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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Head Start limiting enrollment, cutting programs as sequester kicks in | EdSource Today

Head Start limiting enrollment, cutting programs as sequester kicks in | EdSource Today:

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Hundreds of children across the state will be shut out of preschool in September as the federal sequestration cuts to Head Start take effect.
The across-the-board reductions to large portions of the federal budget were triggered in March, when Congress failed to reach an agreement on balancing the budget by raising revenue or making specific cuts. Head Start, the national child care and education program for low-income children, received a 5.27 percent cut that is just catching up to local programs now. It’s forcing most to enroll fewer children, lay off staff, shrink the school calendar and, in some cases, even close facilities.
In El Dorado County, five spots have been cut from the 125-child program. In Long Beach Unified, 178 fewer students will be served this fall. In Ventura County, 72 fewer children will receive services. And in Fresno County, 76 fewer children will begin at a Head Start preschool this fall.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education Head Start and its affiliates served 22,000 children inthe 2012-13 school year. They’ll serve 900 fewer children in the upcoming school year – cutting off a vital resource for needy families, said Keesha Woods, the director of the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Head Start program.
“This may have been the only experience they would have of a hot meal and a research-based curriculum” before starting kindergarten, Woods said. “By us cutting services for that child, there are no other services in the county that parents can afford.”
It is not yet clear how many fewer children will be served statewide. The California Head Start 
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NYC Educator: Common Sense Says Reformy John King Must Go (Diane Ravitch Says So Too)

NYC Educator: Common Sense Says Reformy John King Must Go (Diane Ravitch Says So Too):

Common Sense Says Reformy John King Must Go (Diane Ravitch Says So Too)

If you haven't read Diane Ravitch today, it's time. She's calling for the resignation of NYS Education Commissioner Reformy John King. Ravitch is a voice in the education wilderness demanding we base decisions on research and practice. This flies in the face of common practice, which is to do whatever the hell Bill Gates wants and hope for the best.

He has imposed an evaluation scheme that no one understands, but which he famously described as “building a plane in mid-air.” He doesn’t realize that no one wants to ride on a plane that is being built in mid-air—not students, not teachers, not principals, not parents, not superintendents.

Not anyone with the remotest instinct for survival, when you get right down to it. But Reformy John is not about supporting the system. He's all about giving it away to his charter BFFs who got him the gig in the first place. This should be obvious to anyone observing the debacle that is the Common Core tests.

John King is the guy who singlehandedly imposed the insane system that will cause city teachers to be fired based on test scores. Of course, our union is complicit in this, as we took part in negotiations to enact the preposterous law that enabled it. Nonetheless, why isn't Reformy John judged by the scores of the very test he imposed?

If we are to judge teachers and principals by the rise or fall of student test scores, as King wishes, then so 
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8-14-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:





John King Thinks New York Has "Very High-Quality Common Core Assessments"
Yeah, he really does.He said so when he was asked by Gotham Schools if New York would be moving to the PARCC consortium assessments any time soon: “I suspect that we will perhaps move more slowly than some other states since we know that we have in place very high-quality Common Core assessments,” King said. Let's see, what were the complaints about those state tests last April?(NOTE: I refuse to
by reality-based edu... / 13min 

Assemblyman Steve Englebright Calls For NYSED Commissioner John King To Be Removed
Joining Diane Ravitch and Mark Naison in calling for John King's ouster is Assemblyman Steve Englebright:While Comsewogue Superintendent Joe Rella asked last week that his state legislators either help him change the state testing system, or remove him from office, his elected Assemblyman, Steve Englebright, would prefer that someone else be removed: the state Education Commissioner, John King. "T
by reality-based edu... / 21min 

Will The State Senate Hearings Into The NYSED/Regents Education Reforms Matter?
I missed this story from last week, but it looks to be an important one:The chairman of the New York State Senate Education Committee will hold hearings next month on the state's controversial educational reforms. Sen. John Flanagan, a Republican from Long Island, said he will hold several hearings across the state, starting in Long Island in mid-September. He said the topics will include, among o
by reality-based edu... / 21min 


Pearson Screws Up Again - This Time In Virginia
The incompetents at Pearson do it again:Pearson, the world’s largest education and testing company, provided incorrect scorecards for more than 4,000 students in Virginia who took an alternative assessment last school year. That mistake led to many parents receiving news this summer that their children had passed the test when they had failed it.“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this
by reality-based edu... / 9min 

