5-28-14 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:

Surrogates Beginning to Flack for Jeb Bush on Common Core

Its begun. Badly needing to talk about something else than Common Core Standards, Jeb Bush’s surrogates have begun to do it for him. Consider a Lloyd Brown piece in Sunshine State News. Brown is a former speechwriter for Bush: After I retired, I worked for him (Bush) briefly and again was impressed. His approach to policy was, “What’s in it for Florida families?” That’s pretty refreshing when the

by Bob Sikes / 2h 

5-27-14 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: Feds Warn Charter Schools About Not Serving Special Needs KidsWrites Chris Staiti for Bloomberg News: U.S. charter schools must provide special-education services and avoid discrimination in admissions, academic services and athletics whether or not they receive federal

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-28-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”

If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”. via If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”.

1 by plthomasedd / 40min 

5-27-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?. via What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical1 by plthomasedd / 2h hide  //  saveYESTERDAYThe 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part ThreeIn 2008, the National Governors Asso

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-28-14 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):

Maya Angelou, RIP

With the death of Maya Angelou, I offer a few intersections between Angelou and James Baldwin. James Baldwin and Maya Angelou At 80, Maya Angelou Reflects on a ‘Glorious’ Life: Angelou says author James Baldwin, whom she considers a brother, had a covert hand in getting her to write “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” Acting on Baldwin’s advice, Angelou’s editor tried a little reverse psychology an

by plthomasedd / 6min 

If The Onion Gets It … : “when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees”

The power of ideology makes me think of those dewy mornings when the mist distorts the outline of the cypress trees and they become shadows of something we know is there but cannot really define. The shortsightedness that afflicts us makes our perception difficult. More serious still is the way we can so easily accept that what we are seeing and hearing is, in fact, what really is and not a distor

7 by plthomasedd / 40min 

5-27-14 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): What’s Really Wrong with Advanced Placement Courses and College Board?“Fraudulent schemes come in all shapes and sizes,” asserts John Tierney, adding, ” To work, they typically wear a patina of respectability. That’s the case with Advanced Placement [A.P.] courses, one o

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-28-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

What Should Conservatives Be For In Education

Over at the Young Guns network, Frederick Hess has asked and answered the question, "What should conservatives be for in education?"It's a good question. Conservatives have let themselves get boxed into a corner on the new test-driven high-stakes privatization status quo in education. On the one hand, the Obama administration has implemented education policies that are like a conservativ

by Peter Greene / 9:58 AM UTC-7 

#AskArne: Teach To Lead To Lead The Teaching Leaders

Bad news: Arne and the US DOE are back with another scrumdiliicious video interview with his royal Arneness.Good news: It's not all completely ridiculous. And as always, I'll watch it so that you don't have to. More times than usual, it turns out. I like to watch with the sound off to get a better non-verbal read, but the only captions available are the auto-captions, which are apparently set to &

5 by Peter Greene / 2h 

5-27-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Test (In)SecurityOne of the features of High Stakes Testing is a level of security usually associated with large bales of money, important state secrets, and the recipe for Bush's Baked Beans. On facebook, in the category of "Ethical Dilemmas Nobody Ever Thought She'd Face," teachers are arguing about whether it's okay to photograph or copy any of the PARCC or SBA exams.

by mike simpson / 9h 

5-28-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Diane Ravitch To Run Against Andrew Cuomo In November?

This bit of political news surprises me: The Working Families Party is eying education activist Diane Ravitch as its gubernatorial candidate should the liberal minor party decide to withhold its backing of Gov. Cuomo, a source told the Daily News Wednesday morning. The party has spoken to Ravitch, 75, about possibly being its nominee and she has expressed interest, the source said. "Either wa

by reality-based edu... / 14min

Who Needs All That Technology?

Not school's in Finland:HELSINKI — At the start of morning assembly in the state-of-the-art Viikki School here, students’ smartphones disappear. In math class, the teacher shuts off the Smartboard and begins drafting perfect circles on a chalkboard. The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing paper while solving equations using their clunky plastic calculators.Finni

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Preet Bharara Appears To Have His Sights Set On Albany Pols And Cuomo Too

From Ken Lovett at the Daily News: ALBANY - Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has asked the state Senate and Assembly to preserve all documents related to Gov. Cuomo's anti-corruption commission, the Daily News has learned. It’s the latest sign of an investigation by Bharara’s office in the aftermath of Cuomo’s decision in March to disband the now-defunct Moreland Commission. At the time it

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

This News Will Make Bloomberg Very, Very Sad

Bloomberg henchman Deputy Dan Doctoroff is still leading the charge to bring the Olympics to NYC and rectify one of Mayor Bloomberg's biggest setbacks - his failure to turn NYC into an Olympic Village.Mayor de Blasio says he's not interested, however:Mayor Bill de Blasio has ruled out any possibility that New York City will submit a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, a top member of his st

by reality-based edu... / 2h 

5-27-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Daily News Misses A Big Part Of ELA Regents Score Plummet StoryThe Daily News claims cheating teachers were the main reason scores on the 2013 ELA Regents exam fell: Scores on English Regents exams for high schoolers plummeted when the city cracked down on grade-fudging teachers, a Daily News analysis shows. Thousands of public school students failed the high-stakes state te

by mike simpson / 9h 

solidaridad: Marshall Tuck's Dropout Factories

solidaridad: Marshall Tuck's Dropout Factories:

Marshall Tuck's Dropout Factories

Marshall Tuck's Dropout Factories by Robert D. Skeels

Marshall Tuck's Dropout Factories

Marshall Tuck, who ran Mayor Villaraigosa's 15 schools and compiled a mediocre and unimpressive record. He has also been president of the Green Dot charter chain. — Professor Diane Ravitch

Having to take remedial high school courses after arriving at the university is also very demoralizing for students. Many end up dropping out. The California State University tracks the number of matriculates that make it to their second year. Tuck's Animo Inglewood Charter students had a CSU drop out rate of 55 percent in 2008. That same year saw the Tuck managed Animo Leadership Charter students drop out from the CSU at a staggering 68 percent!

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2004 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	31%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2005 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	44%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2006 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	47%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2007 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	57%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2008 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	68%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	52%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	29%
Animo Leadership Charter High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	37%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2005 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	43%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2006 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	52%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2007 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	47%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2008 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	55%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	20%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	13%
Animo Inglewood Charter High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	20%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School 2007 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	62%
Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School 2008 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	32%
Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	18%
Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	27%
Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	31%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Animo Venice Charter High School 2008 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	22%
Animo Venice Charter High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	43%
Animo Venice Charter High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	38%
Animo Venice Charter High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	29%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	50%
Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	46%
Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	59%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Jordan High School Partnership Academy 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	38%
Jordan High School Partnership Academy 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	52%
Jordan High School Partnership Academy 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	40%
Jordan High School Partnership Academy 2012 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	41%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Roosevelt Senior High School 2009 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	20%
Roosevelt Senior High School 2010 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	31%
Roosevelt Senior High School 2011 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	44%
Roosevelt Senior High School 2012 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	22%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Graduates from Marshall Tuck led High Schools Dropping out of CSU after Freshman Year
Mendez High School for College and Career Prep 2012 Admits to CSU First Year Dropouts	27%
Data Tables: http://j.mp/TUCK_FAIL |http://www.laprogressive.com/marshall-tuck-unqualified/

Seven things California public schools can't charge you for - and a few they can | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Seven things California public schools can't charge you for - and a few they can | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

Seven things California public schools can't charge you for - and a few they can

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | May 28th, 2014, 5:00am

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

Redondo High School principal Nicole Wesley says many school activities require suggested donations from parents to stay afloat.

A year after California passed a law meant to curb public schools from illegally charging students fees to take part in educational activities, state officials say they've received about 150 appeals from parents claiming their schools were violating it.

There's no way to know how many gave up after complaining to schools directly - the state doesn't collect those numbers. And each district has their own forms and process which parents must follow before getting the state involved.

The law doesn't stop schools from asking parents for donations - or even set a suggested amount. But students can't be left out for not paying.

So what can't schools charge for?

• Science lab equipment or supplies
• PE uniforms required to take the class
• Participating in sports teams
• Attending graduation ceremonies
• Books used in class
• Photography or art class supplies
• Attending summer school.

There are some things public schools can charge for: books a child destroys or a materials fee in a class where they get to keep what they make, like wood shop. And Seven things California public schools can't charge you for - and a few they can | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

NYC Educator: We Are the Real Reformers, Says Mulgrew

NYC Educator: We Are the Real Reformers, Says Mulgrew:

We Are the Real Reformers, Says Mulgrew

It's kind of surprising to hear Mike Mulgrew take up the mantra of those who've opposed UFT enabling of corporate reform, but he's absolutely correct that we're the real reformers. Pictured at left are a group of independent activist unionists, regularly excoriated by the elite invitation-only Unity Caucus. They predate Mulgrew's assertion by several years, are wearing real reformer capes and protesting a corporate reform event.

Yes, we are the real reformers, and yes we do whatever we have to in order to help the kids we see every day. Sadly, placing guns to our heads helps neither us nor them, and that's why the fear tactics Mulgrew uses to sell the substandard contract he negotiated are such bad ideas.

Mulgrew condemns the strategy of closing schools, but was part of the UFT leadership that endorsed mayoral control. When it became abundantly clear that school closing was the favored strategy of Tweed, UFT asked for a few changes, failed to get them, and supported mayoral control again anyway. Of course mayoral control's been seriously compromised now that Bill de Blasio tried to use it to slow down Eva Moskowitz. Governor Cuomo feels mayoral control should apply only to mayors who use it in support of Moskowitz, the legislature agrees, and Mulgrew's UFT leadership lifted not a finger to stop them from enabling her.

Mulgrew boasts of UFT lawsuits, and in fact used them when running against Jamaica Chapter Leader James Eterno for UFT President. Despite his words, UFT abandoned Jamaica High School, now set to be closed under the administration of the most progressive mayor in decades. The closure of Jamaica High School, among many others, epitomizes the failure of UFT leadership. It's unconscionable that Eterno himself, for my money the city's best chapter leader, will likely become an ATR subject to second tier due process. Union means we are one, not that some are less equal than others.

Our president bemoans the same charters his leadership failed to oppose with Bill de Blasio. But the UFT has a long history of failure regarding charters. UFT has not only supported charters, but has further partnered up with anti-teacher Steve Barr. Barr not only fired most of the LA NYC Educator: We Are the Real Reformers, Says Mulgrew:

Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans

Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans:

Big Business Shenanigans

The big business lobby in Louisiana loves to mess with education. They have not seen a deform or privatization scheme for public education that they did not like. LABI (The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry) wields its power over the Legislature because it commands big money control of the legislative process. It's simple! Legislators are afraid to go against LABI because big business can mobilize big dollars to either help or defeat legislators in their next election. It does not matter what real educators and real parents want as far as LABI is concerned. They know what is best for us!

LABI needs to create the impression that there are parents and educators who support the goals of big business in remaking education by firing teachers and administrators based on student test scores and for promoting voucher and charter school privatization schemes. Various business interests have therefore created what Noel Hammatt calls "Astro turf" (you know .... fake grass roots) organizations of parents and educators to counteract the legitimate educators and parents who do not agree with LABI and their allies. Here are the major fake groups lobbying the legislature that are really controlled by big business: Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL), Stand for Children, Louisiana Federation for Children, Associated Professional Educators, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options.

This year a real grass roots organization of parents have had their eyes opened at the legislature when they formed a group to object to the poorly implemented Common Core standards and the effort to create a big data sharing system for private companies Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans:

Kyle, and What I Learned about College Admissions (Michele Kerr) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Kyle, and What I Learned about College Admissions (Michele Kerr) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Kyle, and What I Learned about College Admissions (Michele Kerr)

Michele Kerr is a math teacher at Kennedy High School in Fremont, CA. She also wrote about teaching English and higher standards in previous guest posts. This post comes from her blog.

In the fall of his senior year, Kyle Evans1, one of my top pre-calculus students last spring, came to me for advice on his Questbridge scholarship application essay. I was scribbling edits, making comments, emphasizing a strong narrative, when I suddenly realized that the point of his essay was the struggles he’d faced freshman year as a homeless student. And now his family had just abruptly been left homeless again and was living in a single motel room.

Yeah, it was kind of a drag, he told me. Embarrassing. No privacy. Don’t tell anyone. He’d told the school counselor, but didn’t want the news getting about.

He maintained a 4.0 GPA that homeless freshman year, doing homework every night in the library. He ran cross country, although he would occasionally be benched for epileptic seizures. He transferred to our school his sophomore year, missing the first three weeks, which affected his grades and his progress on the math track.

His junior year, Kyle scored a 4 on the AP US History test; he couldn’t afford to take the AP English test and our school ran out of waivers. At this time, Kyle’s overall unweighted GPA is 3.7, weighted 4.2, putting him in the top 9% of the senior class. He took the AP Calculus test, but not the course, and I expect him to pass. He also took AP English Literature (the course and the test).

While his SAT scores were just above average, his ACT score composite was a 25 (super score 26), easily scaling the ACT Benchmarks for college readiness, Kyle, and What I Learned about College Admissions (Michele Kerr) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

K-12 News Network | Los Angeles Unified’s “Teacher Jail”

K-12 News Network | Los Angeles Unified’s “Teacher Jail”:

Los Angeles Unified’s “Teacher Jail”

admin May 27, 2014 Los Angeles, School Districts 0

Brian Hayes is a veteran teacher in Southern California. His piece refers to how, after a child predator on staff was caught and removed from MIramonte Elementary School, hundreds of teachers who had no connection to the predator were also removed and kept in isolation. Many are still there or have lost their jobs. Read The Nation’s full investigative report, “Where Shame Is Policy: Inside LA’s ‘Teacher Jail.’”

How many of us would protest vehemently if we were suspended from our job by our CEO and placed in a “company jail” without due process? That’s exactly what has happened to 450 teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

When Mark Berndt, a third grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary, was removed from his classroom in January, 2011 amid suspicions of lewd conduct, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy removed all of the school’s 76 faculty along with administrators and staff. In addition to Berndt, who is now serving a 25-year sentence, second grade teacher Martin Springer was later charged with committing lewd acts. None of the other Miramonte teachers were found guilty of any wrongdoing. Instead they were placed in an empty high school close by, sitting in limbo in what is known as “teacher jail” for six months and collecting full salaries.

In the fall, forty-six of the Miramonte teachers and a new principal returned to their original positions, while 30 educators either transferred to other schools or retired.

At its April 16 meeting last year, the LA Board of Education approved a resolution from District 3 member Tamar Galatzan which provided support for the impending passage of California State Assembly Bill 375, legislation designed to speed up the investigation and prosecutorial process of teachers removed from their classrooms on suspicion of unprofessional and/or criminal activity. However, on October 10, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill citing limits on depositions and a school district’s ability to amend charges, even when new evidence had come to light. While sharing the bills’ authors’ “desire to streamline the teacher discipline process,” Brown viewed it as “an imperfect solution.”

Consequently, LAUSD’s “teacher jail” has remained open for business despite Galatzan’s resolution. Today, approximately 450 K-12 News Network | Los Angeles Unified’s “Teacher Jail”:

Libraries and Librarians are not Luxuries | InterACT

Libraries and Librarians are not Luxuries | InterACT:

Libraries and Librarians are not Luxuries

MAY 28, 2014

by David B. Cohen

The library is the hub of academic life on campus (photo by the author).

At EdSource Today, a recent headline caught my eye (actually, thanks to Educate Our State for pointing it out):

School librarians a rare find in California public schools

Unfortunately, this problem is one of several indications that California’s policy makers don’t understand or don’t value the connection between “the whole child” and the classroom: we’re similarly underfunded when it comes to school counselors and nurses.

Many people hold an outdated image in mind concerning librarians, and they don’t know how much a professional librarian adds to the quality of a school. In response to comments at EdSource Today suggesting we could hire some “librarians” on the cheap to take the place of professionals, I composed the comment below – and encourage you to add your own comments here, and at EdSource.

Glad this is getting attention. It should be noted that librarians are teachers. In fact, a good librarian has to be the best teacher on a campus, because this is typically the only teacher whose responsibility extends to every student. We’re not talking about glorified book clerks and “Shhhh”-ing duty here. At Palo Alto High School, our librarian is incredibly pro-active. She anticipates student needs by familiarizing herself with the school-wide curriculum, to a degree possibly matched (but certainly not surpassed) by counselors and administrators. Knowing the curriculum allows the librarian to anticipate teacher needs as well. Collaboration between these teachers means that students (and even the classroom Libraries and Librarians are not Luxuries | InterACT: