Nite Cap 5-22-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

Newark Students Occupy School Board Meeting | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity

Newark Students Occupy School Board Meeting | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity: Newark Students Occupy School Board MeetingPosted on: Thursday May 22nd, 2014Newark, NJ, is a city at a crossroads. For the past several years under the direction of state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson, the school district has followed the national trend of r

by mike simpson / 1h 

Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core | Diane Ravitch

Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core | Diane Ravitch: Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common CorePosted: 05/21/2014 5:16 pm EDT Updated: 05/21/2014 5:59 pm EDTPrint ArticleOver the years, we have seen a steady dumbing down of American culture, especially in the mass media. Whether newspapers, radio, or television, we have lost many of our well-educated, cultured, well-

by mike simpson / 1h 

5-22-14 The Whole Child Blog — Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers — Whole Child Education

Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGCreating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles ClippersMay 22, 2014 by Dru TomlinMost of us know the story by now. Donald Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was recen

by mike simpson / 2h 

5-22-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION: Flunking GeographyIf you want to find the grubby handprints of Rich People on education, look at the issue of geography.It has become fashionable for Reformsters to decry the influence of geography, to say that students should not be stuck with a school based on zip code, that community schools are quaint and all, but their time has passed. From Denver to Newark, Reformsters are ta

by mike simpson / 2h 

5-22-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: A Prelude to TN Bonus Pay ReportFrom a clip in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:The retention bonusTennessee offered last year to keep strong teachers in low-performing schools likely was a factor for more than 70 teachers who signed on for another year in inner-city schools, most of them in Memphis.Of the 365 teachers that took the state up on the offer, 20 percent of them are more l

by mike simpson / 2h 

Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far Enough

Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far Enough: Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far EnoughSen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) speaks at an event in the Capitol Visitor Center to call on the minimum wage to be increased to $10.10 per hour. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) | Tom Williams via Getty Images The bipartisan

by mike simpson / 2h 

Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity |

Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity |:Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity Following up on my most recent post, about the video capturing Tennessee’s Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman’s “Inspiring” TEDxNashville Talk, a VAMboozled! follower sent me a follow-up article linked here, “about the nightmare schools here in Tennessee have had with big testing/d

by mike simpson / 4h 

empathyeducates – Enforcing School Dress Codes Teaches Girls to be Ashamed, Not ‘Modest’

empathyeducates – Enforcing School Dress Codes Teaches Girls to be Ashamed, Not ‘Modest’: Enforcing School Dress Codes Teaches Girls to be Ashamed, Not ‘Modest’We need to stop telling girls that their existence is problematic to men. Photograph: AlamyBy Jessica Valenti | Originally Published at The Guardian. May 21, 2014Dress codes assume that male students’ education needs to be protected. What g

by mike simpson / 5h 

Test Score Gate – for John White, Failure was not an option | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Test Score Gate – for John White, Failure was not an option | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: Crazy Crawfish's BlogZesty Louisiana Education PoliticsTest Score Gate – for John White, Failure was not an optionPosted on May 22, 20140I first learned about the Test Score Gate Friday May 16th while I was investigating some LODE payroll fraud, textbook kickback, using grants to reward allies and as bribes, and a

by mike simpson / 5h 

5-22-14 The Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: Guess how many memos USDA sent to schools about healthy school lunches?Federally funded school lunches have been in the news because Republicans in the U.S. House just voted to allow some schools to get a waiver from a law that requires lunches served to students to meet new health standards. Why? Apparently some schools can’t make enough money serving healthy foods because kids don’

by mike simpson / 6h 

Massachusetts Teachers Association Takes On High Stakes Tests, School Takeovers - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Massachusetts Teachers Association Takes On High Stakes Tests, School Takeovers - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Massachusetts Teachers Association Takes On High Stakes Tests, School TakeoversBy Anthony Cody on May 22, 2014 10:45 AMOn Tuesday I shared news from Connecticut teachers who had succeeded in passing resolutions pushing back on high stakes testing and the Common Core. This

by mike simpson / 6h 

5-22-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Racial tensions rise at Watts middle schoolRacial tensions are rising at Watts middle school Fanning racial tensions at a Watts middle school, several African American parents asserted Wednesday that Latino administrators are unfairly targeting their children and unofficially suspending them

by mike simpson / 6h 

SCOTUS on high-stakes tests: They “eradicate” “insidious” “racism” | Cloaking Inequity

SCOTUS on high-stakes tests: They “eradicate” “insidious” “racism” | Cloaking Inequity: SCOTUS on high-stakes tests: They “eradicate” “insidious” “racism”It has been common knowledge for a long time that high-stakes tests have a disparate impact on students of color. What is interesting about high-stakes testing is that proponents recently reframed the gap in the NCLB-era from being from discrimin

by mike simpson / 6h 

5-22-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: State Releases Audit of Seattle Schools' Federal ProgramsState Auditor Troy Keller released his office's report on SPS's "financial statements and compliance with federal laws and regulations."It's a lengthy report but that is because it contains page after page of district financial reports.  It makes for interesting reading if you have the time.   Page

by mike simpson / 6h 

5-22-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Wait What? Democratic State Central Committee’s legacy of using donations to fight pro-public education DemocratsOne of the newer Wait, What? readers raised a question in the comment section of the blog this week.  They took offense when one of the blog’s longest standing, and most respected readers, realsaramerica pointed out that Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and the State Democrats d

by mike simpson / 6h 

Teacher Tenure / Continuing Contract database

Teacher Tenure / Continuing Contract database: Related Analysis50-State Reports on Teacher Tenure / Continuing Contract Policies1. Requirements for earning nonprobationary status2. Notification of nonrenewal and hearing3. Appeal forum4. Other continuing contract provisions forum5. Reasons for dismissal6. Reduction in force7. Last known revisionRelated ReportsTrends in State Teacher Tenure LawsTeac

by mike simpson / 6h 

Morning Wink 5-22-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSBeware the Robo-Grader | Truth in American EducationBeware the Robo-Grader | Truth in American Education: Beware the Robo-GraderFiled in Common Core Assessments by Shane Vander Hart on May 22, 2014 • 0 Comments1A friend drew my attention to an op/ed in theBoston Globe about something Pearson was developing in order to grade the essay section of the PARCC e

by mike simpson / 8h 

Beware the Robo-Grader | Truth in American Education

Beware the Robo-Grader | Truth in American Education: Beware the Robo-GraderFiled in Common Core Assessments by Shane Vander Hart on May 22, 2014 • 0 Comments1A friend drew my attention to an op/ed in theBoston Globe about something Pearson was developing in order to grade the essay section of the PARCC exam – a robo-reader. If you think this idea is a disaster in the making the author of the op/e

by mike simpson / 8h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-22-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Rick Cohen: What Happened to Zuckerberg’s $100 Million?Rick Cohen admired an article in The Néw Yorker about Cory Booker and Chris Christie’s grand plan to overhaul the schools of Newark, which inspired Cohen to write his own reflections. Cohen has written an informative article about the fate of Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift

by mike simpson / 8h 

We Need a Strong Alliance for Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week

We Need a Strong Alliance for Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week: We Need a Strong Alliance for SchoolsBy Deborah Meier on May 22, 2014 10:11 AMDeborah Meier continues her conversation with Mike Klonsky today. Dear Mike,You've got it more right than wrong.  I'm just as concerned about the relationship between a school and its community, but I've been paid to think about what can be do

by mike simpson / 8h 

5-22-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Resources On Ending The Year StrongI’ve got a nice collection of resources called The Best Ideas On How To Finish The School Year Strong…. Readers might find it useful.by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  saveInfographic: “Many Languages One America”I’m adding this infographic to The Best “Language Maps”: Please include attribu

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 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.: Jim Popham’s Tractable Teacher Evaluation.. Jim Popham at NEPC.by Fred Klonsky / 1h hide  //  saveChris Christie’s pension pay to play and how pension theft is a national scandal.I have been accused of making Illinois’ pension theft too big a deal. Some have suggested that Illinois’ pension theft is j

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: UFT Contract: Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X, Urges Colleagues to Vote NOFormer Unity Caucus member slams UFT leadership and Unity.Norm---I wrote the below and it will go into teacher mailboxes. The majority in my school are voting NO and many of them will not attend the union meetings with UFT officials to hear bullshit.  The NO campaign at PS 8 was taken up by many teachers in my school

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Segregation not about Proximity, but EquitySegregation not about Proximity, but Equity. via Segregation not about Proximity, but Equity.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical1 by plthomasedd / 49min 5-21-14 @ The Chalk Face@ THE CHALK FACE: Why Did Cory Booker and Mark Zuckerberg Ignore Newark’s Families?Dale Russakoff’s New Yorker profile “Schooled” is a wonderful account of

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 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): Segregation not about Proximity, but EquityFor several years, I have been showing Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later in both my introductory education course and an interim educational documentaries course at the selective private university where I teach. Two scenes ad

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 empathyeducates

empathyeducates: Post-Apocalyptic Mindset in a Civilized WorldPhotograph; Appalachian Children. By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at the Becoming Radical. May 20, 2014The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.Henry David Thoreau, WaldenSince October 1999, when I experienced several weeks of unrelenting panic attacks, I have been negotiating my lifelong struggle with anxiety—man

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-22-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Cuomo Puts A Criminal In Charge Of The State Democratic PartyFrom State of Politics:Former Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday was formally installed by the state Democratic Committee as its next chairman, assuming the post from Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright. Paterson, addressing the delegates on the first day of the Democratic convention here in Melville, naturally opened wi

by mike simpson / 9h 

The “New American” Educational Plan: Google, Private Think Tanks & the Federal Government. | Missouri Education Watchdog

The “New American” Educational Plan: Google, Private Think Tanks & the Federal Government. | Missouri Education Watchdog: The “New American” Educational Plan: Google, Private Think Tanks & the Federal Government.inShareIf you just open your eyes and do a little research, it’s easy to understand the blueprint of the takeover of public education and the massive amount of data mining to be do

by mike simpson / 9h 

“Rethinking Schools” Magazine: Standardized Tests Disguise Privilege as Merit | janresseger

“Rethinking Schools” Magazine: Standardized Tests Disguise Privilege as Merit | janresseger: “Rethinking Schools” Magazine: Standardized Tests Disguise Privilege as MeritPosted on May 22, 2014 by janressegerOur federal testing law, No Child Left Behind, passed under President Bush, and the programs of the Obama Administration that have amplified its dire consequences in poor communities of color—R

by mike simpson / 9h 

NYC Educator: N.Y.C.: Power to the Sleeping Giant!

NYC Educator: N.Y.C.: Power to the Sleeping Giant!: N.Y.C.: Power to the Sleeping Giant! I love NYC.  I'm not the first one to say so, nor will I be the last. NYC has been a center of cultural diversity and activism in history.  I cannot forgive the fact that our U.F.T. fails to engage its membership in activism. I look to Chicago, Karen Lewis and the C.T.U.  I look to Los Angeles and the recent U

by mike simpson / 9h 

Embattled Newark School Chief Has Important Friend in High Places - NJ Spotlight

Embattled Newark School Chief Has Important Friend in High Places - NJ Spotlight: EMBATTLED NEWARK SCHOOL CHIEF HAS IMPORTANT FRIEND IN HIGH PLACESJOHN MOONEY | MAY 22, 2014Christie expresses support for Cami Anderson and her reforms but won’t comment on her contract renewalAmid calls for embattled Newark schools Superintendent Cami Anderson to step down, the man who appointed her in 2011 went out

by mike simpson / 9h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'When you close a school you open a prison'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'When you close a school you open a prison': 'When you close a school you open a prison'THE PIPELINE... Hundreds marched Monday night from Lawndale to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center to call for an end to what they call the “school to prison pipeline.” Activists began their march with a rally at Paderewski Elementary, a school that was among the m

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 5-21-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