Diane Ravitch Calls For NYSED Commissioner John King's Resignation
Send this call for King's removal around to everybody you know.Ravitch calls for him to resign but gives the Regents contact information, knowing that King will not go without pressure applied.I would add the contact information of the New York State Assembly and Senate members, along eith Speaker Sheldon Silver's contact information.Silver is very close to Merryl Tisch.If Shelly and his members s
3 by reality-based edu... / 30min 

Teen's Bad Grades Used As One Reason To Not Place Him On Heart Transplant List
This doesn't seem like a real story, but it is:Doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta estimate that without a heart transplant, 15-year-old Anthony Stokes will die within three to six months from heart failure. Yet despite his prognosis, they refuse to put Anthony on the transplant list, telling his family he doesn’t qualify due to “a history of non-compliance” characterized by “low grades an
by reality-based edu... / 8h


8-13-13 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: McGraw Hill Loses Regents Exams, NYCDOE Makes Students Retake The TestsJust outrageous:Students from a Chelsea high school have to retake their English Regents exams today after their original tests fell off the back of a truck on their way to be graded, the teachers union said last night. The United Federation of Teachers said about 75 11th-grade students from Chelsea Caree
by mike simpson / 9h 
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Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners

Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners:

Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners

By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 14 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer
common coreThe new Common Core State Standardsare being implemented — with a lot of controversy — in most states, and there’s a great deal of discussion about them. But it is unclear whether everybody who is opining for or against them has actually read them.
To get an idea of what they say, below are the English Language Arts and math standards for kindergarteners. You should know that some early education experts have criticized the English-Language Arts standards, arguing that they do not square with what is known about early childhood development.
The one that may well be my favorite is this:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
I can just picture a class of kindergarteners learning how to read emergent-reader texts with great purpose and understanding.
Here are Common Core standards for kindergarteners. Each standard is numbered; for example, RL.K.1 stands for Reading, Literature, kindergarten, standard 1.

Key Ideas and Details
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools - Chicago Sun-Times

Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools - Chicago Sun-Times:

Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools

BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Education Reporter August 13, 2013 7:50PM
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Updated: August 13, 2013 9:57PM
 

As Chicago Public Schools officials finish shuttering a record number of schools and leave many neighborhood schools to open their doors in two weeks with diminished budgets, the district has quietly issued a call for new charter schools.
In a 52-page PDF posted without fanfare on the district’s website, CPS is asking for new charter operators and campuses for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years mainly — but not only — in 11 so-called “priority communities” on the Northwest and Southwest Sides where district-run schools have been complaining of overcrowding.
“The focus of this year’s (request for proposals) is to address communities that are experiencing overcrowding, which is a separate issue from underutilization,” CPS spokeswoman Keiana Barrett said, adding that the call for charters is one strategy proposed to help with overcrowding. Others, as laid out in the city’s 10-year Educational Facilities Master Plan, advises redefining attendance area boundaries, building annexes, or building new facilities, but the district’s finances are tight, Barrett said.
“However, we need to pursue all options throughout all geographies since we can’t simply build our way out of the overcrowding challenges on the Southwest 
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Kendrick Lamar's Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

Kendrick Lamar's Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop) - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson:

Kendrick Lamar’s Control (Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop)

by JOSE VILSON on AUGUST 13, 2013
Kendrick Lamar as MLK Jr.
Kendrick Lamar as MLK Jr.
“What are you listening to?”
I know. I’m not supposed to have kids listening to their iPods in school. It was after the ELA state test, and they needed to decompress after another long period of little to no movement.
“What do you mean, Mr. V?”
“I mean, what are you listening to?”
“You know, stuff.”
“Stuff? Like, what kind of stuff?”
“Umm, rap, you know …” as he waves his hands, presumably to shy away from actually answering what he’s listening to.
“Like …” I’m not afraid.
“Chief Keef.”
“What song?” with my sternest Mr. Vilson voice.
“Ballin’.”
Was he serious?
“Yeah, like, the song is just about ballin’.”
I didn’t ask for lyrics. When he told me the next song was called “Macaroni Time,” I didn’t push him any further.
A few months later, we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of hip-hop, a rebel music born
- See more at: http://thejosevilson.com/kendrick-lamars-control-happy-birthday-hip-hop/
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