire Sale” of its Assets, Privatization Experts are Available to Discuss the Dangers of Selling Pub

by dianerav / 11min 

How Enron $till Put$ Student$ Fir$t

Enron may have gone bankrupt, and its employees may have lost their life savings, but it left some people very rich. Here EduShyster tells the story of Texas billionaire John Arnold. He is one of the lucky few who managed to walk away from the Enron debacle with more than $3 billion. Some former Enron execs are doing time. Not Arnold. You know he must be smart because he got out before the roof f

by dianerav / 34min 

NYC Educator: Making Big $$ in Bloomberg’s NYC

Arthur Goldstein, who teaches English language learners in a high school in Néw York City, realized he is missing out on the way to get very rich in Mayor Bloomberg’s education system. Certainly not by teaching because the mayor doesn’t care for teachers. It is not by teaching in a charter but by operating a charter like Eva and Geoffrey. The teachers turn over rapidly but the CEOs do very well

by dianerav / 0min 

Kevin Huffman and the Mind of a Reformer

Kevin Huffman, Tennessee state education commissioner, has decided that children with disabilities need to take the same standardized state tests as other children. For many years, children with severe disabilities took an alternative test, but Huffman wants to put an end to that. He says it is time to stop lying to these children. “For years, the state has been hiding children with disabilities

by dianerav / 46min 

Bruce Baker: One of the Dumbest Ways to Evaluate Teachers

Bruce Baker here examines a “graduate school” created by charter schools where their inexperienced teachers train new teachers how to produce high test scores. The model is a charter in New Jersey called North Star that gets great “growth scores” but has remarkably high attrition rates, especially among black boys. Baker writes: “But is a school really successful if 50 enter 5th grade, 1/3 are g

by dianerav / 0min 

How Many Times Can Charter Operators Fail and Still Survive?

Darcie Cimarusti—aka Mother Crusader—has done some heavy duty investigation and research. She was trying to figure out who were the movers and shakers behind the Jersey City Global Charter School. She knew that New Jersey Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf boasted about the care with which he selected new charter schools and their operators. But she was not convinced. It didn’t take much digging

by dianerav / 45min mark as read  //  save

Daniel Denvir: Pennsylvania Covering Up Major Cheating Scandal

Daniel Denvir, crack investigative journalist in Philadelphia, reports that the state has dragged its feet on an investigation of a major cheating scandal. Despite evidence of high rates of erasures, the state has done nothing and refuses reporters’ requests for information. Denvir writes: “Over the last two years, inquiries were closed or altered with little explanation, and state and school ad

by dianerav / 1h  

Diane in the Evening 7-22-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Connecticut Teacher On Vallas’ RecordA Connecticut teacher named Linda who comments frequently on the blog decided to research the record of Paul Vallas. This is her summary: “I have been keeping track for a while now…easy to goggle Vallas and Pelto, Ravitch, Mercedes Schneider, Philly Notebook, George Schmidt, substance news. http

by mike simpson / 11h mark as read  //  save

Missouri Education Watchdog: Education - It's A Funding Problem

Missouri Education Watchdog: Education - It's A Funding Problem:

Education - It's A Funding Problem

By now most people are familiar with the Melissa Harris-Perry video where she accused us of having an old fashioned notion of our children belonging to us, when in fact they belong to the collective.

I believe MS. Harris-Perry has it wrong.  We have been treating our children as belonging to the collective for a long time and that is one of the biggest problems with education.

We collectively pay for education. Ever since it was mandated in our country (and our state) we signed the social contract that says we will all pay for education because ultimately we will all benefit from preparing future generations.

While this payment was handled at the local level there were fewer problems.  If the locals didn’t like the school teacher they chose, they replaced her.  She was accountable to them because they paid her salary directly.

As we have expanded the means by which we pay for education, we have expanded the number of people who feel entitled to a say in what we at the local level are doing with their money.  Government has a responsibility to the taxpayer to be responsible stewards of our money and to demand accountability. That is what has led us to our current predicament with education - the concept that we are accountable to the federal government for the goals that they have set for the money they send us. The 

UPDATE: When in doubt, make sh*t up… - Wait, What?

When in doubt, make sh*t up… - Wait, What?:


Divine intervention in Bridgeport….

Categories: Bridgeport Kenneth Moales Malloy Mayor Bill Finch Paul VallasTags: BridgeportKenneth Moales Jr.MalloyMayor Bill FinchPaul VallasKenneth Moales’ church “Miraculously” gets certificate of occupancy and Board of Education votes to pay for Vallas’ legal fees. According to the Connecticut Post, “Just hours after city officials conceded that the Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr. had been operating hi

by jonpelto / 43min 

We don’t need no stinkin Certificate of Occupancy…. Laws don’t apply to Rev. Moales

Categories: Budget Cuts Kenneth Moales Mayor Bill Finch Paul VallasTags: BridgeportKenneth Moales Jr.Mayor Bill FinchPaul VallasThe strange twisted tale of Reverend Kenneth Moales, Jr. the Paul Vallas defender, Mayor Bill Finch campaign treasurer and Chairman of the Bridgeport Board of Education took another strange turn yesterday when the Connecticut Post reported that Moales’ 1500-seat church,

by jonpelto / 0min 

When in doubt, make sh*t up…

The Hartford Courant editorial writers weighed in on the Paul Vallas debacle today with an editorial entitled, “Why Make It So Hard For Paul Vallas To Help Bridgeport Schools?”

The most cursory review of their position reveals that they either failed to take the time to check the facts or worse, made up their own facts to fit their conclusion.

The Hartford Courant Editorial claimed, “Mr. Vallas may not meet every certification requirement to the letter. But in the larger sense, to say that he is unqualified or ineligible to be superintendent in Bridgeport is a bad joke…The experienced administrator has served 15 years in Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans school districts. This record doesn’t qualify him to run Bridgeport’s schools?”