Nite Cap UPDATEUPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATECORPORATE ED REFORMwww.tomtorlakson.com/Ronald McDonald: Explain this to the children whose classrooms you visit.Outside McDonalds Headquarters in Oak Brook, IL – an affluent suburb of Chicago – fast-food workers and their supporters are arrested and treated like enemy combatants in a foreign country by warrior uniformed police. Insane over-reaction to a r

by mike simpson / 18h 

Is Cami leaving? | Bob Braun's Ledger

Is Cami leaving? | Bob Braun's Ledger: Is Cami leaving?NTU President Joe Del GrossoThe president of the Newark Teachers Union  has sent an e-mail to its membership predicting state-appointed schools superintendent Cami Anderson will soon leave ker position.Joseph Del Grosso said he and other union officials met earlier this week both  with Acting Education Commissioner David Hespe and legislative

by mike simpson / 23h 

One Valuable History Lesson: an open letter | Reclaim Reform

One Valuable History Lesson: an open letter | Reclaim Reform: One Valuable History Lesson: an open letterPosted on May 21, 2014by Ken PrevitiTo All of the Teachers of History in Illinois:Please make time in your harried schedules of mandated arbitrary test preparation to teach one truly valuable lesson of Illinois and American history. This is also linked to current events at the culmination of th

by mike simpson / 1d 

Nite Cap 5-21-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPBREAKING NEWS!!!! FARINA WANTED ATR's DONE AWAY WITH!! southbronxschool.comhttp://www.southbronxschool.com: BREAKING NEWS!!!! FARINA WANTED ATR's DONE AWAY WITH!!Sources in Tweed shared starling news today with The Crack Team about how the negoti

by mike simpson / 1d

2nd Banana 5-17-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 5-10-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 5-3-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 4-26-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

Nite Cap 5-21-14

Nite Cap 5-20-14 

Nite Cap 5-19-14

Nite Cap 5-18-14

Nite Cap 5-17-14

Nite Cap 5-16-14

Nite Cap 5-15-14

Nite Cap 5-14-14

Newark Students Occupy School Board Meeting | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity

Newark Students Occupy School Board Meeting | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

Newark Students Occupy School Board Meeting

Posted on: Thursday May 22nd, 2014

Newark, NJ, is a city at a crossroads. For the past several years under the direction of state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson, the school district has followed the national trend of requiring schools to make do with fewer resources and closing (or turning into charters) those that struggle. Anderson's "One Newark" reorganization plan for the district has gotten push back from every corner of the city, including from students, parents, teachers and even the clergy.

But with the recent election of City Councilmember Ras Baraka as Newark's next mayor, all that might be about to change. Baraka and many of the parents, students and educators whose voices have been ignored by the state-run district are calling for Anderson to abandon the "One Newark" plan in favor of Baraka's "Newark Promise" plan. 

Rather than closing struggling schools, the Newark Promise plan would involve turning local schools into community schools that provide the wraparound academic, social and health supports that all children need to succeed. 

One of the most vocal opponents to the One Newark plan (and propponant of the Newark Promise plan) has been the Newark Student Union. Earlier this week the student organizers shut down a school board meeting by holding a sit-in and refusing to leave the district building. They are demanding that the district adopt the Newark Promise plan. 

Watch the below video from their inspiring action at the meeting. And download the Newark Promise plan here.

http://www.otlcampaign.org/

Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core | Diane Ravitch

Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core | Diane Ravitch:

Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core

Posted: 05/21/2014 5:16 pm EDT Updated: 05/21/2014 5:59 pm EDT

Print Article

Over the years, we have seen a steady dumbing down of American culture, especially in the mass media. Whether newspapers, radio, or television, we have lost many of our well-educated, cultured, well-informed thinkers. Often they have been replaced by shock jocks, ranting talk show hosts, and an entire cable channel devoted to trashing liberals, liberal social programs, and labor unions.

I miss Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and dozens of other smart journalists who brought more than their opinions to their journalism. Bill Moyers is one of that breed. We need more.

Another thing I don't understand is why people on the far right like to paint their own country in the most negative tones while pretending to be patriots. I used to see a lot of this in right-wing think tanks, where people seized gleefully on every negative statistic to prove what a bad country this is; how horrible our public schools are; how dumb our teachers are; how we are doomed. Michelle Rhee's advertisements often make me think she really hates this country, that no one is smart enough or good enough for her. .

