4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-24-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

Urgent Action Alert: THE LAUSD BOARD OF ED NEEDS TO HEAR YOUR SUPPORT FOR ARTS+MUSIC ED BY 3PM TUESDAY!

Ask your Board of Education representative to hold back his or her vote on the budget until LAUSD can ensure every student will have access to a complete education that includes the arts. by e-mail from Arts for LA: June 23, 2014 Dear 4LAKids Reader: I'm writing with an urgent request on behalf of the students in LAUSD. Tomorrow (June 24), the LAUSD Board of Education will vote on a

3 by smf / 14h 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-22-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Op-Ed: WORLD WAR I, A WAR TOO EASY TO FORGETIn the rush to prepare kids 'to compete in the global economy',' current events and a lot of history get lost by Christopher L. Doyle, Op-Ed in the L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1uUeYEi United States Army troops stand in the trenches in France during World War I. (Associated Press) 22 June 2014  :: Commenting rec

by mike simpson / 1min 

6-24-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

Wait What? 

“Lieberman Compares Pelto To Ralph Nader As 3rd Party Candidate”

As the Hartford Courant reported earlier today, “Former U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman compared liberal Democrat Jonathan Pelto to former presidential candidate Ralph Nader on Tuesday while discussing this year’s competitive race for Connecticut governor.” One assumes that the observation was meant as an insult since Lieberman went on to blame Ralph Nader for the […] The post “Lieberman Compares Pe

by jonpelto / 2h 

No Tenure For Malloy (by Martin Walsh)

As a public school teacher and lifelong Democrat, I would like to extend a grateful thank-you to Jonathan Pelto and Ebony Murphy for stepping forward to provide a credible alternative to the present administration which has waged an all out assault on public schools and public education [June 6, Connecticut, "Pelto Starts Collecting Signatures To […] The post No Tenure For Malloy (by Martin W

16 by jonpelto / 8h 

6-23-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Charter School champion, “OxyContin producer” gives Malloy operation over $200,000This month Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy will be getting a check for $6.2 million in public funds through the Connecticut Public Financing Program to pay for part of his campaign for governor. But Malloy’s fundraising operation goes far beyond that money.  Malloy and his political operatives are

by mike simpson / 8h

A Political Lesson About Issue Advocacy | Truth in American Education

A Political Lesson About Issue Advocacy | Truth in American Education:

A Political Lesson About Issue Advocacy

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on June 24, 2014 • 0 Comments

Photo credit: Molly Theobald (CC by 2.0)

I wanted to highlight an article in Breitbartby Mike Flynn the other day that I intentionally didn’t share over on Truth in American Education’s social media.  It doesn’t mention Common Core, it’s not even about education, but it contains some insights that I think will help the cause of fighting Common Core in the future.  So I didn’t want to throw it up there without providing some context regarding how I see this as relevant.

He points out how conservatives are losing ground to liberals because they are being out-organized.

I don’t want to make this article about left vs. right, but rather about a political strategy towards building a movement.  The left have been masterful at accomplishing this.  The right not so much.

Lessons to learn for us:

1. Go local.  I think there are far too many of us who are focused nationally.  Certainly this website is a national resource, but we focus on state-by-state activism, and my personal activism has been at the local and state level.  I have to roll my eyes at new national groups formed to fight this battle, not because I see them as competition because I don’t – we’re allies in this fight, but because that is not where the battle is at.  I may not be able to organize a nation, or a state, but I can organize in my school district or my voting precinct.  I do want to point out that there are a good number of grassroots groups doing this.  Thank you!

2. Up our game with organizing and canvassing.  So many of us have participated in grassroots lobbying, but have we considered how our results could have different if we spent as much time canvassing and educating people?  We can’t match the resources that pro-Common Core A Political Lesson About Issue Advocacy | Truth in American Education:

No More Common Core Symposium in New Jersey

New Jersey readers mark your calendars for this symposium that will be offered in September.  Concerned Citizens of Southern New Jersey will host a “No More Common Core” Symposium on Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 10:00am at the Ramada Inn in Vineland, NJ.  Guest speakers will be: Sandra Stotsky, Duke Pesta, Chris Tienken, Deneen Borelli, and Tom Borelli.You can download the pdf version of the fl

by Shane Vander Hart / 2h 

Shanker Blog » What Kindergartners Might Teach Us About Test-Based Accountability

Shanker Blog » What Kindergartners Might Teach Us About Test-Based Accountability:

What Kindergartners Might Teach Us About Test-Based Accountability

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on June 24, 2014

There is an ongoing debate about widespread administration of standardized tests to kindergartners. This is of course a serious decision. My personal opinion about whether this is a good idea depends on several factors, such as how good the tests will be and, most importantly, how the results will be used (and I cannot say that I am optimistic about the latter).

Although the policy itself must be considered seriously on its merits, there is one side aspect of testing kindergarteners that fascinates me: It would demonstrate how absurd it is to judge school performance, as does NCLB, using absolute performance levels – i.e., how highly students score on tests, rather than their progress over time.

Basically, the kindergarten tests would inevitably shake out the same way as those administered in later grades. Schools and districts serving more disadvantaged students would score substantially lower than their counterparts in more affluent areas. If the scores were converted to proficiency rates or similar cut-score measures, they would show extremely low pass rates in urban districts such as Detroit.

A thought experiment: I would be very curious to see whether the same ill-informed advocates who use absolute performance measures to deem some schools and districts “low-performing” or “high-performing” would do the same with the kindergarten results. I’m pretty sure they would not, for obvious reasons: These tests would have been administered to students in their first year of formal K-12 schooling (perhaps even at the beginning of that year). And there would be no plausible way to attribute the testing results to the quality of schools’ educational services, since kindergartners would not yet have had the benefit of receiving these services.

Rather, they would have entered the schooling system at a certain level of performance (at least to the degree that tests could actually measure it). Some of them would be way ahead of others, and these discrepanciesShanker Blog » What Kindergartners Might Teach Us About Test-Based Accountability:

6-24-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Example of how SPS Staff Can't Get it Right

Tomorrow is the public hearing on the budget.  This is a state-mandated requirement.  There are rules about it.But I noticed that the SPS website - the home page, the Board's home page, the Calendar page - none of them explained how to give input (other than showing up and THEN finding out). No info on length of time at the hearing, no info on giving written comment - either e-mail or snail mail -

by Melissa Westbrook / 3h hide  //  save

Summer Safety

I just saw this article in Slate about drowning and what it really looks like.  It's not someone bouncing up and down, yelling, "Help!" Important reading for parents as we go into the summer months.

by Melissa Westbrook / 4h 

Tuesday Open Thread

I attended (and spoke at) the City Council meeting yesterday where the two pre-K for all programs were discussed and voted on.  Boy, you want to see a president of a group control the conversation, look at the master, Tim Burgess.  I'll have a thread on this but it is astonishing the City did not work with pre-school teachers and their union on this issue.  Both measures will be going before voter

by Melissa Westbrook / 4h 

YESTERDAY

Seattle Schools and Leadership: What the Fundamental Problem Is

Charlie wrote this elsewhere and it absolutely reflects what I believe.  (Emphasis mine and this is partial.) The Board and the staff have a fundamental disagreement on the role of the Board. The staff believes that the Board should function as a rubber stamp. They don't believe that the Board has anything positive to add at all and should just show up twice a month to approve whatever is placed b

by Melissa Westbrook / 14h 

6-22-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mythbusters: Seattle can't keep a superintendentOnce again Seattle is looking to hire a schools' superintendent, just two years after hiring the current one. So you're going to read and hear a lot of people saying stuff like "What the heck is wrong with Seattle that it can't keep a superintendent? There must be something wrong with that school district/school

by mike simpson / 9h 

6-24-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet:

U.S. Education Department bailing out for-profit college chain

The U.S. Education Department just announced an agreement — or, rather, a bailout — with for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc., which would keep open the chain of more than 90 schools that has been investigated repeatedly by government entities for issues including false advertising and high dropout rates. It even was found to have paid companies […]

3 by Valerie Strauss / 1h 

Better ways to use millions of dollars now spent on testing

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent by states and school districts on standardized tests every year, money that could be used for purposes far more helpful in improving student achievement. What are those purposes? Here are some suggestions, from Jim Arnold and Peter Smagorinsky. Jim Arnold recently retired from the superintendent’s position of the […]

29 by Valerie Strauss / 3h hide  //  save

How Arne Duncan talked about Common Core without mentioning ‘Common Core’

Here’s how Education Secretary Arne Duncan just gave a speech that discussed the Common Core State Standards without actually mentioning the words “Common Core.” Duncan was in Texas on a trip that included an appearance in Austin at the 2014 annual convention of the National PTA, at which he gave a speech after being introduced by […]

