11-20-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

University president: Can anyone differ with Arne Duncan ‘without being dismissed as silly’?

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been in the news lately for his fervent defense of the Common Core State Standards and simultaneous criticism of those who oppose it and some of his other education initiatives, including a proposal for the Education Department to create a collegiate rating system. Here is a look at Duncan’s […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 10min

UDC drops psychics, history but keeps money-losing sports program. Really.

This isn’t a joke:  The University of District of Columbia, which was desperate to cut costs,  is eliminating 17 low-enrolled academic programs — including physics, history and economics — but is keeping for now an NCAA Division II athletics program that cost $3 million more last year than it generated in revenue. That was the decision of the […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 1min 

JFK’s Harvard application (with essay) and other school records

The 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy this Friday has prompted an avalanche of coverage about his life and death, including today’s visit to his graveside at Arlington Cemetery by President Obama and former President Bill Clinton. Here’s a look at something that hasn’t got much attention: his education. The John F. Kennedy […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 38min 

Surprising new research on school funding

Matthew P. Steinberg and Rand Quinn,  assistant professors in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, are giving testimony on Wednesday to the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education about new research findings about the Philadelphia public schools and how they have performed in the face of extreme underfunding from the state. Here’s […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 7min 

If math gives you anxiety, watch this

Does math scare you or your child?  Here’s a four-minute pep talk by an engaging  math major who goes by “Mathematigal” First she amusingly runs down the reactions she gets when she tells people she studies math “on purpose,” including  ”Oh, my brain’s just not built for that,” or “I’m more creative,” or “Oh, wow.” Then […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 34min 

A debate: What do international test scores tell us?

I published a post last week, headlined “The fetishization of international test scores,” that, as the title suggests, discusses how school reformers inappropriately obsess about international test scores. Some people in the education world took issue with with my views, including Marc Tucker, president of the non-profit National Center on Education and the Economy, an internationally […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 2h skip  //  save

Nine ways to improve schools in the nation’s largest district

The election of  Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat, as the next mayor in New York City could mean big changes in the nation’s largest school district, which for 12 years has been the subject of corporate-influenced and standardized test-based school reform. A group of New Yorkers recently got together to start to set an […]    

10 by Valerie Strauss / 6h 

11-19-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: ‘White suburban mom’ responds to Arne DuncanParent Ali Gordon has written an open letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan that starts like this: I am a white suburban mom, and I’m reaching out to you in an effort to explain what seems to be very confusing to you. Gordon’s letter (see below) is part of backlash that resulted from Duncan’s remarks on […]    100+ by Valerie Straus

by mike simpson / 8h 

11-20-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Pinehurst: Final Notes - Pinehurst Saved

Director Patu came out like a lioness, saying that the district tends to start programs and then, if they drag, stop supporting them.  She also said that no, she did not believe these kids could be served elsewhere.Peaslee said the commitment is there.  They will take anything to continue on as a program (AS #1) and Indian Heritage, like WS, has been tossed around.  Both know it will take work. Ca

by Melissa Westbrook / 57min 

Pinehurst Part Two

Peaslee is really fighting back with data on Pinehurst and its relationship to the Strategic Plan.  Pinehurst has been recognized by many organizations as a great school for students with different learning styles.  The support is there, she says, for Native American program and Pinehurst to join together and work well together. DeBell - gave praise to Peaslee for working hard on the issue.  Move

by Melissa Westbrook / 1h 

Pinehurst Agenda Item Discussion/Vote

Finally, onto a biggie. Ron English - Spokesman for a team of staff.  Needed to have community meeting at Thornton Creek and that happened.  TC doesn't want to be a K-8 program and want to preserve integrity of program.  Second issue in last two weeks about finances and whether estimates of per student costs were too high.  Joe Paperman looked at that.  When estimate was prepared several months ag

by Melissa Westbrook / 1h 

Board Meeting - Part Six

Director Peaslee is saying "we must honor our commitments."  To honor programs and serve our most underserved students (Native American, Special Ed and gasp! APP) is her message.Director DeBell is speaking.  "Eight years is a long time."  A long goodbye and he called out his policy work as being very important and how consistent policy matters.  He also said that he worries abo