All of this is a long-winded way of disassociating myself from Glenn Beck's screed against Common Core and public education. It is called Conform: Exposing the Truth about Common Core and Public Education.

Here is a review by Hilary Tone of Media Matters that gives you an idea of how false and hysterical this book is. It is clear that Beck did not read Reign of Error. I won't be reviewing Conform. I am not interested in reading or writing about crazy right-wing attacks on our great American tradition of public education or on our nation.

In the same vein as the one now being mined by Glenn Beck is a video about a Florida legislator denouncing the Common Core because it will make all children gay. Seriously.

This is crazy stuff, and it makes it difficult if not impossible to have a reasonable Glenn Beck's Angry and Ignorant Book About Common Core | Diane Ravitch:

5-22-14 The Whole Child Blog — Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers — Whole Child Education

Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers

May 22, 2014 by Dru Tomlin

Most of us know the story by now. Donald Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was recently caught making inflammatory racial comments that stoked the cinders of hatred, burning through the NBA and creating a firestorm in the media and the nation.

When I heard about this story, I recoiled and surged with anger. And then, as a middle school teacher and administrator, I looked for the lessons. What could we learn from Mr. Sterling? What could we learn from the team? How could this experience inform middle level education as we reach and teach young adolescents who are creating their tomorrows today?

Donald Sterling can teach us about the curriculum of financial literacy. He clearly wielded the tools of money to gain power and accrue wealth, so it could be argued that he was financially literate.

But is that enough?

If Donald Sterling was a young adolescent walking the halls in your school house, what else would you want him to learn about financial literacy? Because we value young adolescents, it is critical that we help them understand the value of money and how it works. Students ages 10–15 years old need to know how to manage the tools of personal finance so they can be secure, engaged, and empowered. However, it is also vital that we help them understand how to build relationships, how to create teams, and how to serve within the curriculum of financial literacy.

For example, while our students gain insights into the world of wealth, shouldn't they also know how to use language (verbal and non-verbal) to bring people together and forge strong teams that are built on trust, Creating a Better Tomorrow Today in the Middle Level: Lessons from Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers — Whole Child Education:

5-20-14 The Whole Child Blog — ED Pulse Poll Results: What's the Best Part About Being a Teacher?

ED Pulse Poll Results: What's the Best Part About Being a Teacher? — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGED Pulse Poll Results: What’s the Best Part About Being a Teacher?May 20, 2014 by Kit Harris, ASCD ResearchIn honor of Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month and ASCD's ongoing efforts to celebrate, support, and recognize teachers, a recent ASCD SmartBrief ED Pulse poll asked educa

by mike simpson / 23h 

5-22-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:

Did President Obama Ruin CCSS?

It's Obama's fault.The state-led initiative was chugging right along, moving forward without any interference from the feds, when somehow, they decided to leap in. Or as Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday recently put it, things were fine "until the President and secretary of education took credit for the Common Core."This is part of the current conservative CCSS support narr

by Peter Greene / 1h 

Happy Birthday, CCSS

It seems like just yesterday that the Common Core shambled out of its cave, wearing a tissue-paper cape emblazoned with "State Led" and flexing its big rigorous baby muscles.But it has been four years, give or take a bit (because gauging its birthday is hard, depending on which backroom deal, which protean form, which lunch meeting between Achieve and its buddies, or which Memorandum of

3 by Peter Greene / 37min 

Flunking Geography

If you want to find the grubby handprints of Rich People on education, look at the issue of geography.It has become fashionable for Reformsters to decry the influence of geography, to say that students should not be stuck with a school based on zip code, that community schools are quaint and all, but their time has passed. From Denver to Newark, Reformsters are taking deliberate aim at community s

7 by Peter Greene / 57min 

5-21-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION: EWA Holds Common Core Pep RallyThe Education Writer's Association has carried lots of water for the pro-test, pro-corporate, pro-Core, anti-public ed crowd, so there's no real surprise when it was time for a discussion about the state of CCSS, their convention panel of "experts" includes six CCSS shills and one actual voice for public education.Monday's panel included Den

by mike simpson / 13min 

5-22-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Responding to Meghan Daum's reactionary attack on the Class of 2014 social justice movements

