Morning Wink 8-13-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-14-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Missouri: Rex Sinquefeld Wants to Gut Local Control and Impose Unfunded MandatesMultimillionaire equity investor Rex Sinquefeld doesn’t like public education. Apparently he doesn’t like teachers either. He doesn’t think teachers should be evaluated by their administrators but by the standardized test scores of their students. Evide

by mike simpson / 1min 

8-14-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Pelto/Murphy 2014 The problem is poverty, language barriers and unmet special education needs!Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and Tom Foley both claim that they are committed to doing something about Connecticut’s “failing” schools. Democrat Malloy began his approach by becoming the only Democratic governor in the national to propose doing away with teacher tenure and repealing

by mike simpson / 4min 

8-14-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: No, third grade is not the year when kids go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’No doubt you’ve heard this: ‘Third grade is the year when students go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ The truth is not so clear-cut, as explained here by Joanne Yatvin,  a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English who now supervises student teachers for Portlan

by mike simpson / 7min 

8-14-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: What Does Ferguson, MO Have to Do With 9-11?Last night I watched the police in Ferguson, MO as they rolled out their armored vehicles with machine guns on top to confront peaceful protestors and the media.  Even though no curfew had been declared by the mayor or any of the other political cowards in the state, the police, bristling with armor bought with unlimited Homeland Security

by mike simpson / 8min 

8-14-14 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.: Gaza, MO. Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery’s account of his arrest.-Wesley Lowery is an reporter for the Washington Post. An officer with a large weapon came up to me and said, “Stop recording.” I said, “Officer, do I not have the right to record you?” He backed off but told me to hurry up. So I

by mike simpson / 10min 

8-14-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: ParalysisI'm having a very interesting problem. I, as everyone else, am under a bombardment of heavy exploding shells loaded not with shrapnel, but with information. Information which explodes in my mind, branching off into threads of thought processes, any of which could lead to a blog. So many threads that I can't make decisions on what to write about. Thus, paralysis.I always h

by mike simpson / 12min 

8-14-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: For (Some of) the ChildrenChildren are the photo prop of choice for conflicts in war zones around the world. Photographic coverage of the Iraqi refugees trapped by Isis activity has been heavy on photographs of children in the camp. Shocking images from Syria have centered on children (upsetting enough that I'm not going to link). And current warfare in Gaza opened with children-ce

by mike simpson / 16min 

8-14-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: NYSED To Release Common Core Test Scores TodayFrom WIVB:BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The tests are over, and soon we will know the outcome of round two of Common Core testing. New York will release the results Thursday. Students took the math and English tests in April. This is the second year of the controversial testing standards. New York students scored lower last year than th

by mike simpson / 17min 

More Poetry on Teachers and Teaching | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

More Poetry on Teachers and Teaching | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: More Poetry on Teachers and TeachingLast month I began a feature on poetry about teachers and teaching. Poets who write about teaching are educators, students, and non-educators. Across the globe, they share a common experience of being in classrooms for years. Capturing the feelings, thoughts, and special

by mike simpson / 21min 

Why Checks and Balances Need to Include the Courts | janresseger

Why Checks and Balances Need to Include the Courts | janresseger: Why Checks and Balances Need to Include the CourtsPosted on August 14, 2014 by janressegerJust last week the Education Law Center, whose attorneys have litigated the landmark New Jersey school funding case in Abbott v. Burke, announced that the Education Law Center has “joined the legal teams in Maisto v. State of New York and Bacon

by mike simpson / 28min 

Randi Weingarten on Hillary Clinton and Partisanship in the Ed Debate - Education Writers Association

Randi Weingarten on Hillary Clinton and Partisanship in the Ed Debate - Education Writers Association: Randi Weingarten on Hillary Clinton and Partisanship in the Ed DebateMAY 19, 2014AFT President Randi Weingarten talks support for Hillary Clinton, the possibility of a union-backed Republican candidate, and next year’s mayoral race in Chicago.Recorded May 19, 2014 at EWA’s 67th National Seminar.W

by mike simpson / 31min 

NYC Educator: E4E and Union Leaders--Strange Bedfellows

NYC Educator: E4E and Union Leaders--Strange Bedfellows: E4E and Union Leaders--Strange BedfellowsOne of the interesting things about the corporate push to #SupportTheCore on Twitter was the E4E do-it-yourself page.It had all these wonderful suggestions. First it told you how to join Twitter, if you hadn't yet done so. Then it gave you formulas for writing tweets, like I #SupportTheCore because it

by mike simpson / 42min 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Waking up to a not-so-new American morning

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Waking up to a not-so-new American morning: Waking up to a not-so-new American morning"Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; ...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble" -- 1st Amendment, U.S. Constitution“A riot is the language of the unheard.” -- Dr. M.L. KingThis is supposed to be the 1st day of school in Fe

by mike simpson / 44min 

YESTERDAY

empathyeducates – “Black and White Twins” and the Social Construction of Race

empathyeducates – “Black and White Twins” and the Social Construction of Race: “Black and White Twins” and the Social Construction of RaceBy Lisa Wade, PhD | Originally Published at Society Pages. August 1, 2014, at 09:00 AMFlashback Friday.This remarkable newspaper article illustrates how skin color (which is real) gets translated into categorical racial categories (which are not). The children i

by mike simpson / 8h 

NYCDOE Consultant Michael Agona Gets Caught in the Honey Jar southbronxschool.com

http://www.southbronxschool.com: NYCDOE Consultant Michael Agona Gets Caught in the Honey JarWith all the talk lately of lawsuits to do away with tenure and mean tweets, it appears that no one wishes to get to the bottom of why the schools are so messed up; those that are in charge and that make the decisions. Shouldn't this mess be cleaned up?As many have read in my own story of why tenure is nee

by mike simpson / 10h 

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Who belongs Part 1

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Who belongs Part 1: Who belongs Part 1This is my family a couple of years ago, and here is a more recent photo:Recently, in the car on the way to the camping trip pictured above, a discussion came up about the time my son was asked to open his backpack in our local grocery store. My son has a tendency to gallop ahead of us and I caught the tail end of that

by mike simpson / 13h 

With Tueday's school board loss, charter advocates recalculate | 89.3 KPCC

With Tueday's school board loss, charter advocates recalculate | 89.3 KPCC: With Tueday's school board loss, charter advocates recalculateWINS!!! After Tuesday's defeat of another of their candidates to the Los Angeles school board, charter school advocates are rethinking how to support local candidates."The area where I would like to see us continue to make strides is reliably marshalling a

by mike simpson / 13h 

Nite Cap 8-13-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT

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 CAPCheers and Checked Again | Continuing ChangeCheers and Checked Again | Continuing Change: Cheers and Checked Again You know you are a nerd when you are watching a local school board meeting, with your cell phone taping,  as you cheer at the scree

by mike simpson / 15h 

Cheers and Checked Again | Continuing Change

Cheers and Checked Again | Continuing Change: Cheers and Checked Again You know you are a nerd when you are watching a local school board meeting, with your cell phone taping,  as you cheer at the screen.Imagine the excitement to hear your own school board members agree,  unanimously,  to find a way to opt your entire county out of high stakes testing.That was me last night.Except, I wasn’t cheeri

by mike simpson / 15h 

Choosing Democracy: Another Opportunity Missed - Civic Education Policy in California

Choosing Democracy: Another Opportunity Missed - Civic Education Policy in California: Another Opportunity Missed - Civic Education Policy in CaliforniaCalifornia education policy makers have once again written and published a nice looking report on school curriculum – this one on the need for improved civic education.  As is the norm for these tasks, a group of “well respected” civic leaders have

by mike simpson / 15h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Lazy-Ass Reporters (LARs) on top of Karen's vast real estate empire

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Lazy-Ass Reporters (LARs) on top of Karen's vast real estate empire: Lazy-Ass Reporters (LARs) on top of Karen's vast real estate empireKaren Lewis leads Rahm by 12 points in the polls. Desperation time.After reading the "expose" in today's Sun-Times, one couldn't be blamed for thinking that poor Rahm's re-election campaign is really in trouble. Not only is

by mike simpson / 15h 

HISD trustees and Grier spar over school reform - K-12 Zone

HISD trustees and Grier spar over school reform - K-12 Zone: HISD trustees and Grier spar over school reformPosted on August 13, 2014 | By Ericka MellonPRINT0HISD Superintendent Terry Grier launched the Apollo reform program at nine of the district’s lowest-performing middle and high schools in 2010 and expanded it to nine elementary schools the following year. (Photo by Eric Kayne)The ghost of Ap

