1-20-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

United Opt Out to hold annual spring event in Denver, CO #edchat #edreform

Here are all of the official details, from United Opt Out National. UOO held its first two spring events in Washington, DC under the banner of “Occupy the DOE.” Occupations, unfortunately, are passe now, don’t you think? More than that, Washington is, honestly, an expensive and ugly place. The USDE building is ugly and isolated. […]

by Shaun Johnson / 9min

Fordham and Hess Temporarily Acknowledge that Reformers Can’t Have it Both Ways

Voucher advocates are in an absolute tizzy over a recent paper from the pro-education-reform Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It is truly a thing of beauty. Jay P. Greene is not amused. He is a titan in the ed-reformer ranks and the blog-host of such dandies as “New Column on Florida’s Anti-Testing Nihlists” (sic) wherein one finds wisdom touting the […]

2 by johnkuhntx / 25min

Digging deeper into the principal controversy in Newark, NJ #p2

Have you been following it? We have. There may be some connections to the bullying tactics of the Christie administration. There might not be. I don’t know. But what happened Newark in recent days is part and parcel of the assault on meaningful conversations in education, especially when it challenges prevailing reform interests. We’re starting […]

2 by Shaun Johnson / 21min

Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: “This rigid refusal to look at ourselves”

Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: \”This rigid refusal to look at ourselves\”. via Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: “This rigid refusal to look at ourselves”.

1 by plthomasedd / 20min 

My MLK Post: An Assignment for Test-Driven Reformers

On this day dedicated to the memory of a remarkable man who gave his life (literally) for the sake of civil rights and social equity, I expect that education privatizers will use the opportunity to promote themselves as “overcoming” opposition to their self-serving, destructive policies. They might even go so far as to imply that Martin Luther […]

4 by deutsch29 / 3h 

1-19-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Don’t drown in the education reform Sea.Do you show up to your classroom, every single day, ready to influence the lives of your students? Do you arrive at your school building, every single day, ready to change the trajectory of your students’ lives? Do you wish to become a teacher that some student…someday…somewhere will always remember? If so, be careful not to […]1 by Angel C

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-20-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs

With A Brooklyn Accent:

Sit and Stare Policies for Students Who Refuse Tests in New York State.

I am not sure if this is a policy that is being encouraged by the NY State Education Department, but at least 10 School Districts that I know of in Long Island and Upstate NY require that any child who refuses to take a state test, including those as young as third grade, must sit in the room with students taking the tests and stare at the blackboard for the entire time of the test. They are not a

by Mark Naison / 1h 

The False Prophets of School Reform

It is astonishing to see people who have never taught, or have taught a few years and left, become the major forces shaping education in the United States.. They are guided by a policy ethos,which, if you were describing it in biblical terms, would be regarded as False Idolatry. While holding the human skills great teaching involves in contempt, they worship Data, Quality Control and Top Down Mana

by Mark Naison / 2h

1-18-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All WeekWhy the Term "School Reform" Has Lost Its LusterThe term "School Reformer" was once honorable or hopeful. No more. Now, the associations with those two words are so profoundly negative that most people, other than ambitious politicians, can no longer use them without choking. To me "School Reform" now is fa

1 by mike simpson / 8h

1-20-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

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

remnant 51: “Earth is a perfectly liberal world”

remnant 51: “Earth is a perfectly liberal world”.

1 by plthomasedd / 45min 

Our Readers Think: About Integration (1945)

Our Readers Think: About Integration (1945).

by plthomasedd / 2min 

New Bottles for New Wine (1952)

New Bottles for New Wine (1952).

1 by plthomasedd / 20min 

Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: “This rigid refusal to look at ourselves”

“What happens to a dream deferred?” asks Langston Hughes in “Harlem.” As a poem of social consciousness, “Harlem” may often be reduced to literary analysis or an artifact of the Harlem Renaissance; as schools become more and more focused on the Common Core and raising scores on the related next-generation tests, the poem is likely to be (if at all) just one more text for close reading practice. Bu

9 by plthomasedd / 45min 

1-19-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Intelligence Rating of High School Pupils and Their Achievement in College (1926)Intelligence Rating of High School Pupils and Their Achievement in College (1926).1 by plthomasedd / 16min hide  //  saveremnant 50: “I would prefer not to”remnant 50: “I would prefer not to

by mike simpson / 9h

1-20-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Starting To Look Like A Major Storm

National Weather Service now calling for 6-10 inches Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning, than plunging temperatures into the teens.Given the forecast, we should see school go off as normal tomorrow, then see after school activities cancelled for tomorrow afternoon.Wednesday starts to look dicey, depending on when the storm ends and snow stops falling.My guess is, we have school, but attendan

by reality-based edu... / 18min

NYSED Commissioner King: Opponents To Common Core Are Opposed To MLK's Dream

You knew someone prominent in the corporate education reform movement would trot out the "If Dr. King were alive today, he would be a huge proponent of the Common Core State Standards to drive racial and economic justice..." meme.That prominent someone was NYSED Commissioner John King.The underlying theme to his piece is that the Common Core will help bring about Dr. King's dream of raci

by reality-based edu...