‎"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. " — Paulo Freire LA Times columnist Meghan Daum takes issue with the Class of 2014's nationwide activism to resist and reject neoliberal reactionaries like Christine Lagarde and Condoleezza Rice as their commencement speakers. Her offensive College grads: With

2 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 51min 

A Prelude to TN Bonus Pay Report

From a clip in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:The retention bonusTennessee offered last year to keep strong teachers in low-performing schools likely was a factor for more than 70 teachers who signed on for another year in inner-city schools, most of them in Memphis.Of the 365 teachers that took the state up on the offer, 20 percent of them are more likely to have stayed compared to other high-perf

by Jim Horn / 51min 

Marshall Tuck's Legacy of Bigotry and Failure

First submitted May 21, 2014 to LA Progressive Portions of this article were contributed by Cheryl Ortega and Dr. John Fernandez. "Tuck will most likely have a huge pot of money in his war chest coming from the likes billionaire boys clubbers like Broad, DFER and other corporate reformers." — Professor Mike Klonsky Los Angeles Parents and Community Protesting Marshall Tuck. Photo by R

100+ by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1d 

5-19-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Madeloni Beats TURNcoat Paul Toner for MTA PresidentAmazing 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

by mike simpson / 11min

Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far Enough:

Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far Enough

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) speaks at an event in the Capitol Visitor Center to call on the minimum wage to be increased to $10.10 per hour. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) | Tom Williams via Getty Images

 The bipartisan overhaul of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act trumpeted in Washington, D.C. Wednesday includes provisions aimed to help students with disabilities find well-paying work, but some say the deal doesn't go far enough.

On Wednesday, Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), along with Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and George Miller (D-Calif.), announced the sweeping "bipartisan, bicameral" deal long in the making. The bill aims to modernize the 1998 law, which oversees $3 billion in job training programs, by eliminating 15 programs and creating universal performance metrics. Many expect it to advance.

For students with special needs in particular, the bill aims to make states more responsible for making sure those students graduate into jobs that allow them to make minimum wage and work alongside adults who have no disabilities. This move extends the often-controversial concept of inclusion in public schools into the workforce. Under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, another Harkin initiative, students with special needs must be given a "free and appropriate public education" in the "least restrictive environment."

But unlike IDEA, which covers students with special needs until they turn 21, workforce training programs for individuals with disabilities aren't entitlements, meaning that there are far more students who are eligible than receive the service, known as Vocational Rehabilitation.

The changes, Harkin said, "will raise prospects and expectations for Americans with disabilities, many of whom, under current law, are shunted to segregated, sub-Sweeping New Bill Seeks To Help Students With Disabilities, But It May Not Go Far Enough:

Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity |:

Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity

 

Following up on my most recent post, about the video capturing Tennessee’s Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman’s “Inspiring” TEDxNashville Talk, a VAMboozled! follower sent me a follow-up article linked here, “about the nightmare schools here in Tennessee have had with big testing/data [over] the past two days.”

Here’s the summary of the situation, although as captured in a different article written inThe Tennessean linked here and titled: “Tennessee to Let Schools [emphasis added] Out of TCAP [Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program] Requirement Due to Score Delay.”

It seems that “A move by [Huffman and his Tennessee] Department of Education to make exams better aligned to Common Core standards has delayed the release of [its TCAP] test scores…[T]he unexpected 10-day postponement will mean a four-year-old law designed to give more meaning to [the state's TCAP] standardized tests won’t be applied to many students, “as these test scores are to “account for 15 to 25 percent of Tennessee students’ final grades.”

“State officials first alerted Tennessee’s school directors of the delay on Tuesday afternoon, explaining that the state had narrowed assessments this year to eliminate factors not aligned with state standards and needed 10 more days to thoroughly review the results.” That is, state officials narrowed the test to (simply) remove items/portions from the tests that didn’t align with Common Core. As they are now figuring out, this was not as simple as it first may have seemed. Likewise, this should have been done with much more care and many more at the table (e.g., teachers for content validity) while doing so. It also seems that the state made these changes without keeping districts informed about the Tennessee Commissioner Huffman’s Accountability Immunity |: