5-14-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

Is Common Core facing death by a thousand cuts?

Criticism of the Common Core State Standards and the implementation of the initiative in most states around the country (which are two different issues, actually) just keeps on coming. Though far-right critics get a great deal of the attention, people on all ends of the political spectrum are thinking through the Core. Here’s a new […]

by Valerie Strauss / 58min 

Is Georgetown University ‘Catholic enough’?

William Peter Blatty, the famous author of “The Exorcist,” a graduate of Georgetown University, and a doctrinaire Catholic, submitted a petition to the Vatican last year asking church officials to strip his alma mater of  the labels Catholic and Jesuit because, it says, neither the faculty nor the student body are, in fact, Catholic enough. My colleague […]

by Valerie Strauss / 34min 

Holder, Duncan asked to investigate ‘racially discriminatory’ school closings in New Orleans

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that was intended to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine that codified racism in America’s public schools. You can read a report here about what it has and has not accomplished. Following is an open letter (see […]

by Valerie Strauss / 4min hide  //  save

Why D.C. should take Youth Court program off life support

The Youth Court of the District of Columbia, one of the only organizations dealing with juvenile delinquency in Washington, is currently on life support, writes Michael Shank, associate director of legislative affairs for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Here’s his post about why the D.C. mayor should keep it.   By Michael Shank Keeping our kids […]

by Valerie Strauss / 4min 

5-13-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Academics call for pause in PISA testsHere’s an open letter written by academics and school activists from around the world to Andreas Schleicher, director of the Program of International Student Assessment, known as PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in dozens of countries and individual education systems in math, reading and science every three years.  The letter expresses concerns

by mike simpson / 7h 

5-14-14 Ed Notes Online: Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion

Ed Notes Online: Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion:

Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion

Reads like a Steven King horror story.I started reading Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno," her story of 10 years in hell in the NYC school system under  the Bloomberg years, on a beach in Florida in February.  There were so many disturbing incidents at her Bronx elementary school, I had to put it down and pick up something lighter so as not to ruin my beach karma. Every page enraged me. I

by ed notes online / 1h  

5-13-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: UFT Contract: Mulgrew Says It's OK to Fire ATR for "Screaming in the Hallway"UFT logo for ATRsDon't you think we should have the definitions of "problematic" behavior BEFORE voting on the contract?Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said a panel of hearing officers would "solidify the definition" of problematic behavior. &

by mike simpson / 8h 

Ras Baraka Wins in Newark: Victory for Baraka, Democracy, and Public Education | janresseger

Ras Baraka Wins in Newark: Victory for Baraka, Democracy, and Public Education | janresseger:

Ras Baraka Wins in Newark: Victory for Baraka, Democracy, and Public Education

Posted on May 14, 2014 by janresseger

What happened in Newark, NJ yesterday should matter to you no matter where you live in America.  It is the story of the triumph of participatory democracy over a system flooded with money.  And if you care about the future of public education, you will be especially interested, because the fate of Newark’s public schools became the central issue in this campaign.  The winner, Ras Baraka, a high school principal, confronted the wave of  “corporate” school reform and privatization that has become Newark’s (bipartisan) status quo under  former Democratic Mayor Cory Booker and Republican Governor Chris Christie and his state appointed Newark school overseers.

According to Bob Braun, blogger and former 50 year reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger, “Ras Baraka, a high school principal and the son of a poet, yesterday easily defeated a Wall Street-backed promoter of school privatization to become the next mayor of Newark.  Baraka’s victory repudiated the policies not just of his rival, Shavar Jeffries, but those of Gov. Chris Christie, former Mayor Cory Booker, and state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson, who is trying to close neighborhood public schools and replace them with privately run charter schools.” Braun continues: “Wall Street financiers and hedge-fun managers—strong supporters of former Mayor Cory Booker—poured $3 million into the Jeffries campaign, including $300,000 in street money that went to young men and women in the city, many of whom apparently took the money and then urged voters to vote for Baraka.”

Mark Webber, who blogs under the name Jersey Jazzman, reflected last Sunday on the issues at stake in this race.  Here is a shortened and compressed version of his analysis: “Democracies allow for full participation in governance by all people, regardless of their class status; Newark, however, is currently being threatened with the loss of its autonomy simply because it is an impoverished community…  Democracies support the development of a middle-class; Newark, however suffers from segregation, taxation, and economic policies that all but Ras Baraka Wins in Newark: Victory for Baraka, Democracy, and Public Education | janresseger:

5-14-14 Wait What? Pelto Could Upend Gubernatorial Race As 3rd-Party Candidate - Wait What?

Pelto Could Upend Gubernatorial Race As 3rd-Party Candidate - Wait What?:

Pelto Could Upend Gubernatorial Race As 3rd-Party Candidate

The Hartford Courant has a major story on my potential run for governor. The story, written by Jon Lender and Daniela Altimari, reports; Former Rep. Jonathan Pelto, once a Democratic insider but now a vocal critic of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said Tuesday he plans to form an exploratory campaign committee for a possible third-party […] The post Pelto Could Upend Gubernatorial Race As 3rd-Party Candid

18 by jonpelto / 3h 

 

5-13-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: 6 more reasons why Connecticut should reject the Common Core K-3 standardsConnecticut needs to repeal Governor Malloy’s education reform legislation, halt the implementation of the Common Core and develop more appropriate policies for Connecticut’s students, teachers and public schools. The following is another clear and concise explanation of why the Common Core Standards are wrong fo

by mike simpson / 9h 

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

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

Testing Screw-Ups, Fines and We’re Working on It

WTSP reporter Grayson Kamm went looking for more answers about last months FCAT snafu and spoke with education commissioner Pam Stewart. He writes: “Where is the state in figuring out how much money this screw-up cost us?” I asked the state’s education chief after she gave a briefing to educators in Tampa. “We’ve got folks working on that, even as we speak. And we’ll be working with the vendor,”

by Bob Sikes / 2h 

5-13-14 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 Public Schools Understand the Hyprocrisy Behind Budget NumbersThe narrative that Florida republican legislators and Governor Rick Scott advanced at the end of the legislative session was that public schools were somehow the big winners. Public school officials ar

by mike simpson / 9h

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

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

#BringBackOurGirls Resources

Here are new additions to The Best Resources On The Kidnapped School Girls In Nigeria: Skills and Strategies | Engaging in Causes Via ‘Hashtag Activism’ is a lesson plan from The New York Times Learning Network. The crisis in Nigeria, in 11 maps and charts is from Vox. Boko Haram Says Video Shows Missing Nigerian Girls is from NPR.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 37min hide  //  save

More Resources On Race

Here are new additions to A Collection Of Useful Posts, Articles & Videos On Race & Racism: The 9 Most Influential Works of Scientific Racism, Ranked is from io9. The Ultimate, Crystal-Clear Guide to What Racism Is is from GoKicker.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 37min 

Bunkr Makes Big Improvements In Ability To Create Slideshows, Not Least Of Which Is That It’s Now Free

I posted about Bunkr, a web tool for creating slideshows, last year and was not impressed. I said then that it didn’t appear to make it easy to include image attribution, and that it you had to pay to use it. Today, they unveiled a “new” Bunkr and, though I still didn’t see an easy way to include attribution, the interface does appear a lot smoother and it’s free to use. I wouldn’t say it’s as g

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min hide  //  save

Another Good Video For ELLs: “Hero Cat Saves California Boy From Dog Attack”

Here’s another great video for English Language Learners to watch and then describe in writing and verbally what happens. You can read more about it here.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min 

“How Can We Help Students & Ourselves Stay Organized?”

How Can We Help Students & Ourselves Stay Organized? is the latest “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave responses here in the comments section or there….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min 

My New BAM! Radio Show Is On Making History Curriculum More Engaging

How Can History Teachers Make the Curriculum More Engaging? is the topic of my latest ten-minute BAM! radio show, and that will be the subject of a future Ed Week column, too. My guests are Peter Pappas and Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min 

Video: “Around the World in 360° Degrees”

In his own version of “Where The Hell is Matt?”, here’s a guy who took panoramic videos of himself in different places around the world. I don’t think it’s anyway near as interesting as the two “Matt” videos (which are also embedded below), since Matt shows much more interaction with people, but it still could be useful in a Geography class… Matt in 2012: And here’s the original from 2008:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 55min hide  //  save

This Week’s Round-Up Of Useful Posts & Articles About Education Policy

Here are some recent pieces about education policy issues that are worth reading: Newark’s Voters Choose New Mayor and New Path is from The New York Times. This is great news for teachers, parents and students. I’ve written quite a bit at my Engaging Parents In School blog. about the twilight zone that Newark schools have entered over the past few years. The Broad Foundation’s Bruce Reed on educa

by Larry Ferlazzo / 6h 

YESTERDAY

How Popular Is Your Name?

The Best Places For Students To Learn About…Their Names one of my fairly popular lists — learning about one’s name is a high-interest topic for students. Some relatively new and cool interactive sites have recently come online… One is Zato Novo Baby Names, which gives you a time lapse of the popularity of names in the United States over the years. The Name Navigator seems to be a similar tool. I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

5-13-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Important New Report Questions VAMAn important new report was published today raising major questions about the usefulness of Value-Added Measurement as a teacher evaluation tool. Read about it at The Washington Post’s article, Good teaching, poor test scores: Doubt cast on grading teachers by student performance, and at Ed

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-14-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

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

Breaking. Received this at 3:45 from IRTA. Restraining order issued.

On May 14, 2014 Judge Belz granted the motion for a temporary restraining order. Therefore, the pension litigation has been stayed in its entirety until any future court order. This action is a very good sign for the plaintiffs.

by Fred Klonsky / 12min 

Ten minute drawing. Rahm silences principals who object to his reform agenda.

by Fred Klonsky / 11min 

An urban Spring?

by Fred Klonsky / 7min 

Breaking. Pension injunction hearing scheduled for 1:30 PM today, Wednesday.

From public radio station WSIU: A hearing set for Wednesday afternoon could determine if some – or even all – of Illinois’ new pension law will be suspended. The law is supposed to take effect next month. A coalition of unions wants a hold put on the entire law, until a broader lawsuit seeking to have it declared unconstitutional is resolved. Anders Lindall is a spokesman for AFSCME, the state’s l

by Fred Klonsky / 38min 

On the anniversary of Brown v Board of Education, stop “reform” segregation.

On the 60th anniversary of the historic ruling by the Supreme Court that outlawed segregated schools, a national network of community organizations has written to Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “We respectfully request that you open an investigation of the racially discriminatory school closings that are the subject of these complaints.”  The letter is signed by

by Fred Klonsky / 1min 

The power of Ras Baraka’s win in Newark yesterday.

The new Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka and daughters. To get a feeling for the importance of Ras Baraka’s victory in the Newark Mayor’s race yesterday, don’t read my words. Read from the front page story of the election in this morning’s NY Times: “Mr. Jeffries (who lost to Baraka) enjoyed a sizable financial advantage thanks to outside groups, while Mr. Baraka relied on his family’s nam

by Fred Klonsky / 9min 

5-13-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: NEA and AFT conventions. Looking ahead.I will be back at the NEA Representative Assembly this summer as an elected Retired delegate. With the exception of one year, I have been to every convention since 1998. The one year I didn’t go it was in Los Angeles. The Illinois delegation was put up in a hotel

by mike simpson / 8h