Saying No To The Snow God

The ELA Regents exam is next Monday.We have four class days left before the exam.We have three days of after school tutoring, since Friday tutoring is always a no-go.Ever since they had to cancel school a day after we gave the ELA Regents back during the 2000's, I start scouting the weather reports a few weeks in advance before the actual test date.See, the last thing we want to do is spend all th

by reality-based edu... / 27min

Cuomo "Sitting Pretty" For Re-Election - Time To Make That Re-Election A Little Less "Pretty"

From the Daily Politics blog at the Daily News:Democratic Gov. Cuomo is viewed favorably by 66% of New York voters and 57% are ready to give him a second term, a Siena poll released Monday finds. But Bridgegate has eroded the Garden State gov's image among his neighbors -- including when it comes to his presidential prospects.Republican Christie's favorability rating stands at 49% -- a precipitous

by reality-based edu... / 27min

Mulgrew, UFT Leadership Worried About Office Bugging

Your UFT dues money at work:Something’s bugging teachers-union boss Michael Mulgrew — or, at least, he thinks so. The United Federation of Teachers president blew a huge wad of union cash to play out a paranoid James Bond fantasy when he paid $17,849 for a security team to sweep his headquarters for bugs, documents show. A crew from Protective Countermeasures & Consulting Inc. was hired to swe

by reality-based edu... / 31min 

Hey Governor Cuomo, Where's The Merit Pay Money Coming From?

The Jamestown Post-Journal wants to know:Danielle O'Connor, superintendent of Frewsburg Central School, said the logic of promising bonus pay to teachers while her district is still struggling with a $1.2 million gap elimination adjustment is less than sound. "We would certainly be able to strengthen our district and our performance if we had that $1.2 million, as opposed to giving it to indi

by reality-based edu... / 5h

1-19-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: BridgeGate, Hoboken/Sandy Relief Funds Scandal May Cost Chris Christie His Chairmanship Of The GOP Governor's AssociationThe scandals are starting to mount for Chris Christie and they're taking their toll.He might have survived BridgeGate, especially after he proved to be so adept at his press conference explaining away the particulars of the scandal and how he had nothing t

by mike simpson / 9h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Amiri Baraka's son Ras, delivers his eulogy (Video).

Ras Baraka 

"Every nurse that would come in the room he said, 'Hey, my son is running for mayor. He came to the hospital with a bag of (political) literature." -- NJ.com

Michael Eric Dyson 

We’ve deliberately dismembered him [Dr. Martin Luther King] through manipulation of his memory. And those of us who have failed to see his radical challenge, in deference to a vision of King that is one of a universalist, that everybody can attach to — which was true, of course — but that wasn’t the full story. -- Salon, How we get Dr. King Wrong

Obama's NSA Speech

Meanwhile, totalitarian states like East Germany offered a cautionary tale of what could happen when vast, unchecked surveillance turned citizens into informers, and persecuted people for what they said in the privacy of their own 

Academia's indentured servants - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Academia's indentured servants - Opinion - Al Jazeera English:

Academia's indentured servants

Outspoken academics are rare: most tenured faculty have stayed silent about the adjunct crisis, notes Kendzior. Last Modified: 11 Apr 2013 11:19

Sarah Kendzior Sarah Kendzior is an anthropologist who recently received her PhD from Washington University in St Louis. RSS

"To work outside of academia, even temporarily, signals you are not "serious" or "dedicated" to scholarship," writes author [AP]

On April 8, 2013, the New York Times reported that 76 percent of American university faculty are adjunct professors - an all-time high. Unlike tenured faculty, whose annual salaries can top $160,000, adjunct professors make an average of $2,700 per course and receive no health care or other benefits. Most adjuncts teach at multiple universities while still not making enough to stay above the poverty line. Some are on welfare or homeless. Others depend on charity drives held by their peers. Adjuncts are generally not allowed to have offices or participate in faculty meetings. When they ask for a living wage or benefits, they can be fired. Their contingent status allows them no recourse. No one forces a scholar to work as an adjunct. So why do some of America's brightest PhDs - many of whom are authors of books and articles on labour, power, or injustice - accept such terrible conditions? "Path dependence and sunk costs must be powerful forces," speculates political scientist Steve Saidemen in a post titled "The Adjunct Mystery". In other words, job candidates have invested so much time and money

