@ The Answer Sheet 2-6-14 - A really scary headline about kindergarteners

The Answer Sheet:

School apologizes for Black History Month lunch of watermelon, fried chicken

Put this in the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff category: A Catholic  high school for girls in California thought it would be a good idea to mark Black History Month with a special lunch menu of fried chicken, watermelon and cornbread. Many students and parents were not amused. KNTV, the NBC affiliate in the Bay Area that Nancy Libby, principal […]    

17 by Valerie Strauss / 32min 

A master’s degree on The Beatles — really

View Photo Gallery —An 18-year-old Mike Mitchell was at the Beatles’ first U.S. concert, snapping pictures with his 35mm Nikon with no flash. Those photos, which recently sold at auction, show a love of light and shadow that is reflected in his later work. Readers of this blog know that I will find any flimsy […]    

6 by Valerie Strauss / 18min 

A really scary headline about kindergarteners

Rob Saxton is Oregon’s deputy superintendent of public instruction. Jada Rupley is the early learning system director within the state Department of Education. Together they wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian that was published online with this headline:  Kindergarten test results a ‘sobering snapshot’ What could possibly be sobering about test results from kindergarteners?  What […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 1h hide  //  save

The misguided effort to teach ‘character’

In 2009, Mike Rose, a research professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and an author, published “Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us,” a well-received  book that asked big questions about what it means to be educated and the nature of learning. A significantly revised and expanded edition of the […]    

6 by Valerie Strauss / 5h 

@ The Answer Sheet 2-5-14

The Answer Sheet: Obama smacks Bill O’Reilly on school vouchersPresident Obama often says things about school reform that suggest he hasn’t read up on the effects of his policies, but he knew his stuff on vouchers cold during an interview with Bill O’Reilly, effectively smacking down the conservative commentator’s wishful thinking with the facts. The Obama administration has steadfastly opposed vo

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Schools Matter - Two Decades Is Enough to Show Value-Added Is a Scam

Schools Matter:

KIPP Uses Funds Shortage As Excuse to Shut Two Galveston Schools

Having collected hundreds of millions of federal grants, public education dollars, and tax-exempt philanthrocapitalist cash, KIPP Inc. is the richest corporate charter chain in the world.Yet when Galveston Schools finally decided it was unfair to give KIPP $1.5 million more per year than it does for the same number of its public schools, KIPP decided that the public teat is no longer fat enough to

2 by Jim Horn / 19min 

Two Decades Is Enough to Show Value-Added Is a Scam

by Joey Garrison at The Tennessean:Tennessee’s largest teachers union has turned against the policy of including student learning gains in the evaluation of teachers, a flip that shows its growing discomfort with a major Race to the Top reform.When Tennessee applied for $501 million in federal Race to the Top funds in 2010, a critical part in landing the coveted grant was that competing stakeholde

8 by Jim Horn / 2h 

2-5-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter: De Blasio: Not Just Another BullshitterIt has to feel like Spring in New York in the middle of a snowstorm:  a progressive mayor elected to serve the people that Wall Street predators and casino capitalists forgot.  From DNAInfo New York:". . . . De Blasio sparked a political showdown earlier this month by rejecting Cuomo's offer to provide $1.5 billion for universal pre-K acr

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Florida’s Race-Based Goals and Test Reliance Slammed in Senate Chamber

A remarkable press conference was called by an influential Florida state senator yesterday to highlight contradictions in its accountability system. Bill Cotterell writes in the Florida Current: A state senator, a civil rights attorney and the mother of a young student said Wednesday the Florida Department of Education is sending a bad message to public school children and their teachers by having

by Bob Sikes / 2h 

 

2-5-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Will Costs Crush Common Core?Perry Chiamamonte of FOX News reports that “states are learning the cost of Common Core is uncommonly high.” States will spend up to an estimated $10 billion up front, then as much as $800 million per year for the first seven years that the c

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress:

Bill Introduced: H.R. 3983: Total Learning Act

To establish a competitive grant program assisting the development of innovative early learning curricula for low-income children.

6h hide  //  save

Bill Introduced: S. 1968: Scholarships for Kids Act

A bill to allow States to let Federal funds for the education of disadvantaged children follow low-income children to the accredited or otherwise State-approved public school, private school, or supplemental educational services program they attend.

6h 

 

2-4-14 Open Congress : Major Bill Actions Education - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

Education programs funding - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress: Bill Introduced: H.R. 3959: Pay It Forward College Affordability Act of 2014To establish a Pay It Forward model for funding postsecondary education.4h Bill Introduced: S. 1950: Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014A bill to improve the provision of medical services and benefits to ve

by mike simpson / 8h 

2-6-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

“The Best Posts On The inBloom Data Fiasco”

I’ve just published The Best Posts On The inBloom Data Fiasco over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. inBloom is the company that’s basically trying to collect, store and share student data and is supported by the Gates Foundation.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

Today’s New Resources On The Sochi Olympics

Boy, there sure are some interesting resources being created around the Sochi Olympics. Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games: How do you pronounce ‘Sochi’? is from The Week. The Winter Olympics of yore is a slideshow from The Week. Here is a collection of interactive graphics from The Washington Post on the Olympics. are the winter

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

It’s Bob Marley’s Birthday Today — Check Out A Ton Of Resources About Him

Today is Bob Marley’s birthday. You might be interested in The Best Websites For Learning About Bob Marley. We teach a ninth-grade unit on Jamaica, and study a lot about him.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 29min 

This Week In Web 2.0

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth , I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” (you might also be interested in The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2013): ExamTime is sort of a flashcard site on steroids that provides a number of other tools, too. I’m adding it to The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards. Five-Minute Fi

by Larry Ferlazzo / 58min hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

February’s Best Tweets — Part One

Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twitter, yo

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Sochi Olympics Resource Update

Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games: Winter Olympics resources from EFL Classroom 2.0. A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters’ Jumps at the Olympics is from The Atlantic. Putin’s Explosive Olympics is from TIME. An Olympics in the Shadow of a War Zone is an interactive from The NY Times. Here’s an interactive from the BBC on the history of t

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Show Me The Money — Are Schools Really Getting An Extra Billion For Technology?

You have seen articles over the past couple of days about President Obama getting the Federal Communications Commission to add an extra billion dollars towards providing high-speed Internet to schools and libraries. Here are some of the better articles on it: Here’s Obama’s plan to give teachers and libraries $1 billion a year in extra funding is from The Washington Post. F.C.C. to Change Program

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

2-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Three Excellent Articles From ASCD On Teacher MoraleThe new issue of ASCD Educational Leadership is on teacher morale, and I’m adding these three articles to The Best Posts & Articles About The Importance Of Teacher (& Student) Working Conditions: Can’t Wait for Monday is by Rafe Esquith. Getting Beyond the Blame Ga

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

Ralph Kiner Dies

From Eye on Baseball:Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner passed away at his home in California on Thursday. He died peacefully from natural causes with his family at his side. He was 91.“With the passing of Ralph Kiner, the baseball world has lost one of its greatest ambassadors and the Hall of Fame has lost a wonderful friend,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Muse

by reality-based edu... / 4min 

Let's Have More Meetings

I wanted to meet with you to talk about that meeting you're having about how we need to have more meetings, but I was stuck in another meeting and couldn't meet with you today. Can we meet tomorrow?Sigh...

by reality-based edu... / 53min 

The Problem With Always Making Students Show Their Work

From David Ginsburg at Ed Week:As a new teacher, I upheld the longstanding requirement among math teachers that students must always show their work. And like many teachers, I deducted points when students refused to comply. But the more pushback I got from them--"you shouldn't make us work the problems out if we already know the answers"--the more I questioned the wisdom of this rigid r

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

Daily News: ATRS's May Be Returned To Classrooms

The Daily News that reports teachers who are "undesirable: - i.e., ATR's - will be placed back into schools under a plan by NYCDOE Chancellor Farina: A pool of teachers whom principals don’t want to hire may be headed back into the classroom, the Daily News has learned. City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has had internal discussions with her staff about placing most of the 1,200 educators

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

2-5-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Common Core, CCSS Tests, APPR, And InBloom Are A Package DealThe Cuomo administration yesterday:“Common Core is an issue about which there has been a lot of dialogue,” Cuomo spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa said in a statement Tuesday that both affirms the standards and distances the administration from its rocky rollout. The proposed moratorium on its implementation is “premature

by mike simpson / 7h 

2-6-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:

Guest Post by Art Believeau " I Used to Be a Good Teacher

Guest Post by Art Believeau" I Used to Be a Good Teacher"http://mrbchs.blogspot.com/2014/02/i-used-to-be-good-teacher.html.

by Mark Naison / 4h hide  //  save

Why the Left as Well as the Right Opposes Common Core- A Video

Why the Left as Well as the Right Opposes Common CoreA Speech to Parents in Peekskill NY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3cl00sPWnY

by Mark Naison / 4h

2-3-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Badass Teachers Association "Evaluate That" Campaing Goes ViralThe Badass Teachers Association exploded last night on Facebook and Twitter with their #evaluatethat campaign. The idea came to the Facebook page via Georgia BAT Stephanie Lavender Weber who was staying the night with her students in school due to the snow storms that hit Atlanta last week. Stephan

by mike simpson / 8h