7-12-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter: 

 Schools Matter All Week

Open letter to Ellie Herman, or how Green Dot's Marco Petruzzi's special education policies hurt everyone including their own administrators

"It is not legally or morally acceptable that these so-called "schools of choice" that are concentrated in urban communities and supported with public funds, should be permitted to operate as segregated learning environments where students are more isolated by race, socioeconomic class, disability, and language than the public school district from which they were drawn." — COPA

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 15min 

Following Rhonda's Advice: Be a "Little Badass"

With salary and benefits at $550,000 a year, it won't be easy to pry Weingarten from her offices at AFT.  But following the advice she offered teachers at the convention, here are a few ways teachers might be a "little BadAss":1) Stop paying union dues until Lily and Rhonda (aka Randi) resign.2) Disrupt every meeting of AFT and NEA with pro-children and pro-education pickets.3) Write let

by Jim Horn / 59min 

YESTERDAY

Hechinger Report Pulls Out the Stops to Save the Gates Core

Below are funders of the Hechinger Report, and yesterday's hosannas for Common Core by Hechinger make it clear that the kinder and gentler corporate ed reform propaganda sheet has kicked its coverage up a notch. The piece is written a Taylor McGraw, TFA alum and Eva Moskowitz chain gang employee.If you decide to read it, note how the piece frames the Common Core as a liberation document at the for

4 by Jim Horn / 1d 

JUL 10

Weingarten Riding High on Teacher Union Dues

Mercedes Schneider has another solid piece on the secret society memberships and sordid political machinations of Rhonda (aka Randi) Weingarten, the corporate manufactured president of the AFT.  Seems that Randi recently plunked down 30K to join and another 100K promised every year to wine and dine with ostensibly liberal billionaires.  Your union dues at work!Not that Rhonda couldn't afford to pa

2 by Jim Horn / 2d 

JUL 09

The State Board of Ed, the Uneducated Educated, and the Unelected

By Doug Martin Despite letter after letter and a strong physical presence in support of our democratically elected supt. of public instruction, the Pence/state board/CECI trio today set the ball in motion to steal more power from Glenda Ritz to carry on the billionaires' corporate-theocratic agenda I detail in my book Hoosier School Heist. The whole attack against Glenda Ritz is, in essence,  an a

100+ by Doug Martin / 2d 

Teachers' Rights Smashed at Another Charter Chain Gang

1 by Jim Horn / 2d 

A Teacher's Take on Common Core

From Labor Notes:. . . .There’s debate among teachers about the idea of replacing the status quo, state standards, with national ones. But the implementation has been roundly unpopular.Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted the national standards, which cover English and math. Students will be tested on them every year, kindergarten through 12th grade.Lessons at all grade leve

by Jim Horn / 3d 

JUL 08

The input that matters most

Sent to the Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2014Joshua Lipshutz ("The legal road map to better schools," July 8) points out that "...the easiest inputs to measure are not necessarily those that matter most to student learning." Vergara judge used one that doesn't matter: Teacher quality as measured by gains on standardized tests.  A number of studies have shown that rating teacher

by skrashen / 3d 

The Gild Is Already Off the Lily, But She is Golden for Gates

No sooner was the NEA president's office cleared of the sickly sweet stench of corrupt corporate lackey, Dennis Van Roekel, than a new CorpEd chief enabler was enthroned as head of the nation's largest dress-up-and-go-to-lunch teachers' professional organization.Enter Stage Right, Lily Eskelson Garcia, with her guitar and plenty of cute protest songs to titillate teachers who prefer to dance to th

3 by Jim Horn / 3d 

Doug Martin's Letter to the Indiana State Board of Education, July 8, 2014

Dear State Board of Education: As you seek to dismantle public education and democracy, I want to remind you of my book, Hoosier School Heist, which is becoming quite popular.  Although it's hard to determine (since I don't have billionaires behind me to pay for someone to track the data), my educated guess is at least 250,000 people know about this book.  The FBI even reads Hoosier School Heist

200+ by Doug Martin / 3d 

Duncan's Latest Party Balloon Just Got Popped in Tennessee

When NAEP reported in May that Tennessee high school seniors finish next to last in NAEP proficieny in the latest testing derby (just behind West Virginia), it took some of the glory from the earlier report on NAEP scores for grades 4 & 8 that Kevin Huffman and his band of TFA lawyers plastered on every available wall space at the TN State Department of Education--even the elevators. But Huffm

2 by Jim Horn / 3d 

The Meaningless Moratorium Has Ended Before Anyone Knew It Began

The union misleadership stooges of the NYSUT have signed on to a Gates-approved moratorium that just ended.  Under a plan that Cuomo will sign into law, teachers, as the headline goes, get a "break" from teacher evaluations based on test scores.  Or, rather, they got a break in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The moratorium is over before anyone could celebrate the big victory that Weingarten,

2 by Jim Horn / 4d 

Email the Indiana State Board of Ed: Another Power Grab in the Works

by Doug MartinOnce again, former conservative radio show host/free-market Christian/current Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his corporate theocrats on the State Board of Education (made up of Koch Brothers-connected Indiana Policy Review Foundation fake scholars, former Christel DeHaan operatives, and hedge fund Democrats, among others) are seeking to strip supt. of public schools Glenda Ritz of m

9 by Doug Martin / 4d hide  //  save

JUL 07

Kindergarten Achievement Tests Before Kindergarten

Riverdale and Horace Mann are now using a new test to make sure that only kids who can afford IPads and tutoring get in. Could you pass the test? Which flag completes the pattern?

2 by Jim Horn / 5d 

JUL 06

Ravitch Waves Goodbye to Common Core and Throws Kisses to Dennis and Randi

I read both of Diane Ravitch's books that she wrote after her conversion experience and subsequent surrender of her honored chair with the boys at Hoover/Koret/Fordham, and I kept looking to find out the real history of American corporate education reform, the one that Diane had ignored in every one of her books prior to her conversion.  What I found in her newer books was more or less a watered d

9 by Jim Horn / 6d

All Week 7-12-14 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE : 

All Week @ THE CHALK FACE 

@the Chalk Face radio Sunday at 6:00 pm Eastern. #chalktalk #CrazyinCO.

Tomorrow night @the chalk face radio. Another installment of “Crazy in Colorado.” We will be talking to bully journalist Karin Malchow. Karin just doesn’t understand how paid for reports and internal board press releases can be passed off as news to the public. We will try and help her understand “priority journalism.” Also we’ll be […]

2 by Timothy D. Slekar / 2h 

Does anyone else struggle with movement in the classroom?

This from the Answer Sheet: In the following post, Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of TimberNook, a nature-based development program designed to foster creativity and independent play outdoors in New England, suggests yet another reason more children are being diagnosed with ADHD, whether or not they really have it: the amount […]

6 by Shaun Johnson / 21h 

The Problem with the AFT Offer for Teachers to “Rewrite” the Common Core

A very good thing will happen on Sunday, July 13, 2014, at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention in Los Angeles: The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will be debated on the floor. No behind-closed-doors killing of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) resolution opposing CCSS. As Politico states: Weingarten, for instance, has repeatedly said she supports Common Core, but she […]

43 by deutsch29 / 22h 

JUL 10

Jindal Says No to Roemer, Garvey and Boffy’s 2014-15 Assessment “Offer”

On July 10, 2014, three members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)– President Chas Roemer, James Garvey, and Holly Boffy– decided that they would make Governor Bobby Jindal an offer regarding a plan for 2014-15 assessments in Louisiana schools. Within hours, Jindal rejected the Roemer et al. offer. The decision to […]

1 by deutsch29 / 1d 

How Can 2004 Data Prove that Reports in 2007 to 2012 on the Damage Done by NCLB Would Be Wrong?

“Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al., uses NCES polling data from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 to 2003-04 to 2007-08. It begins by reviewing and challenging “anecdotal” evidence from great journalists and education writers. As I explained previously, I believe the […]

3 by John Thompson / 1d 

JUL 09

An (Unofficial) DCPS Feeder Patterns & School ESEA Classification

Originally posted on EdCentrist:?

2 by Angel Cintron Jr. / 2d 

Ignoring the Job Market (and How We Do Our Jobs) When Studying Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

“Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al., uses NCES polling data from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 to 2003-04 to 2007-08. It begins by reviewing and challenging “anecdotal” evidence from great journalists and education writers. As I explained previously, I believe the […]

9 by John Thompson / 2d 

JUL 08

New York Magazine Writer Thinks Ravitch Will “Make” Unions “Go Republican”

I just finished writing a post about American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten’s allegiance to the Democratic Party above all else, and what link do I open up next? That of a New York Magazine article by Jonathan Chait, entitled, Teachers Unions Turn Against Democrats. Now that’s funny. Apparently Chait is upset that the two political parties are not […]

12 by deutsch29 / 3d 

Randi Weingarten, Twitter, and “Secret Society” Membership

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is a corporate reformer’s gift. He appointed Stefan Pryor, the co-founder of a major charter chain as state education commissioner. Even as traditional public education in Connecticut is underfunded, the number of charter schools grows. Malloy also believes in evaluating teachers using student test scores. He publicly stated that teachers “only have to show up fo

13 by deutsch29 / 3d 

The Secretary’s 50 State Plan for #teacherequity

I’m reading the original letter sent to state school officers. Is that Times New Roman? This is the best the highest office in education in the US can do, am I correct? Wow. From Education Week: But addressing that problem won’t be easy. States have a limited authority and capacity to ensure that districts distribute […]

4 by Shaun Johnson / 3d 

Why APPR in NYS has to go.

Why APPR in NYS has to go..Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face

2 by David Greene / 3d 

Saving a school: Predatory enrollment

The Washington Post discussed recently the immense pressure administrators, and staff as well, are under to re-enroll students in their schools in order to keep and maintain resources. The move is a sign of the tremendous pressure on the District’s traditional public schools. Charter schools, which appeared less than two decades ago, now enroll nearly […]

17 by Shaun Johnson / 3d 

Mis-Estimating the Effects of NCLB on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

I expected to have mixed feelings when reading “Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al. On one hand, their finding as summarized in the press was so surprising that I knew a careful and skeptical reading would be required. On […]

8 by John Thompson / 3d 

Are “Teacher Professional Partnerships” a viable career ladder option?

Dear Teachers, During a school day, have you ever wondered, silently or aloud, any of the following statements: 1) There’s a more effective way of doing ____________________, 2) If we could only change ____________________. 3) I wish we could start doing ____________________. If you answered ‘yes’ to these statements, then this message is for you. Perhaps, there is a more effective way. Perhaps, [

4 by Angel Cintron Jr. / 4d 

JUL 07

A Chronicle of Echoes Gets Noticed in Salon

This summer, I am writing my second book, this time on the history, development, and promotion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). On July 4th, I finished writing the ten-chapter body of that book, which means that even though I now turn my attention to proofing, editing, and formatting my references, I do not […]

12 by deutsch29 / 4d 

The collective illiteracy of education reform

I have no idea how any reform conversant can say what follows with a straight face: When people say the education system is too focused on the adults at the expense of the kids, it can be dismissed as a throwaway line. In fact, as our ongoing conversation about stakes and consequences shows, it’s so much […]

11 by Shaun Johnson / 4d 

Replace Arne Duncan with whom? THIS GUY!

Sunday July 6th kicked off our first in a series of shows on the craziness that is education reform in the counties surrounding Denver, CO, particularly Douglas County, where we’ve featured topics previously on @ the Chalk Face. I’m sure the reader has heard the NEA’s call for the current Secretary’s resignation. I am also […]

25 by Shaun Johnson / 4d 

JUL 06

Effective Motivation:

EFFECTIVE MOTIVATION:.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face

4 by David Greene / 5d hide  //  save

JUL 05

Tomorrow begins a multi-part series from #DougCo Colorado. #talkchalk #CrazyinCO

Here’s the listing for tomorrow’s show at 6PM EST: SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! @the chalk face radio presents “Crazy in Colorado.” We begin a series of Sunday shows devoted to the Rocky Mountain state’s embrace of the failed reform movement and also talking to those marginalized voices that have and are fighting back and suffering tremendous casualties. Joins us at 6 […]

6 by Shaun Johnson / 6d 

Social networking usage and @ the chalk face

Pew recently updated their facts and information on social media/networking usage. Twitter, as far as I’m concerned, is a cesspool. According to Pew, roughly 19% of all online adults are using it.  May seem like a lot. Yeah, it is. Pretty powerful stuff. But it’s not even close to where we @ the Chalk Face, and […]

5 by Shaun Johnson / 6d