Smart ALEC | EduShyster

Smart ALEC | EduShyster:

Smart ALEC

 What’s the Fordham Institute doing hooking up with ALEC?

Today’s topic is relationships— specifically the recent hook up between the dirty dogs at the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC and a certain think tank known for straight laces, Educational Excellence™ and some seriously questionable dance moves. So just what institute has been getting busy with ALEC even as a growing roster of corporations dumps the increasingly controversial network? I can keep it to myself no longer, reader: it’s none other than our gadflying friends at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. But what brought this happy couple together? And is theirs a fling thing, or a ring thing? Inquiring minds most definitely want to know. 

2 hot 2 handle
So where were we??? Ah yes—la histoire d’amour. Our story starts with a bad break up, make that lots of bad breaks up, as in 91 of them (and that’s not including the more than 400 state legislators who’ve given ALEC the brush off). You see as consumers caught wind of what ALEC has been 

1-23-14 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):

Masquerading (1931)

Masquerading (1931).

by plthomasedd / 6min hide  //  save

Differentiated Teaching of Literature (1931)

Differentiated Teaching of Literature (1931).

1 by plthomasedd / 25min 

To Keep the Peace (1943)

To Keep the Peace (1943).

1 by plthomasedd / 54min 

On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff’s Critique of Ravitch

Are U.S. public schools failing, and if so, will implementing Common Core and next-generation tests as part of school accountability correct those failures? At Valerie Strauss’s The Answer Sheet, Gerald Graff, an English professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has challenged Diane Ravitch’s stance on the both public schools and Common Core, which he characterizes as follows: “Public ed

16 by plthomasedd / 2h 

1-22-14 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): The Place of English in General Education (1940)The Place of English in General Education (1940).1 by plthomasedd / 32min hide  //  saveStudents Should Be Tested Less, Then Not at AllStudents Should Be Tested More, Not Less by Jessica Lahey is not a compelling case to te

by mike simpson / 9h 

1-23-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

What More Evidence Is Needed To See The Regents And SED Plan No Changes To Their Education Reform Agenda?

NYSED Commissioner King told a panel of state senators in Albany today that everything is going swimmingly with Common Core:Testifying in front of the Senate Education Committee, Education Commissioner John King questioned the need for a delay of the Common Core or using the results to evaluate teachers. Some lawmakers have called for a delay in the program’s implementation.“The question is to del

by reality-based edu... / 21min

Sheriff Andy Cuomo Is Dubbed The "Education Governor"

Capital Tonight reports that an NYSUT analysis shows 69% of school districts will be receiving less aid in Cuomo's proposed budget than they got in 2009.The Cuomo administration defended the budget proposal thusly:On WCNY’s The Capitol Pressroom this morning, Cuomo’s top aide Larry Schwartz defended Cuomo’s education plan, saying the focus should be on the students. He called Cuomo “an education g

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

Cuomo Goes To Hollywood To Receive Bribes, Er, Donations

Governor Cuomo's schedule today:Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press office has not released a public schedule for him. He’s scheduled to be in Los Angeles, CA tonight to attend a high-dollar fund-raiser being hosted in his honor by Hollywood bigwigs. Gee, that wouldn't be payback for this, would it?ALBANY—New York's tax rebates for movie and TV studios are so generous that the state is actually paying them

by reality-based edu... / 11min 

Gothamist Still Mocking Upper East Side

By saying they're right in their allegations, Bill de Blasio has given the Murdoch Street Post a victory in the "Socialist Mayor Plays PayBack With God-Fearing Upper East Side Capitalists" meme that emerged yesterday after the Murdoch outlets decided to manufacture a news story to make de Blasio look incompetent and inept with the snow removal on the Upper East SideThis was the not first

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

Fighting Cuomo's Budget Proposals

It's important progressive people and groups take Governor Cuomo on over his budget giveaways to Wall Street and the 1%:A coalition of progressive groups announced Wednesday afternoon that it would launch grassroots efforts to knock out what it described as giveaways to the wealthy in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget proposal. “Right now, we cannot afford to spend a $2 billion surplus on tax c

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

1-22-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Stop Saying Cuomo Has "Joined The Fight" Against Common CoreFrom the Daily News: ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has joined the fight to change the state’s new Common Core curriculum. Cuomo, as part of his budget presentation Tuesday, announced plans for a special advisory panel that will recommend “corrective action” in the way the state implements the curriculum — which is p

by mike simpson / 9h

1-23-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

An Opt Out must read.