Alternatives to Teach for America | NGS Movement

Alternatives to Teach for America | NGS Movement:

Alternatives to Teach for America

Teach For America has an average acceptance rate of less than 15%, the majority of the applicants from Ivy league schools…tough odds for the majority of young people. The good news is there are plenty of other ways to work to address the education disparity in this country and even in other parts of the world.  Some of these programs are service years, other are designed for people who want to become teachers for a longer period of time. If you would like help exploring these opportunities or completing the applications, sign up for an NGS mentor here.

City Year (nationwide)

“City Year’s mission is to build democracy through citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship. It is through service that we can demonstrate the power and idealism of young people, engage citizens to benefit the common good, and develop young leaders of the next generation.

City Year is wholly focused on fighting the national dropout crisis. We have committed to leverage the talent, energy and idealism of corps members to serve as tutors, mentors and role models in schools to help students stay on track – and get back on track – to graduate. “

World Teach  (worldwide)

As a WorldTeach volunteer, you will witness firsthand the challenges and rewards of education in a developing country. You will share the skills and knowledge gained through your education and life experience with your students, and you will make a lasting difference in their lives, opening their eyes to a world beyond their classrooms.

You will gain cultural understanding and the ability to work independently in a new and often challenging environment.

You will develop key skills– including teaching, language, cross-cultural communication, and leadership– that will be useful in any career path.

Americorps Builds Lives Through Education (Buffalo, NY)

“AmeriCorps Builds Lives through Education (ABLE) members serve K-12 students in the city of Buffalo, NY by tutoring and providing academic assistance. ABLE members commit to one year of full-time service as AmeriCorps members at a partner site. Many ABLE members come to the program as certified teachers, but it is not a requirement for service. In addition to serving at a host site, ABLE members participate in continuous professional development including monthly trainings, site visits with ABLE staff, reading & discussion series, and other opportunities provided through ABLE. “

Citizen School (nationwide)

The AmeriCorps Teaching Fellowship at Citizen Schools gives leaders real teaching and non-profit experience, while engaging them deeply in communities and schools. Two years of service helps to 

My MLK Post: An Assignment for Test-Driven Reformers | deutsch29

My MLK Post: An Assignment for Test-Driven Reformers | deutsch29:

My MLK Post: An Assignment for Test-Driven Reformers

January 20, 2014

On this day dedicated to the memory of a remarkable man who gave his life (literally) for the sake of civil rights and social equity, I expect that education privatizers will use the opportunity to promote themselves as “overcoming” opposition to their self-serving, destructive policies.

Such grandiose, corporate reformer self-titling is nothing new. Beginning with former President George W. Bush in 2002, reformers have been proclaiming themselves as civil rights saviors.

Bush used the “civil rights ” term during the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend at the outset of his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) years:

WASHINGTON (CNN) – With the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend under way, President Bush on Saturday called education “the great civil rights issue of our time” and took the opportunity to highlight his agenda for change.

Regarding Bush’s “agenda for change”: This current year presents a particular irony since Bush proclaimed “100% literacy” by 2014.

It’s 2014. As education historian Diane Ravitch notes in 

The Shriver Report – Pushing Back Against Poverty

The Shriver Report – Pushing Back Against Poverty:

Pushing Back Against Poverty

JOYA MISRA, PHD | 01.20.2014

© michaeljung – Fotolia.com

In 2010, more than one in five U.S. children lived in poverty – substantially more than in most other wealthy countries. Poverty affects children in a variety of ways, including poor nutrition, housing, health and educational outcomes. No mother would choose poverty for her children – yet, too many cannot avoid poverty.

The youngest children are also more likely to be poor: children under three are at the highest risk of living in poverty. This reflects that young children require care, which can be very difficult to balance with employment. At the same time, low-wage jobs often do not pay enough to support a family, and even many middle-class jobs do not afford parents the opportunities to pay for high quality childcare.

My research (with collaborators Irene Boeckmann, Michelle Budig, Stephanie Moller, Eiko Strader, and Elizabeth Wemlinger) examines how industrialized democracies have worked to support and ensure opportunities for women and their children. We explore employment, wages, income, and poverty, and consider how welfare state policies can create better outcomes. This research gives us robust answers about the policies that are most important for families in the 21st century, providing a safety net that also acts as a trampoline – giving real opportunities to women and their families.