by Melissa Westbrook / 32min 

United We Stand

A show of FORCE from the Native American, Pinehurst and World School communities.  Boy, the troops were really rallied and it was great to see such determination from these groups. There is a big NO to any kind of taskforce for either WS or Indian Heritage.  I think the message is out that an SPS taskforce means very little with so many with so little follow-up and follow-thru.  I think "we w

by Melissa Westbrook / 46min 

Board Meeting - Part Five

Now Peaslee wants to move one of her amendments but now backs off that.Now nearly 45 minutes behind.  Onto Consent Agenda and Martin-Morris wants to move item #4 (Legislative agenda) off of it.  Got that done. Now voting on Legislative Agenda.  Martin-Morris says as he read document that there isn't anything strong in it and it is a bit unclear in the state versus the national level.  (I honestly

by Melissa Westbrook / 2h 

Board Meeting - Part Four

Erin Bennett is now speaking about DeBell and Smith-Blum and their service.  DeBell was president no less than three times during his eight years of service.  She reeled off the entire number of Board meetings that he has been at (a lot).Pegi McEvoy is now speaking about Smith-Blum.  (Funny aside, some new people came in and when  I showed them where we were on the agenda, they were horrified.)  S

by Melissa Westbrook / 2h 

Board Meeting - Part Three

Onto the Superintendent's comments.   Wayne Barnett, Director of Ethics Commission with report on Ethics.  In middle of three-year program for Ethics program for SPS.  Training and advice and investigation.  On-line ethics training happened this summer.  Like to receive more requests for advice.  Done more investigation than advice.  130 complaints to date, whistle-blower mostly.  I'll get his rep

by Melissa Westbrook / 9min 

Blogging from the Board Meeting - Part Two

Native American parents and leaders speaking about Indian Heritage month.   Native American students are still at the top for drop-outs and Special Ed placements (proportional to their numbers).  One speaker said that we  must - "Put our minds together to seek a future for our children."  Another speaker is now talking about the late Native American leader, Robert Eaglestaff, who led the

by Melissa Westbrook / 29min 

Live Blogging From Board Meeting-Part 1

Since Blogger doesn't work well on my iPad, I'll just do multiple posts.  It's now 3:54 p.m.  There are about 25 people outside the JSCEE to rally for the Indian Heritage program.  There is a petition to make Wilson-Pacific School a Seattle landmark (I'll see if it's on-line). There are already tv crews here.  (Thank you to everyone who volunteered to be interviewed.  Very helpful.)The auditorium

by Melissa Westbrook / 9min 

And Now for Something Completely Different

Tired of all this growth boundaries talk?  Let's have a laugh.First up, hey, looks like the old Monty Python gang is getting together and putting a show on.  Please let them come to Seattle.  From the NY Times;A certain Norwegian Blue parrot is still dead, nearly 44 years after it shuffled off its mortal coil and joined the choir invisible in a famous television comedy sketch. But there is life ye

by Melissa Westbrook / 24min 

Looking for Input on Growth Boundaries

I have a couple of reporters looking for parents affected by the growth boundaries.  If you want to speak out publicly, let me know at sss.westbrook@gmail ASAP.  Leave a phone number if possible.To note (in case it got missed), the Native American SPS parent community is having a rally at 3:30 pm before the meeting.  Wear red in support.  If you are already going, please come and support these par

by Melissa Westbrook / 50min 

State Education News

I attended the 43rd Dems meeting last night; it's my district.  As you may be aware, the election of Ed Murray as mayor means he leaves the State Legislature as senator.  So his post needs to be filled and, so far, the only person to step forward is the one of the 43rd's representatives, Jamie Pedersen.  (The other is Frank Chopp, the Speaker of the House.)  Senator Murray is to resign on December

by Melissa Westbrook / 25min 

Seattle Growth Boundaries: Here's the Best Assessment So Far

So the SCPTSA may want the Board to vote first for the Intermediate Plan and then vote down the Growth Boundaries but that may not work.  (It's possible if they adjusted the Intermediate Plan.)Here's the thing:  It feels like the Board and the staff could have cut up the Growth Boundaries plan, section by section, thrown the pieces in the air and picked 10 off the ground.  I honestly worry that so

by Melissa Westbrook / 29min 

Yes to the Seattle Council PTSA's Suggestion on the Board Agenda

This just came across my desk and, at this point, I agree.  The agenda is a mess (not to mention the Growth Boundaries plan.  There's now even some mystery motion to change the agenda (with no explanation of what).PTA members,As you know, the position of Seattle Council PTSA is that Seattle Public Schools should only change the boundaries connected to the most critical capacity issues for 2014-15,

by Melissa Westbrook / 9h 

11-18-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Tuesday Open Thread From the Central District News, a trailer was released for a film, One Square Mile, that was shot throughout Seattle including Garfield High School.   Many recognizable sights and yay! Garfield. I learned that there is a subtropical storm brewing over the Central Atlantic about 600 miles off Bermuda. Melissa is showing signs of developing a tigh

by mike simpson / 3h 

11-20-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

The New York Times in an Era of Kool-Aid Journalism

With Advertisements for the Common Core, the Editorial Board at The New York Times has offered its special brand of Kool-Aid journalism to the careless claim that 2013 NAEP data somehow prove education reform is a success: The country is engaged in a fierce debate about two educational reforms that bear directly on the future of its schoolchildren: first, teacher evaluation systems that are taking

by plthomasedd / 17min 

RECOMMENDED: English Journal, Vol. 103, No. 2, November 2013

English Journal, a flagship publication from NCTE, is currently under the outstanding editorship of Julie and David Gorlewski—who have followed the stellar work of the previous editor, Ken Lindblom. I want to urge special attention to the current issue: English Journal, Vol. 103, No. 2, November 2013—Choices and Voices: Teaching English in a Democratic Society. As well, I must highlight some of th

by plthomasedd / 2h 

All Things Education: Public education for me but not for thee

All Things Education: Public education for me but not for thee

by P. L. Thomas / 2h 

11-19-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): The Duncan Debacle: It’s Not (Just) about DuncanIf Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has prompted outrage from a wide range of people, as Rebecca Klein reports, by invoking “white suburban moms,” as I have noted, the controversy is much more complex than “clumsy phrasin

by mike simpson / 8h 

11-20-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

NYSED Commissioner King Should Open Up A Whine Shop

He's always whining how the message about how wonderful his education reforms are never gets out to the general public - and usually he blames the media for not carrying his message.Here's his latest whine:Commissioner King, speaking to reporters afterward, admits the message about what the department believes are the benefits of using data collection companies like Inbloom, has not been getting o

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Poor, Poor Eva

colleague jokes "Eva Moskowitz didn't get a spot on the de Blasio transition team. bummer.”— Azi (@Azi) November 20, 2013Maybe next time.Gotham Charter Schools notes no teachers on the transition team, no UFT heads - but some good, solid friends of public schools, IMO:The committee includes Zakiyah Ansari, the Alliance for Quality Education’s advocacy director and a leading critic of the Bloo

by reality-based edu... / 3min 

Cuomo Pays Hollywood To Film In New York

Next time you hear Sheriff Andy lecture about fiscal discipline, remember this:ALBANY—New York's tax rebates for movie and TV studios are so generous that the state is actually paying them to film here, according to an analysis prepared for—but not published by—one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax commissions.The 137-page addendum to the commission's formal report asserts the Film and Television Tax Cre

by reality-based edu... / 55min 

How Much Have Districts Spent On Race To The Top Mandates?

A commenter at the Newsday article on Diane Ravitch writes the following:The greatest scam was Andy Cuomo and Obama holding a gun to our head about the $700 million Federal funding and other state aid as well. Cuomo painted the teachers' union as the greedy obstructionists depriving children of their right to learn. These absurd programs cost more to implement than what most districts got in retur

by reality-based edu... / 17min 

Children Have Only One Childhood

A commenter at a discussion on the Common Core reforms at Comsewogue High School:9:02 p.m. -- Trustee Alexandra Gordon head to the podium to speak about her experiences with common core. "Our kids only have one childhood and if we don't act for them or if we don't advocate for them who knows whats going to come down the pike next," said Gordon. "John King has his children enjoying t

by reality-based edu... / 2h skip  //  save

The Insanity Of Close Reading A Text Without Context Or Personal Connections

@leoniehaimson To teach without contact & context is bizarre, pointless, ineffective. Learning doesn't exist in a vacuum. Connection is all.— JosieHolford (@JosieHolford) November 20, 2013Read the whole Valerie Strauss post on Close Reading that they are talking about here - it is a horrifying tale of what is so wrong with Common Core and why kids and teachers hate it so much. I am teaching an

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

YESTERDAY

Ravitch Calls For Civil Disobedience Over Common Core Standards, Tests

From Newsday:Diane Ravitch, the outspoken education historian, policy analyst and author, called on educators across Long Island Tuesday to boycott Common Core-related curricula and refuse to administer state tests as an act of defiance against the state and federal governments."Your community is your boss, and you do what's best for children," said Ravitch, speaking at a Hauppauge meeti

by reality-based edu... / 10h 

11-19-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Regents Cut Time To Take State Tests, But Not Length Of TestsIf Merryl Tisch, John King and Andrew Cuomo think this sort of thing is going to head off mor protests against their education reform agenda, they're delusional: The state Board of Regents, with testing policies drawing increasing public outcry, is shortening the time that students will have to take next spring's s

by mike simpson / 8h 

Shanker Blog » Can Knowledge Level The Learning Field For Children?

Shanker Blog » Can Knowledge Level The Learning Field For Children?:

Can Knowledge Level The Learning Field For Children?

Posted by Esther Quintero on November 20, 2013

How much do preschoolers from disadvantaged and more affluent backgrounds know about the world and why does that matter? One recent study by Tanya Kaefer (Lakehead University) Susan B. Neuman (New York University) and Ashley M. Pinkham (University of Michigan) provides some answers.

The researchers randomly selected children from preschool classrooms in two sites, one serving kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, the other serving middle-class kids. They then set about to answer three questions:

1. Do poor and middle class children possess different knowledge about the world?
2. Do differences in knowledge influence the children’s ability to learn in the classroom?
3. If differences in preexisting knowledge were neutralized, would the two groups of children learn similarly?

To answer the first question, the researchers determined how much children from both groups knew about birds and the extent to which they were able to make inferences about new words based on such knowledge.

Not surprisingly, lower-income children had significantly less knowledge about birds and bird behaviors than did their middle-class peers. To rule out the possibility that these differences were the result of disparities in language proficiency, Kaefer et al. measured the children’s receptive vocabularies. This way, they were able to establish that poor kids knew less about birds, not merely because they knew fewer words related to birds, but because they had less information about the domain in general.

To answer the second question — whether differences in knowledge influence the kids’ ability to learn in the 

Students Last: A Sitcom Star Is Born?

Students Last: A Sitcom Star Is Born?:

A Sitcom Star Is Born?

Will Duncan become a television star?

Los Angeles - The celebrity news website TMZ is reporting that former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was spotted at cable and satellite television network TLC corporate headquarters.

After handing in his resignation to President Obama earlier today, Arne Duncan then flew to L.A. and met with several Hollywood bigwigs.

Reportedly Mr. Duncan is in negotiations with producers for his own prime time program.

Several sources have confirmed that the show will likely be a sitcom that pokes fun of his penchant 

The Money Pit at PS 154 in the Bronx southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

The Money Pit at PS 154 in the Bronx

Some teachers from PS 154 have shared some concerns with The Crack Team here at SBSB. The biggest concern is the lack of transparency from Dr Alison Coviello; PhD. and Principal when it

comes to the monies being strewn about.

With the register down to the mid 400's this year and losing approximately $125,000 due to the low enrollment teachers and parents should have a right to know how, and on what, Dr Alison Coviello; PhD. and Principal spending the schools dwindling coffers.

While this and this give some idea of how monies are being spent, the information is way to convoluted for the average non doctoral person to understand. If only there was an easier way.

That is why the some parents and staff, not the Socs at PS 154, but the Outliers/Greasers want to see the real budget. The real expenditures. As of today, November 18, 2013, teachers have been very concerned that the Dr Alison Coviello; PhD. and Principal has failed to provide a copy of the budget since her reign began back in April of 2012. Only when there is full disclosure of the monies spent can