I have been involved in the Opt Out movement for two years and have read many articles and opinion pieces about boycotting high-stakes standardized testing.  This essay from the The New Yorker hits which home on many levels, including the history of testing, is the best piece I have read to date. A must read: […]

3 by Chris Cerrone / 1h 

Connecticut Teacher Does Not Want Common Core; Weingarten Refuses to Validate the Sentiment

On January 17, 2014, veteran Connecticut teacher Elizabeth Natale wrote in the Courant about her disillusion with the pressures of corporate reform upon her West Hartford, middle-school classroom. In her article, Natale makes it clear that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are part of that disillusion– not only the CCSS assessments– but CCSS itself: When […]

1 by deutsch29 / 49min 

On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff’s Critique of Ravitch

On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff\’s Critique of Ravitch. via On Public Schools and Common Core: Graff’s Critique of Ravitch.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

2 by plthomasedd / 2h 

1-22-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Vergara V. California Would Turn Teachers into Second Class CitizensDavid Cohen’s “Education Policy vs Litigation” at InterACT provides a balanced analysis of Vergara vs California, a corporate reform effort to kill five California laws because they supposedly violate the rights of poor children of color. Students Matter, a nonprofit founded by entrepreneur David Welch, sponsors

by mike simpson / 9h 

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure:

Digging for "Artifacts" for the New Teacher Evaluation System Amidst the Ruins of a Public School

As part of the new, Danielson-based evaluation system in place in N.Y. City, there seems to be an assumption of guilt.  Teachers need to produce a variety of up to eight "artifacts" (or pieces of evidence) to prove their professional  innocence.  It is demeaning, time-consuming and wasteful of limited resources.  It should also be noted that City schools often lack paper, ink, toner, Ris

by Adam Bergstein / 2h hide  //  save

Highly 'Fective (Applying The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" to the New, Danielson-Based Evaluation System)

I can't get no Highly 'FectiveI can't get no Highly 'Fective'Cause I try and I try and I try and I tryI can't get no, I can't get no When I'm writhin' in my deskAnd that man comes on the P.D. dayHe's tellin' me more and moreAbout Danielson's twenty-two domainsSupposed to trigger in me ungodly pain I can't get no, oh no, no, noHey, hey, hey, that's what I say I can't get no Highly 'FectiveI can't

by Adam Bergstein / 2h 

Danielson'S Framework Reworked For Teaching In Some Of The Most Financially-Deprived Public Schools

The following framework imagines Danielson adapted to sync with some of the issues faced by seriously underfunded public schools. DOMAIN 1:  Planning and Preparation 1d:  DEMONSTRATING KNOWLEDGE OF RESOURCES THAT WILL NEVER BE FUNCTIONALLY AVAILABLE IN YOUR CLASSROOMAccomplished teachers are readily aware of the abundant and varied resources available to teachers as aids to student learning.  Teac

by Adam Bergstein / 2h 

Shanker Blog » Is Selective Admission A School Improvement Plan?

Shanker Blog » Is Selective Admission A School Improvement Plan?:

Is Selective Admission A School Improvement Plan?

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on January 23, 2014

The Washington Post reports that parents and alumni of D.C.’s Dunbar High School have quietly been putting together a proposal to revitalize what the article calls “one of the District’s worst performing schools.”

Those behind the proposal are not ready to speak about it publicly, and details are still very thin, but the Post article reports that it calls for greater flexibility in hiring, spending and other core policies. Moreover, the core of the plan – or at least its most drastic element – is to make Dunbar a selective high school, to which students must apply and be accepted, presumably based on testing results and other performance indicators (the story characterizes the proposal as a whole with the term “autonomy”). I will offer no opinion as to whether this conversion, if it is indeed submitted to the District for consideration, is a good idea. That will be up to administrators, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders.

I am, however, a bit struck by two interrelated aspects of this story. The first is the unquestioned characterization of Dunbar as a “low performing” or “struggling” school. This fateful label appears to be based mostly on the school’s proficiency rates, which are indeed dismally low – 20 percent in math and 29 percent in reading.

As we’ve discussed many times, however, raw proficiency rates are one means (albeit a distorted means) of describing student performance on tests, but they tell you almost nothing about the performance of a school. Dunbar students enter the school performing well below the district average, and so overall rates might remain low even if the school is remarkably effective in boosting performance (to the reporter’s credit, the Post article actually mentions this). This is why growth-based measures, though themselves incomplete and not without their limitations, are a much more fair and valid means of approximating actual school performance, as they are geared toward measuring 

Declaring war on teachers’ rights won’t improve children’s access to a sound education | EdSource Today

Declaring war on teachers’ rights won’t improve children’s access to a sound education | EdSource Today:

Declaring war on teachers’ rights won’t improve children’s access to a sound education

January 22nd, 2014 | Add a Comment | 
By Gary Ravani / commentary

Gary Ravani

Last year a group calling itself Students Matter filed a lawsuit, Vergara v. the State of California. The lawsuit  challenges a number of labor protections for California’s teachers, including due process rights for dismissals and seniority rights during layoffs.

The suit, which goes to trial next week in state Superior Court, and its backers’ publicity strategy fit firmly within the unfortunate recent tradition of wealthy anti-union ideologues masquerading as civil rights crusaders and education reformers.

A representative of the high-priced corporate law firm pressing Vergararecently wrote an article in EdSource Today attempting to place the suit in the footsteps of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington, Brown v. Board of Education and California’s Serrano v. Priest school funding decision.

Let’s examine the real history and evaluate the claims based on fact. Do students and their learning really matter to Students Matter?

Recall the image of Martin Luther King Jr. standing before the multitudes during the March on Washington delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech. Behind King stand leading activists from the civil rights community, the faith community and unions. Many today forget the March was as much 

UPDATE: Beth Courtney, LPB and their unethical coverage of Common Core | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Beth Courtney, LPB and their unethical coverage of Common Core | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Zack Kopplin: Louisiana Public School System's Harassment of 11-Year-Old Buddhist Student "Child Abuse" and "Potentially a Hate Crime"

Reblogged from CenLamar: Today, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of parents Scott and Sara Lane, filed suit against the Sabine Parish School Board, Sabine Parish Superintendent of Education Sara Ebarb (pictured at left), Negreet High School Principal Gene Wright, and Negreet High School teacher Rita Roark for religiously harassing and intimidating their young son. The case is horrify

by crazycrawfish / 20min 

Saturday's progressive Louisiana bloggers summit will be live streamed

Reblogged from Something Like the Truth: If you haven't signed up to attend this Saturday's progressive bloggers summit in Baton Rouge, please consider attending. The Progressive Voices, New Media: A Louisiana Social Media and Blogging Summit will take place from 12:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the African American Cultural Center on the LSU Baton Rouge campus. If you can't make it, there's another op

by crazycrawfish / 1h 

Beth Courtney, LPB and their unethical coverage of Common Core

Posted on January 22, 2014

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Many people believe that LPB is an unbiased news source. Some people might even think it is a liberal news source. I’ve had my own firsthand experience with how unethical Beth Courtney has acted covering education stories.  Tonight’s show should demonstrate just how biased and ridiculous LPB is and has become under Beth Courtney. If you would like to see what a lopsided and one-sided panel looks like, then check this video out and try to hold your breakfast.

http://beta.lpb.org/index.php/publicsquare/topic/01_14_-_decoding_common_core/

This program was portrayed as a discussion panel for parents to become more informed and to discuss Common Core as a topic, to address parents’ concerns.

Supporters say the standards will increase rigor and help every student learn what they need to succeed. Critics say the standards are untested, being poorly implemented and lower expectations for students.

So, what do Louisiana educators, parents and students think about Common Core? Do the new guidelines encourage students to think and be more persuasive, or do they stifle educational innovation by removing local control?

The bias in this program was so evident it made me ill watching it.  If you watch it you should be 

If Not College, Then What? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

If Not College, Then What? - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

If Not College, Then What?

By Guest Blogger on January 23, 2014 8:38 AM

Robert Pondiscio of CitizenshipFirst writes again to Deborah Meier. 

Dear Deborah,

Let me divorce you of a misconception.  If I am fixated, as you insist, on "deciding what children should know," it is because I see how our language proficiency is largely a function of theknowledge and vocabulary we possess. 

I have no burning desire to play curriculum content czar. But the broader your knowledge base, the better equipped you are to speak, listen, read, and write with understanding.  Once that's clear, it makes no more sense to be unconcerned with the content of a child's education than to be unconcerned with her diet.  We would never say to parents, "The food your child eats isn't what's important.  What's important is creating a lifelong love of eating!"  That's basically what many of us say about reading every day.  It's simply not true. 

But I'm content you get this, Deb.  You wrote, "Learning to use one's mind well requires content knowledge."  So we agree.  Or at least we agree enough. 

If every teacher and parent in America understood that our big-picture goals for schooling—reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem-solving—depend on specific knowledge, and that there

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charter vote another reason why we need an elected school board and a new mayor

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charter vote another reason why we need an elected school board and a new mayor:

Charter vote another reason why we need an elected school board and a new mayor

A group of supporters for Communities United for Quality Education protest in opposition of new charter schools, outside the Chicago Public Schools headquarters on Wednesday. 

It wasn't as if anyone doubted how yesterday's vote on charter school expansion would go. Despite the claim by one board member that the decision was a "difficult one," Rahm's hand-picked CPS board rarely if ever has a dissenting vote and the vote is always predictable. This time, there was only a token no-vote from board member Carlos Azcoitia on a few of the charter proposals.

All the community hearings, the protests outside, the passionate speeches by parents, students and teachers --- none of that means anything once the Mayor instructs his board members how to vote (they rarely need any instruction). The Board doesn't represent the public and aren't accountable to the public. And therein lies the problem with mayoral control of the schools. Reason # 837 why we need an elected school board and a new mayor.

Ald. Sposato speaks out against charter expansion

It's true that the Board voted only to approve 7 out of 17 charter school applications. But this is typical Rahm, isn't it? He'll threaten to close 200 neighborhood schools,