by mike simpson / 17h 

8-13-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Pre-K = Childhood's End?
Comment posted following “As the first day of school approaches, the city trains thousands of universal pre-K teachers,” on ChalkbeatPosted on August 12.I wonder how many of those interested in teaching Pre-K in New York have read the "New York State Prekindergarten Foundation for the Common Core." The document is 62 pages long, filled with an ast

by mike simpson / 17h 

8-13-14 The Whole Child Blog — Bringing Health and Wellness Back to School

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: Bringing Health and Wellness Back to SchoolThis week many schools across the Midwest will flow back into their daily classroom routines and students will start adjusting from the freedom of summer to the structure of study. That means plenty of grab-and-go school breakfasts, packed lunches, coveted afterschool snacks with outdoor recess, and brain brea

by mike simpson / 18h 

empathyeducates – Feds Investigating Claim Of Civil Rights Violations In Schools On Chicago’s South Side

empathyeducates – Feds Investigating Claim Of Civil Rights Violations In Schools On Chicago’s South Side: Feds Investigating Claim Of Civil Rights Violations In Schools On Chicago’s South SideIrene Robinson wraps her arm around her grandchild, who attended Anthony Overton Elementary School in Chicago [2013]. The school is one of 48 now shuttered because of a budget deficit. Many parents have voice

by mike simpson / 18h 

What Will a Liberal Arts Education Look Like in 50 Years? - The Atlantic

What Will a Liberal Arts Education Look Like in 50 Years? - The Atlantic: What Will a Liberal Arts Education Look Like in 50 Years?Aug 13, 2014 | 5-part seriesKasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg, Sam Price-Waldman, Nadine AjakaAt this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, we asked a group of academics within some of America's top universities to weigh in on the fate of higher education. "We won't have libe

by mike simpson / 18h 

Cami’s Newark school bus plan: Volunteers needed to keep kids safe. | Bob Braun's Ledger

Cami’s Newark school bus plan: Volunteers needed to keep kids safe. | Bob Braun's Ledger: Cami’s Newark school bus plan: Volunteers needed to keep kids safe.Anderson wants Newark kids protected by “volunteers”–Is she nuts or what?Cami Anderson, the state-imposed administrator of Newark schools, has developed a shuttle bus operation to move children around the city to meet the demands of  her “One

by mike simpson / 20h 

8-13-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd

by mike simpson / 20h 

STOP GRITTING YOUR TEETH WHEN YOU HEAR “GRIT” | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

STOP GRITTING YOUR TEETH WHEN YOU HEAR “GRIT” | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: STOP GRITTING YOUR TEETH WHEN YOU HEAR “GRIT” There is nothing wrong with GRIT.Why do we have such a knee jerk reaction to a word when the wrong people usurp it?Isn’t true grit is a characteristic we need to fight back against these interlopers? We need to take back that word just as we need to take back other word

by mike simpson / 20h 

8-13-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Pelto/Murphy 2014 State Deficit?  What State Deficit…In a recent interview with the CT Mirror, Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy said, “We really don’t have a deficit.” However, if the truth be told, according to the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, the State of Connecticut continues to face a monumental fiscal crisis.  In fact, here are the projections from the experts fo

by mike simpson / 21h 

8-13-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: “My Best Posts On ‘Conditional Cash Transfers’”© 2012 Philip Taylor, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio I’ve just published My Best Posts On “Conditional Cash Transfers” over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. Conditional Cash Transfers are payments made to families to encourage them to do things like go to doctor appoin

by mike simpson / 21h 

8-13-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Us VS Them- A Guest Post on the Larger Implications of Ferguson by Dr Lori Martin

With A Brooklyn Accent:  Us VS Them- A Guest Post on the Larger Implications of Ferguson by Dr Lori MartinThe systematic killing of people of color provides the best evidence that many Americans have been wrong about racism all along. For far too long racism has been understood as an illness, a sickness, or a disease, that older and uneducated individuals come down with because they are ignorant,

by mike simpson / 23h 

8-13-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Dear Campbell Brown:Today you made an appearance in Valerie Strauss's blog to respond to your many critics. I want to take a moment to respond to some of your questions.First, let me applaud you for taking the dialogue directly to your critics, rather than simply trashing or dismissing them elsewhere. Direct dialogue between the various sides of the ed debates (there are more than

by mike simpson / 23h 

The Age-Old Question. Teaching: Art or Science? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

The Age-Old Question. Teaching: Art or Science? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:The Age-Old Question. Teaching: Art or Science?By Nancy Flanagan on August 13, 2014 10:36 AMFor several years, I read and evaluated applications from teachers interested in becoming the Michigan Teacher of Year. The application consists of various lengthy essays on important questions around the pr

by mike simpson / 23h 

8-13-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: Book Review: This Is Not a Test, by José Luis VilsonLet me start with the easiest part of this review:Buy and read José Luis Vilson's This Is Not a Test.@TheJVL is one of the better known teacher-bloggers around, and a prodigious tweeter. He asks hard questions and gives little quarter when it comes to issues of race and education (although I've noticed he also has greater patience

by mike simpson / 23h 

The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don't Teach | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don't Teach | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Download PDFThe Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don't TeachMatt RichmondAugust 12, 2014The number of non-teaching staff in the United States (those employed by school systems but not serving as classroom teachers) has grown by 130 percent since 1970. Non-teachers—more than three million strong—now comprise half

by mike simpson / 23h 

Breaking News: @MichelleRhee (Johnson) Continues to Spread Fertilizer | Cloaking Inequity

Breaking News: @MichelleRhee (Johnson) Continues to Spread Fertilizer | Cloaking Inequity: Breaking News: @MichelleRhee (Johnson) Continues to Spread FertilizerThe Huffington Posts reports that Michelle Rhee Prepares To Leave CEO Job At StudentsFirst, Group She Founded. Is there a more polarizing figure for critics or uniting for supporters of education “reformers”?In today’s Breaking News comic a

by mike simpson / 23h 

One Houston Teacher and Future Teachers Reportedly Not to Be |

One Houston Teacher and Future Teachers Reportedly Not to Be |: One Houston Teacher and Future Teachers Reportedly Not to Be Following up on a previous post about “Houston Teachers Suing over their District’s EVAAS Use,” an opinion piece released this summer via The Houston Chronicle about the realities of another teacher in Houston working for 15 years in the district, highlights some of the same

by mike simpson / 23h 

Morning Wink 8-13-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-13-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan State Board Calls for Sweeping Changes in Charter LawThe Michigan State Board of Education passed a resolution calling for reform of the state’s charter law. The vote was along party li

by mike simpson / 1d

2nd Banana 8-9-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 8-2-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post2nd Banana 7-26-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 7-19-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 7-12-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post 

2nd Banana 7-5-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

Nite Cap 8-13-14

Nite Cap 8-12-14

Nite Cap 8-11-14

Nite Cap 8-10-14

Nite Cap 8-9-14

Nite Cap 8-8-14

Nite Cap 8-7-14

Nite Cap 8-6-14 

Nite Cap 8-5-14

Nite Cap 8-4-14

Nite Cap 8-3-14

Nite Cap 8-2-14

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-14-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Public Employees Federation Endorses Teachout

As the New York Daily News put it, today was not a good day for Governor Cuomo. First the New York State United Teachers decided not to endorse him or anyone else. Then the Public Employees Federation endorsed Zephyr Teachout. He still has $35 million in campaign funds, but a steamroller he is not. He hoped to be re-elected with such impressive numbers that he would be seen as Presidential tim

5 by dianeravitch / 39min 

This Was Michael Brown’s High School

Michael Brown, the youth who was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, graduated from Normandy High School. You may recall reading here that the Normandy School District, which was 98% African-American, was merged by the state with the nearby Wellston School District, which was 100% African-American. Michael’s graduation picture was taken in March 2014. Why so far ahead of the graduation date?

26 by dianeravitch / 28min

NY Parent-Educator Group Outraged by Quality and Accuracy of Common Core Test Scores

New York released its 2014 test scores today. The proportion of students reaching “proficiency” English was flat, and there was a small increase in math. Unfortunately, in both subjects, a large majority of students in grades 3-8 were “not proficient.” As I have pointed out in earlier blogs, the Common Core tests in New York and elsewhere decided to adopt a very high bar for their definition of “p

by dianeravitch / 2min 

New York State United Teachers Will Not Endorse Cuomo

The New York State United Teachers decided not to endorse Andrew Cuomo for re-election, nor anyone else. NYSUT has 600,000 members and a strong get-out-the-vote operation. It did endorse the Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “Those who earn endorsements are friends of public education and labor,” NYSUT president Karen Magee said in a statement. “Over

1 by dianeravitch / 4min

Two Teachers Write a Letter to Whoopi Goldberg

Two teachers from Long Island, New York, wrote a letter to Whoopi Goldberg to explain to her that “tenure” means “due process.” Alicia Connelly-Foster of the Patchogue-Medford Congress of Teachers, NYSUT, AFT, NEA, and Viri Pettersen, President- Rockville Centre Teachers Association, NYSUT, AFT, NEA patiently explain that it takes a minimum of three years for a teacher to win tenure, during which

by dianeravitch / 3min 

Oklahoma PTA Unanimously Calls for End to High-Stakes Testing

At its annual meeting, the Oklahoma PTA called for a ban on high-stakes testing. As parents and grandparents, no one can remember a world in which standardized testing is as important as it is today, thanks to No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Parents in Oklahoma said: Enough is enough.” The following was reported in the Oklahoma PTA journal. “July 18, 2014 – Tulsa: Over 340 delegates at

30 by dianeravitch / 47min 

Stephanie Simon: The Inside Story of Why Michelle Rhee-Johnson Stepped Down

Stephanie Simon of politico.com reports on the story behind Michelle Rhee-Johnson’s decision to step down as leader of StudentsFirst, the organization she founded in 2010. Although she managed to raise some millions from big donors like the Eli and Edythe BroadFoundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and the Michael Bloomberg Foundation for her efforts to curb collective bargaining, eliminate te

by dianeravitch / 9min 

Harvard Legal Scholar Laurence H. Tribe Joins Campaign Against Tenure

Politico.com reports this morning that Laurence H. Tribe, a legal scholar Harvard, has joined the campaign to eliminate teacher tenure. “Students Matter, which led the Vergara lawsuit to overturn teacher tenure and other job protections in California, will announce this morning that constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe is joining the group as senior adviser. Tribe, a Harvard law professor, wil

by dianeravitch / 0min 

Laura H. Chapman on the Common Core Standards

Laura H. Chapman is a consultant on arts education who contributes frequently to the blog. Here is her response to the Common Core standards:   Rather than simply “correcting” the inadequate Common Core standards, they should be reconstructed and redesigned from the ground up.”   NO. No. No. They should be tossed–folded, stapled, mutilated, burned. They are based on lies about “college readiness,”

3 by dianeravitch / 25min 

Missouri: Rex Sinquefeld Wants to Gut Local Control and Impose Unfunded Mandates

Multimillionaire equity investor Rex Sinquefeld doesn’t like public education. Apparently he doesn’t like teachers either. He doesn’t think teachers should be evaluated by their administrators but by the standardized test scores of their students. Evidently he doesn’t know that this method of evaluating teachers has failed to work wherever it was tried; evidently he doesn’t know that even the Dist

6 by dianeravitch / 48min hide  //  save

Rex Sinquefeld: Why Does He Want to Buy the State of Missouri?

Rex Sinquefeld is a billionaire (or maybe just a multi-millionaire) who has poured millions of dollars into political campaigns in Missouri. He is not satisfied with what he has. He wants lower taxes, less government, and the privatization of public schools. He doesn’t want workers to have any rights. Read about him and his political activities in these reports prepared by the Center for Media a

12 by dianeravitch / 1h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-13-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Michigan State Board Calls for Sweeping Changes in Charter LawThe Michigan State Board of Education passed a resolution calling for reform of the state’s charter law. The vote was along party lines; the state board is dominated by Democrats but the legislature is not. The resolution was passed following a series in the Detroit Free

by mike simpson / 8h 

8-14-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

Wait What?

 Pelto/Murphy 2014 

The problem is poverty, language barriers and unmet special education needs!

Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and Tom Foley both claim that they are committed to doing something about Connecticut’s “failing” schools. Democrat Malloy began his approach by becoming the only Democratic governor in the national to propose doing away with teacher tenure and repealing collective bargaining in the poorest and lowest performing schools which he euphemistically […] The post The problem

by jonpelto / 1h 

8-13-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Pelto/Murphy 2014 State Deficit?  What State Deficit…In a recent interview with the CT Mirror, Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy said, “We really don’t have a deficit.” However, if the truth be told, according to the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, the State of Connecticut continues to face a monumental fiscal crisis.  In fact, here are the projections from the experts fo

by mike simpson / 6h 

8-14-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet:

One-third of Virginia’s schools could lack full accreditation as standards toughen

Nearly one-third of Virginia’s public schools will not earn full accreditation this fall after reading and science scores dropped precipitously on state-mandated standardized tests, according to state education officials. Read full article >>

by T. Rees Shapiro, ... / 0min 

Strauss: Blame the Common Core for Miley Cyrus, phones in toilets, and … everything else?

Who knew?! #ThanksCommonCore #CommonCore pic.twitter.com/E6CfRYOR8X If you thought that “bullies, playground predators, or school violence” were the most dangerous things school children face, you are, according to the Family Research Council, missing the “spreading, hidden nightmare facing” millions of students as they start a new school year. Read full article >>

by Valerie Strauss / 1min 

Scoring error on one SOL test question meant hundreds of Virginia students who failed really passed

More than 500 students in Virginia just learned that their score on the Standards of Learning Civics & Economics test they took last spring rose when it was discovered that the answer to one question was incorrectly scored. For 224 students, getting credit for one more question meant the difference between failing the exam and […]

by Valerie Strauss / 13min 

No, third grade is not the year when kids go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’

No doubt you’ve heard this: ‘Third grade is the year when students go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ The truth is not so clear-cut, as explained here by Joanne Yatvin,  a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English who now supervises student teachers for Portland State University. She also […]

4 by Valerie Strauss / 4h hide  //  save

Seven things teachers are sick of hearing from school reformers

Teachers have long been accustomed to “going along to get along” but increasingly are raising their voices to protest standardized test-based education reforms of the last decade that they see as harmful to students. In this post, Georgia teacher Ian Altman explains what he and his colleagues are really sick of hearing from reformers. Altman […]

1K by Valerie Strauss / 6h 

8-13-14 Answer Sheet

Answer Sheet: Campbell Brown responds to critics (including me)I have recently published several posts about a new effort led by former CNN journalist Campbell Brown to eliminate or restrict teacher and other job protections for teachers. (You can see them here, here, here and here.) Brown has appeared on numerous television shows recently arguing that legal job protections for teachers have a neg

by mike simpson / 8h 

8-14-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

What Does Ferguson, MO Have to Do With 9-11?

Last night I watched the police in Ferguson, MO as they rolled out their armored vehicles with machine guns on top to confront peaceful protestors and the media.  Even though no curfew had been declared by the mayor or any of the other political cowards in the state, the police, bristling with armor bought with unlimited Homeland Security funds, took it upon themselves to decide when people should

by Jim Horn / 13min hide  //  save

Iowa Becomes Latest to Dump the Common Core

from the Blaze:Yet another state has kicked Common Core to the curb.Iowa had implemented much of the Common Core State Standards into its “Iowa Core” education standards, working with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium on a single testing program to measure students’ progress. The testing consortium has been one of the key organizations in helping states fully implement Common Core. But on

by Jim Horn / 42min 

Follow-Up on Lee County, FL Board Consideration of Opting Out Entire County from State Tests

from News-Press.com:If the Lee County school board opts out of state-mandated testing, it will be the first district in Florida to do so. But the legality of that defiance remains unclear.Members almost brought it to a vote Tuesday evening at the school board meeting — prompting audience applause at the very suggestion — but it was tabled for further legal consideration.Florida statutes broadly re

by Jim Horn / 57min 

8-13-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Pre-K = Childhood's End?
Comment posted following “As the first day of school approaches, the city trains thousands of universal pre-K teachers,” on ChalkbeatPosted on August 12.I wonder how many of those interested in teaching Pre-K in New York have read the "New York State Prekindergarten Foundation for the Common Core." The document is 62 pages long, filled with an ast

by mike simpson / 1h