5-19-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Seattle Schools Leadership Update

I'll print this in its entirety.  From Superintendent Banda:Today we are announcing several leadership changes that will improve our ability to support our schools and students.Our Strategic Plan outlines a series of goals we must achieve over the next five years to improve academic success for our students. To meet the objectives outlined in the Every Student. Every Classroom. Every Day. strategi

by Melissa Westbrook / 7min 

Words Have Meaning (Redux)

On this blog you cannot (partial):- swear (beyond the occasional BS because we seem to have some readers with delicate sensibilities)- name call- leave racist, sexist, homophobic or likewise undeserved or irrational personal comments- make statements that you cannot back up unless you state it as an OPINION and/or use the words "it is alleged" or "it is my belief" when making c

by Melissa Westbrook / 59min 

What's the Math Summative Assessment?

I had no idea yet another test was happening in SPS but apparently it is true.  It's a two-day test called the Math Summative Assessment.The window for testing started May 12th and is to finish May 23rd.From SPS (partial to first and second grade teachers):Seattle Public Schools will administer a summative mathematics assessment this spring to all first and second graders.  The purpose of this ass

by Melissa Westbrook / 46min 

Stats on People Who Pushing Making Money Off Public Schools

From Diane Ravitch:  The trade journal Alpha recently reported that the hedge fund industry’s top 25 earners collected $21.15 billion, a whopping 50 percent over their total the year before.A hedge fund manager in 2013 needed to take in $300 million just to make the top 25. Ten years ago, in 2004, an aspiring hedge fund kingpin only had to grab $30 million to enter the industry’s top 25 elite. But

by Melissa Westbrook / 14h 

5-18-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: School Road Safety Public Input WorkshopsFrom the City of Seattle:Simply THE most important road safety meetings you can attend this year @SeattleDOT School Road Safety. Why? Starting in 2015, the School Road Safety Plan will prioritize millions in safety improvements every year around our schools. **Tuesday, May 20 at 6 PM to 7:30 PM SW Southwest Branch Seattle Pu

by mike simpson / 3h   

Rally atThe Gates foundationJune 26, 2014Meet at Westlake Center at 5:00 PMSponsored by the Washington BATS - Home

Rally atThe Gates foundationJune 26, 2014Meet at Westlake Center at 5:00 PMSponsored by the Washington BATS - Home: Our vision:Is to include the voices of students, parents, teachers and  our communities in the process of ensuring public schools are centered on this vision:Students deserve the universal right to learn in a manner that allows them to find and develop their highest potential as func

by mike simpson / 3h 

5-19-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Madeloni Beats TURNcoat Paul Toner for MTA President

Amazing and wonderful!  From CPS: Congratulations to Barbara Madeloni, president-elect, and Janet Anderson, vice president-elect of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Madeloni, the former director of the Secondary Teacher Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was elected at the MTA's annual meeting of delegates by a vote of 681 to 584. She pledged to work with educa

by Jim Horn / 11h 

5-17-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All WeekBogus Test Based Evaluations and Charterization Put Hundreds of Memphis Teachers' Jobs on Chopping BlockThis year it's called "excessing."  Just over a year ago it was call "surplussing." A clip from the Memphis Corporate Appeal:. . . .The shuffle in schools happens every spring as principals draw up staffing numbers to match projected en

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-19-14 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 Commentaries On The 60th Anniversary Of Brown vs. Board Of Education

Boy oh boy, have there been a lot of commentaries published about the recent 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. I’ve been less than impressed by most. Here are the ones I thought were particularly useful (note that I linked to some of them in a recent “round-up” of ed policy posts): Five myths about Brown v. Board of Education is from The Washington Post. Sixty Years After Brown V.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 23min 

May’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part Three

There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but you

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min 

Learn About Synonyms & The World Cup In My Latest NY Times Post For ELLs

Learn about synonyms and the World Cup in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil. You can see all my previous 40 NY Times posts here.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

This Week’s Best Posts & Articles On Education Policy Issues

Here are a few relatively recent useful posts on educational policy issues: 60 years later, desegregation of schools not done is from the Associated Press, as is Segregation gains ground 60 years after Brown. How to help students of color, 60 years after historic Brown v. Board ruling appeared in The Washington Post. Brown v. Board at 60: Why Have We Been So Disappointed? What Have We Learned? is

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h 

Video: “We are one World Cup anthem with subtitles”

Thanks to David Deubelbeiss for subtitling this video that I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil. By the way, look for my New York Times post tomorrow, which is also on the World Cup… We are one World Cup anthem with subtitles from David Deubelbeiss on Vimeo.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h 

Book Excerpt: “Letting Go of the Punish, Behave, Reward Cycle”

I’m lucky today to publish an excerpt from a top-notch book, Passionate Learners: Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students, by Pernille Ripp. I’ve referred readers to Pernille’s blog a number of times over the past few years. Pernille is a 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin where she gets to inspire students to take control of their learning journey on a daily basis. She is also the crea

by Larry Ferlazzo / 12h 

5-18-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: TED-Ed Video: “What Is The World Wide Web?”TED-ED has a new video (and accompanying lesson) on “What Is The World Wide Web?” I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet.by Larry Ferlazzo / 11min hide  //  saveYESTERDAY“Quill” Could Be A Very Useful Tool For Reinforcing Grammar ConceptsThanks to Richard Byrne

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-19-14 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.:

Academy for Urban School Leadership board member contributions to Rahm.