6 by Valerie Strauss / 9h 

Major probe of Michigan charter schools finds wasteful spending, little accountability

This week the Detroit Free Press is publishing results from its year-long investigation into charter schools in Michigan, which has more for-profit companies operating schools than any other state. The findings, based on tens of thousands of records spanning two decades as well as hundreds of interviews, paint a dismal picture of a charter sector that spends […]

25 by Valerie Strauss / 12h 

6-23-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: In surprise move, key legislator allows state testing moratorium to passThis actually happened: A key legislator listened to his constituents and changed his mind about an important piece of legislation, which changed the fate of the bill. It just happened in Rhode Island, where House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello first opposed a three-year moratorium on using a standardized test as a r

by mike simpson / 8h 

Simple truth over Talking points | Connected Principals

Simple truth over Talking points | Connected Principals:

Simple truth over Talking points

by John Marschhausen • June 24, 2014 • 0 Comments

Just last week I was standing at the grocery, buying eggs, and checking to make sure none of the eggs were broken. While concluding I did in fact have a dozen eggs ready for consumption, a very nice community member, the father of a student in our district, introduced himself to me. We had a pleasant conversation about my first year as superintendent. Towards the end of the conversation he asked, “What would you like to see for next year?” I, of course, entered into a recitation of our district goals. He politely interrupted and said, “I’m not looking for the company line – what areas do you think need to improve?”

My response . . . I apologized to him. I pride myself in honest, direct and open communications. I believe that in public education we prone to “playing it safe.” Yes, we have a Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) and we do, of course, set measurable benchmarks and goals. These processes are important; processes ensure consistent performance, integrity in planning and assessing progress and cohesiveness in the organization. Nevertheless, that isn’t what I was asked. So, what are my biggest areas of concern after year one as superintendent? Here is the plain, honest truth.

Elementary math and transitions in our math curriculum: We are at a transition in math instruction. We aren’t going back to a math textbook or series that everyone uses. We’d never expect an entire class of students to read using the same resources; we use a balanced approach to literacy instruction. We need to create . . . to build . . . a balanced approach to math instruction. We are on the right path, but we still have a long way to go. Our teachers need more resources and professional development. Our parents need additional communication. Math instruction today won’t look like math instruction did when we, as parents, attended school. We won’t have “drill and kill” worksheets and page 52, complete 1-52 even numbered problems. We are getting there . . . we have a vision, but this is a work in progress.

I am also concerned about the math transitions, from elementary to the traditional high school structure. We are teaching math using new approaches in the elementary, but we are then shifting students to the traditional Algebra I, Geometry Simple truth over Talking points | Connected Principals:

From conference to campus…make it happen!

I am super excited about the opportunities I have to be at a variety of learning spaces this summer. From ISTE to Region X, my “summer” is full of learning! (I love my job!) As I read through all of the recent posts about what not to forget and things that you “have” to have/know/pack when thinking summer learning, I keep coming back to something I read in “Leverage Leadership”. Regardless of wher

3 by Amber Teamann / 6h 

Moshe Adler on Chetty et al. |:

Moshe Adler on Chetty et al.

 Recall the study at focus of now many posts on this blog? Written by Raj Chetty and two of his colleagues at Harvard, cited first in President Obama’ 2012 State of the Union address when Obama said, “We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000,” and more recently the focus of much attention when the judge in Vergara v. California cited Chetty’s testimony and the aforementioned team’s research as evidence that “a single year in a classroom with a grossly ineffective teacher costs students $1.4 million in lifetime earnings per classroom?”

Well, one of this study’s biggest critics, and most important critics as an expert in economics himself, has written a response to all of this. More specifically, Moshe Adler – economist affiliated with Columbia University and Empire State College, State University of New York and author of the 2010 book, Economics for the Rest of Us: Debunking the Science That Makes Life Dismal - first (in April 2014) wrote a critique of Chetty et al.’s studies for the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) during which he also compared this study from its first release in 2011 (cited by Obama) to its current 2014 version (cited by the judge in Vergara v. California) that can be found here, after which Chetty et al. wrote a response (in May 2014) that can be found at the bottom of the page here, after which Adler released a final response (in June 2014) that can also be found at the very bottom of the page here.

For those of you interested in reading all three pieces, all three are really quite critical to Moshe Adler on Chetty et al. |: