10-15-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

A campaign rally in search of a candidate. 2,500 rally to take back Chicago.

Several thousand community activists from across Chicago rallied at the University of Illinois Chicago Forum Tuesday night. It was a boisterous political campaign rally aimed at Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his corporate backers. All that was missing was a candidate. When there is this kind of enthusiasm without a candidate, Rahm must certainly be worried that one will step up. Several state legislators

by Fred Klonsky / 4min 

IEA President and Retired Chair speak out about Illinois retiree health care crisis.

  IEA President Cinda Klickna. IEA President Cinda Klickna and Retired Chair Janet Kilgus today issued a statement about the plans to change retiree health insurance in Illinois. Colleagues,   As you know, changes are planned for the state-backed insurance plans for SURS and TRS retirees.   IEA staff and leaders are working hard to get you the latest insurance information and we’r

3 by Fred Klonsky / 38min 

I filed a FOIA request for the contract between Central Management Services and HMS. I wanted to know more about their demands for dependent eligibility confirmation.

A couple of weeks ago I started hearing from retirees about what they felt were intimidating demands and threats of an audit on those who had dependent coverage – a spouse, a partner by civil union, a child or guardian. Central Management Services, an agency that works for the governor and has oversight of the state’s health insurance programs, had hired HMS. HMS is based in Arlington, Texas. They

by Fred Klonsky / 0min 

Reports Quinn met with unions to discuss pension solutions. Did the unions offer these common sense revenue solutions?

. WICS NewsChannel 20: It’s a $100 billion problem with no easy solution. Gov. Pat Quinn says the state’s pension crisis is still far from being solved–and the fall veto session is just around the corner. The group of lawmakers responsible for coming up with a pension reform solution is still apparently divided. Five Democrats are in favor of a plan that would save the state $138 billion over

1 by Fred Klonsky / 14min mark as read  //  save

Rauner makes it easy for unions to endorse the anti-union Quinn.

State retiree’s future looks dimmer than five Illinois legislators meeting over lunch. You can forgive us older folks living in Illinois if it feels like they’re piling on. There is the constant threat of what they call pension reform – cutting benefits while raising no new revenue. There are the crazy new requirements for proof of retiree health insurance eligibility. And the shift of Medicare a

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

No deal pension deal in Springfield. Yet.

“Whatever reform we do shouldn’t be solely on the backs of people who didn’t do anything wrong,” Sen. Toi Hutchison, (D) Olympia Fields. Charles Thomas, the local ABC news political reporter says that it looks bad (or good) for a pension reform deal in the veto session next week. Be clear. We want NO bill to pass in this session. That’s because the only thing that is being considered is how much

1 by Fred Klonsky / 7min 

Why doesn’t this feel empowering?

CPS had to readjust its numbers. They had to explain why only 60% of students from the 50 schools they closed showed up at the so-called Welcoming Schools. They had predicted 80%. Catalyst reports: Also, the new numbers show that the district still doesn’t know where about 5 percent of the displaced students are enrolled. Some 11,729 students were displaced, including preschoolers and special educ

4 by Fred Klonsky / 46min 

10-14-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Echoes of Washington. Springfield partisan manipulation and the pension hurt.  Chair of the Gang of Ten Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul. From the Daily Journal: Four Republicans want a pension crisis fix to be more far-reaching. One of six Democrats wants more concessions to unions. With the Illino

by mike simpson / 9h 

10-15-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Pleas for civility. Please! #edreform

Hither and thither on Twitter today, and perhaps from a post by Education Week, I’ve seen folks from the education deform camp plea for civility. That is, educators and parents and students are not affording folks like NY state education official John King enough respect. That we can indeed engage in civil debate. Civility? I […]

2 by Shaun Johnson / 20min 

Aren’t All Children Equally Deserving?

Aren\’t All Children Equally Deserving?. via Aren’t All Children Equally Deserving?.

by plthomasedd / 25min 

Teacher Education for schools as they are OR for schools as they should be? That is the question.

A mentor once told me that “our goal” in teacher education is not to prepare preservice teachers to teach in schools as they are but to prepare them “to teach in schools as they should be.” What does that actually mean?  If enacted how would teacher education look?  What would we do and/or not do? […]

10 by Timothy D. Slekar / 36min 

Hess, Please Begin the Moratorium

I recently called for a moratorium on white men pontificating on race, class, and gender—prompted by a series of blogs by Michael Petrilli. So when I read Rick Hess’s “Teachers Deserve (But Have to Earn) Their Seat at the Table,” I immediately asked myself a few things: (1) Is this April 1?, (2) Has Hess finally become the […]

by plthomasedd / 25min 

10-14-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: The Common Core Public License: Guess Who Wins?On October 10, 2013, I published a post, The Fight to Save Common Core: Count Me Out, in which I briefly discuss the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) public license. In this post, I more closely examine the CCSS license in order to offer a more detailed account of both its contents and the implications of those […]2 by deutsch29 / 

by mike simpson / 10h 

10-15-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Commissioner John King Claims "Special Interests" Planned "Chaos" At Town Hall Meetings

Commissioner John King surfaced at a school in Troy, New York today where Capital NY caught up with him to ask about his cancellation of the PTA-sponsored twn hall meetings with parents on Common Core.Here is what King said:King also elaborated on his decision Monday to cancel four town-hall meetings with parents about the Common Core changes, after he encountered a rowdy crowd in Poughkeepsie las

by reality-based edu... / 24min 

Twitter Is Another Way To Let NYSED Commissioner John King Know What You Think

@JohnKingNYSED @TheRevAl @UFT @shankerinst If anyone asks a tough question, will you cancel all future panels?— Arthur Goldstein (@TeacherArthurG) October 13, 2013

by reality-based edu... / 48min 

The Bully Gets His Feelings Hurt

Michael Fiorillo in this comment thread:Apparently, closing public schools and replacing them with private charters is civil behavior.Apparently, attacking teachers and blaming them for the ills of society is civil behavior.Apparently, monetizing student data is civil behavior.Apparently, doing all of this at the behest of a small coterie of billionaires, without any public input, is civil behavio

by reality-based edu... / 48min 

Politicians Start To Question John King's Act

The gist from the Times Union article - politicians are starting to openly question John King's reforms and his handling of parent concerns:With so many failing, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, D-Albany, a former Albany school board president, said she worries about the "self-esteem of kids." Her two teens attend Albany High School, which scored poorly, she said, and Fahy called King's deci

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

This Journal News Editorial Says The Common Core Forums With Commissioner King Should Go On

Form the Journal News:There’s no question that a “town hall” meeting on newly enacted Common Core curriculum, hosted by the New York State PTA, became heated Thursday night in Poughkeepsie. The new education standards were attacked, and New York State Education Commissioner John King — sometimes standing to respond to speakers — was widely criticized. The public comment period was cut short. Many

by reality-based edu... / 22min 

How Do You Let John King And SED Officials Know They're Wrong Without Showing Anger And Disrespect?

Peter DeWitt has a blog post up this morning at Education Week on the John King/Poughkeepsie fiasco.DeWitt, who has been on the other end of SED anger himself (he got a pushback from an SED flack when he wrote a blog post pointing out that NYSED Commissioner John King sends his kids to a Montessori school where they are safe from the SED education reform agenda), says that it is a shame that the c

by reality-based edu... / 58min mark as read  //  save

Michael Powell Calls Cuomo Out For Hypocrisy In Times Column

Sheriff Andy said he would clean up Albany with his trusty Moreland Commission no matter where the evidence in the investigations went.Michael Powell notes there are some asterisks to that Cuomo declaration:The commission will never back down.* (*Except when the governor’s aides suggest that subpoenaing the Real Estate Board of New York, which helped lobby for multimillion-dollar special tax abate

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

10-14-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: NYSED Commissioner King's Charter School Chain Does Not Have To Use APPR Teacher Evaluation SystemJust outrageous:State Education Commissioner John King is overhauling the state’s method of evaluating teachers, but the charter schools he used to run aren’t participating. The high-performing Uncommon Schools — which include 20 schools in Brooklyn — have opted out of receiving

by mike simpson / 9h 

Five Research-Driven Education Trends At Work in Classrooms | toteachornototeach

Five Research-Driven Education Trends At Work in Classrooms | toteachornototeach:

Five Research-Driven Education
Trends At Work in Classrooms

by Katrina Schwartz

Increasingly, educators are looking to research about how kids learn to influence teaching practices and tools. What seemed like on-the-fringe experiments, like game-based learning, have turned into real trends, and have gradually made their way into many (though certainly not most) classrooms.

BRAIN-BASED TEACHING

Many educators are using researchers’ insights into how children best learn to inform their teaching practices. Stanford professor Carol Dweck’s research on encouraging children to develop a growth-mindset continues to grow in popularity, as educators try to praise effort, not outcomes. Dweck writes that if children believe their abilities are fixed — that either that they’re smart or they’re not — they approach the world in different ways and aren’t as able to face adversity. When they believe skills and abilities can grow throughout one’s lifetime, they’re better able to rise to challenges.

Brainology, Dweck’s program, is just one of many such school-based programs that teachers can use in classrooms, as is Brainworks.

Educators are also teaching learning strategies, helping students find out the best ways to 

Fine Print: Reports Detail Racial Segregation in New Jersey Public Schools - NJ Spotlight

Fine Print: Reports Detail Racial Segregation in New Jersey Public Schools - NJ Spotlight:

FINE PRINT: REPORTS DETAIL RACIAL SEGREGATION IN NEW JERSEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

JOHN MOONEY | OCTOBER 15, 2013

Rutgers-Newark and UCLA studies cite stark disparities and even ‘apartheid’ in education system

Click to expand.

Provocative titles: “New Jersey’s Dysfunctional State Education System: Apartheid and Intensely Segregated Schools as an Important Cause” and “A Status Quo of Segregation: Racial and Economic Imbalance in New Jersey Schools, 1989-2010”

The authors: The reports were released jointly on Friday by the Institute of Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark and the Civil Rights Project at University of California, Los Angeles. The first report was written by Paul Tractenberg of Rutgers and Gary Orfield and Greg Flaxman of UCLA. Flaxman was lead author of the second report.

What they are: The studies update and detail the long-running picture of race in New Jersey schools, which continues to have some of the most segregated schools in the nation. The Civil Rights Project report tracks data since 1989 to show little 

Public schools shouldn’t close for religious reasons:

Public schools shouldn’t close for religious reasons

• BY VALERIE STRAUSS

• October 15 at 4:00 am

Hannah Shraim, 14, with her father and mother at home in Montgomery County . She will not attend school on the Muslim  holiday Eid. (By Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post.)

Some Muslims in Montgomery County are pushing for  public school district to close schools on two major religious holidays, including one, Eid al-Adha, that is being celebrated today, according to this Post story by my colleague Donna St. George. Muslims say that their community should be respected in regard to the school calendar in the same way that Christians and Jews are. What’s wrong with that reasoning?

The problem is that American public schools are not constitutionally allowed to close to accommodate any religious need, meaning they aren’t supposed to close for religious reasons (even if Christmas Day is an official federal government holiday). But there is, in fact, a practical secular reason for closing school on some religious holidays in some areas: too many students and/or 

Strauss: The problem with ‘whatever it takes to get the job done’

How many times have you heard “whatever it takes to get the job done’ and worried about what it takes? Here’s a piece on how this relates to school reform, by Athur H. Camins, director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. His writing can be accessed at http://www.arthurcamins.com/. Read full article >>    

2 by Valerie Strauss / 2h 

School Technologies for Special Needs Children in Very Poor Countries (Harvey Pressman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

School Technologies for Special Needs Children in Very Poor Countries (Harvey Pressman) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

School Technologies for Special Needs Children in Very Poor Countries (Harvey Pressman)

Harvey Pressman is President, Central Coast Children’s Foundation. He’s been Technology Editor of Exceptional Parent Magazine, a board member, of the Alliance for Technology Access, an Education and History Professor, and a Peace Corps official. He has written many books and articles about educational technology and the education and employment of people with disabilities, and has directed demonstration programs in these and other areas.

So much writing about technology in poor countries often focuses on the adaptations that need to be made through use of local materials, low-cost or no-cost solutions and cultural changes. We have far too often witnessed expensive failures of technology exports plunked down into environments that simply cannot accommodate them.

Over the past several decades, economically developed nations have made 

Reassessments and Retakes: A Necessary Part of a School-Wide Grading Policy | Connected Principals

Reassessments and Retakes: A Necessary Part of a School-Wide Grading Policy | Connected Principals:

Reassessments and Retakes: A Necessary Part of a School-Wide Grading Policy

October 15, 2013

By Brian Stack

“Lawyers who finally pass the bar exam on their second or third attempt are not limited to practicing law only on Tuesdays” – Wormeli, 2011

We allow people to retake their driver’s license exam as many times as they need to in order to demonstrate competency. The same is true of other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, doctors, and electricians who are required to pass a certification/licensure exam. Reassessment is a part of our real world. I find it ironic, then, that as educators we cringe at the thought of allowing reassessments in the classroom in an effort to “prepare kids for the real world!” I held this belief until a few years ago when O’Connor and Stiggins (2009) and Wormeli (2011) helped set me straight. Reflecting back, I now cringe at the harsh reality that from 2001 to 2006 I sent hundreds and hundreds of students into the real world without the opportunity to reassess to solidify their learning.

At my school, Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, New Hampshire, we believe in the concept of reassessments so much that we actually have a school-wide common procedure that supports 

Tips On Better Managing Requests

My first year as a school administrator, I was determined to be a leader who followed through on requests from teachers. What I didn’t anticipate was how many requests I would receive in a day. After a while, I began to learn to some habits that helped manage requests more wisely. So, here are some suggestions on how to prioritize so many competing demands: 1. Give up Your’Savior’Complex Don’t ma

2 by William Parker / 2h 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class: Week Six 2013

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week in Class: Week Six 2013:

Week in Class: Week Six 2013

Lots of good stuff going on but hard to find the time and energy to write about it. The times when things are going well are often the hardest to motivate myself to blog about. I spent some time out of the class at Common Core math trainings, and online time writing about CCSS ELA.

Going digital

I missed putting up a podcast for week 5, but made up for it this week, by including a class discussion. I had hesitated to record them because they seemed shy and not as forthcoming as prior classes, but the students really seemed to “kick it up a notch” being recorded, making me wish I had started this sooner. The recordings can be found here.

Silver lining, or?

One of the things I discovered in my training is that Common Core is emphasizing working with integers less in elementary and sixth grade (they may want more in fractions). As a result, my kids who have been using a text based on the broader and more aggressive California standards, have already been exposed to integers at the level they are now expected to know in sixth grade. We were finishing up a unit on integers, so I scaled back the test to the Common Core requirements. Only problem, the next chapter in the text is on algebra functions, and 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Taking back our city

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Taking back our city:

Taking back our city

Busy day today. I'm sitting in on a doc student's dissertation defense at UIC and then heading down the street at 5 p.m. to the UIC Forum for the Take Back Chicago rally and town hall meeting.

TCB is being organized by the Grassroots Collaborative, an alliance of neighborhood and community organizations who are working to develop a unifying vision for the city's future. I'm hoping that the coalition will be able to launch a new round of organizing around school and community issues and also be a force in the upcoming elections.

Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Grassroots Collaborative tells Gapers Block that Take Back Chicago plans to educate these city officials and push them towards political change that reflects the will of the people, not just the will of Mayor Emanuel.

"Mayor Emanuel isn't the king of Chicago. That's not how we make policy. We're pushing for real democracy."

Participating organizations include:
Action Now • AFSCME Council 31 • Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation • Brighton Park Neighborhood Council • Chicago Coalition for the Homeless • Chicago Teachers Union • Enlace Chicago • Illinois Hunger Coalition • Kenwood Oakland Community Organization • ONE Northside • Pilsen Alliance • SEIU Healthcare  •Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation • Southside Together Organized for Power • Southwest Organizing Project• Stand Up! Chicago

I'm told that many State and local officials will be attending, including Gov. Pat Quinn, Cook