4 by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  save

Ten minute drawing. Something I have never had to say.

1 by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Another story of a good teacher rated as bad by a system our union leadership helped create.

IEA Executive Directory Audrey Soglin. Today’s Tribune features a story by Dawn Turner Trice about Gage Park high school teacher Victor Harbison. The Gage Park High School teacher wants his students to succeed academically, but he also wants them to learn how to solve problems affecting their lives and community. In short, he wants to teach them to be good citizens. It’s an area of teaching that’

by Fred Klonsky / 40min 

John Broderick, Jr. Pensions are not a gift. They are a promise.

- John Broderick Jr., a former chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, notes that the views expressed  are his own and not necessarily those of the University of New Hampshire Law School, where he serves as dean. Note that New Hampshire does not have the constitutional pension protection clause that the Illinois Constitution contains. May 13, 2014 There is talk these days in New Hampshi

3 by Fred Klonsky / 44min 

Ten minute drawing. Lorraine Hansberry.

by Fred Klonsky / 16min hide  //  save

Drugs in the war on poor kids.

“For now, we’re left with one of the ironies of income inequality: a rare instance of poor children getting more of something than they need.” More than 10,000 American children ages 2 and 3 are being medicated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). They are mostly poor kids. This is a finding in a report from the Center for Disease Control released last Friday. Is ADHD a label give

by Fred Klonsky / 5min 

5-18-14 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.: Sunday reads.Pension theft is now called “pension smoothing.” You never would have thought I would have good words to say about principals. But I’m never too old to change. The gathering resistance to standardized tests. Danny Glover on Freedom Summer. Rahm’s fundraising loop-hole is very lucrative. I

by mike simpson / 16min 

5-19-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

UFT Contract: NYC Supervisor Comments on Contract/SBO's - Is There a UFT/DOE Conspiracy?

Many teachers are concerned that SBO's are not being approved for anything that does not keep teachers at school until 3:45 on Monday and 3:35 on Tuesday, effectively eliminating any after school programs for kids (and per session pay for teachers) two days a week. The only thing the UFT and City will say is "all SBO's will be considered" but that does not mean approved... Ms Farina is a

by ed notes online / 10min

UFT Contract - What's Missing - How About Discipline?

The amount of short-sighted "trust" the UFT/Unity crowd is giving this administration is astounding. We have learned from almost 50 years in the UFT - if it's not in the contract, there are no guarantees -- even if it's in the contract, many have learned that the loose language and loopholes allows the DOE to drive truck bigger than Godzilla through.Fariña said that she wanted to see sch

by ed notes online / 11min hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

UFT Contract: Firemen/Sanitation/Cops Trash UFT - "We want UFT off MLC"

We'll never take the deal the teachers got.They got less pension then us, look we didn't take that.We'll go to PERB before we ever sign up for shit like this.If you have to pay for healthcare, or GHI goes shitty you can thank the UFT.Uft and mulgrew are trying to sell us all out, he may do it your wives (reference to the fact many guys have teachers as wives) but he won't do it to us.We told the U

by ed notes online / 15h 

5-18-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: UFT Contract: An Attack on WomenThe contract proposal is an attack on feminism. 75% of UFT members are woman. The leadership expects the contract to pass because they anticipate that woman are willing and deserve to accept much lower pay in creases than they deserve.... Comment on Ed Notes After the UFT Brooklyn borough contract meeting, a pregnant teacher came up to ask [Borough

by mike simpson / 7h 

5-19-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

To those who would argue for flat funding for all schools

While so-called “priority” schools languish in Washington, DC, all from low-income black and brown neighborhoods, I am to understand that PTA/PTO/HSA organizations in more affluent areas of our nation’s capital are able to raise upwards of $500K additional funds to, for instance, hire full-time paraprofessionals in every class. A half-a-million dollars.  Are you kidding me? […]

by Shaun Johnson / 35min 

An Open Letter to TFAers Tempted to Diagnose ADHD, Among Other Issues

Dear Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member: In 1985, I graduated from high school. So did TFA founder, Wendy Kopp. She and I happen to be only five weeks apart in age. In April 2014, I published a book. Kopp has her own chapter. She attended college at Princeton from 1985-89. I also attended college, at […]

5 by deutsch29 / 14h 

5-18-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Autonomy Must Precede AccountabiltyAutonomy Must Precede Accountabilty. via Autonomy Must Precede Accountabilty.1 by plthomasedd / 51min  All Week 5-17-14 @ THE CHALK FACE@ THE CHALK FACE : All Week @ THE CHALK FACE The Conversation: Racial segregation returns to US schools, 60 years after the Supreme Court banned itThe Conversation: Racial segregation returns to US schools, 60 y

by mike simpson / 9h