Employment protections are key, and the United States gained significant ground over the 20th century in ensuring that women have more equitable access to education and employment opportunities. Yet while we have seen a growth in educational attainment and employment, we need to consider work scheduling, leaves, and childcare as part of the package that will help women attain true success in the workplace, while supporting their families.

AN OVERWHELMING 96% OF SINGLE MOTHERS SAY PAID LEAVE IS THE WORKPLACE POLICY THAT WOULD HELP THEM MOST

A WOMAN'S NATION PUSHES BACK FROM THE BRINK

MORE SHARING SERVICESSHARE

Many discussions of work scheduling refer to flexibility. Yet calls for flexibility often assume that we need greater flexibility in order to work long hours, and do not recognize the ways flexibility has been used against part-time workers, whose “flexible” schedules are cost-effective for their employers, but 

New Jersey Civil Rights Attorney Says School Reform Must Consider Real Issues: Segregation and Poverty | janresseger

New Jersey Civil Rights Attorney Says School Reform Must Consider Real Issues: Segregation and Poverty | janresseger:

New Jersey Civil Rights Attorney Says School Reform Must Consider Real Issues: Segregation and Poverty

Posted on January 20, 2014 by janresseger

On this day as we reflect upon the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, an article by New Jersey civil rights attorney Paul Tractenberg is a sobering reminder that in public education we have a long, long way to go.  Tractenberg describes what he calls the two school systems of New Jersey:

“One, the predominantly white, well-to-do and suburban system, performs at relatively high levels, graduating and sending on to higher education most of its students.  The other, the overwhelmingly black, Latino, and poor urban system, struggles to achieve basic literacy and numeracy for its students, to close pernicious achievement gaps, and to graduate a representative share of its students.  These differences have been mitigated to a degree byAbbott v. Burke‘s enormous infusion of state dollars into the poor urban districts, and some poor urban districts like Union City have been able to effect dramatic improvements.  But neither Abbott nor any other state action has done anything to change the underlying demographics.”

Tractenberg describes a new report he co-authored, released jointly by Rutgers University’s Institute on Education Law and Policy and the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, that focuses on apartheid schools “with 1 percent or fewer white students” and intensely segregated schools with “10 percent or fewer white students.” According to the report, “almost half of all black 

Teen Birth Rates Drop, But Districts Fight Parent Dropouts - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Teen Birth Rates Drop, But Districts Fight Parent Dropouts - High School Notes (usnews.com):

Teen Birth Rates Drop, But Districts Fight Parent Dropouts

By KELSEY SHEEHY

January 20, 2014 RSS Feed Print

Working with teen parents to develop a plan and support can help districts fight dropouts.

Critics slam MTV's "16 and Pregnant" for glamorizing teen pregnancy, but a new study suggests the hit show helped lower pregnancy rates among high schoolgirls.

The report looked at birth rate, Google search and Twitter data, as well as Nielsen ratings, to determine what effect, if any, the show had on teen girls.

"Our estimates from the data suggest that when the show came on, teen birth rates as a result of this show fell by 5.7 percentage points over this 18-month period," Melissa Kearney, the report's co-author, told NPR last week. "To put that in perspective, that is a third of the overall decline in teen birth rates over that time."

Kearney, an associate professor of economics at the University of Maryland, also pointed out large spikes in Google searches for birth 

Legislative Alert: HB 2133 Student Privacy Bill: Contact the House Education Committee now | Seattle Education

Legislative Alert: HB 2133 Student Privacy Bill: Contact the House Education Committee now | Seattle Education:

Legislative Alert: HB 2133 Student Privacy Bill: Contact the House Education Committee now

What is the issue with student privacy?

There are a few:

It used to be that students’ grades, disciplinary records, teachers comments and test scores on standardized tests were kept in files that could only be accessed by personnel in the school or the district. Not so anymore.

The requirements now, thanks to Race to the Top, are that school districts are to hand over more student information than most parents would feel comfortable doing… if they knew what was being collected.

For as little as $1M, our district will be required to turn over a vast amount of information. This will cost the district far more than any amount of money that is rewarded. See The Road Map Project, Race to the Top, Bill Gates and your student’s privacy for the details.

Here are a few items that are being demanded (remarks in italics are mine):

Children ready to succeed in school by kindergarten (will this require pre-K testing?)

Students triggering Early Warning Indicator 1 and 2*

* Early warning indicators are for 6th and 9th grade students. EW1: Six or more absences and one or more course failure(s). EW2: One or more