8-19-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Los Angeles schools decriminalize discipline

Los Angeles schools decriminalize discipline

by Rene Diedrich / 26min

some POINTED QUESTIONS about AFT Convention - Common Core Debate - UFT Leaders Vs Classroom Teachers

Check out this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/ToNEs-C9HCU Zz

by Rene Diedrich / 1min 

AFTER FIVE YEARS OF RUIN AND ROT: Teachers union claims to be talking strategy for combatting teacher jail - LA School Report

http://laschoolreport.com/teachers-union-talking-strategy-for-combatting-teacher-jail/#comment-2386 While officials from the teachers union, UTLA, are contemplating salary demands in a new labor contract with the district, they have not lost sight of another key issue, how to deal with teachers housed

by Rene Diedrich / 20min 

To Amanda Ripley: A Second TIME Article on Rhee is Long Overdue | deutsch29

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by Rene Diedrich / 8min 

New York Students Inch Upward On Common Core Tests, But Most Are Still Failing

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/new-york-common-core-scores-2014_n_5679545.html New York Students Inch Upward On Common Core Tests, But Most Are Still Failing The New York State Education Department released the much-anticipated scores

by Rene Diedrich / 6h 

Washington State School Officials Criticize Federal 'Failing' Status

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/washington-state-failing-schools_n_5679941.html?utm_hp_ref=education&ir=Education                  (Updates with Department of Education statement) By Victoria Cavaliere SEATTLE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Superintendents from 28 Washington

by Rene Diedrich / 6h 

Why Los Angeles Sends Failing Students On To The Next Grade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/15/los-angeles-failing-students_n_5682751.html?utm_hp_ref=education When Alberto Cortes was held back in fourth grade because of low math skills, he thought his world had come to an end."The first day of

by Rene Diedrich / 6h 

YESTERDAY

LA’s Schools: When Is Accountability Good For The Gander?

http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/7383-la-s-schools-when-is-accountability-good-for-the-LA's Schools: When Is Accountability Good For The Gander? The BUCK NEVER STOPPED-This past week, the first back in school for LAUSD kids, has seen an absolutely ridiculous mess due to MiSiS, the court-mandated, "Integrated Student Information System" more honestly termed, simply: "CriSiS".  B

by Rene Diedrich / 8h hide  //  save

The Trouble With Tenure - NYTimes.com

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by Rene Diedrich / 9h 

8-18-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: The Corporate Hijacking of Public EducationThe Corporate Hijacking of Public Educationby Rene Diedrich / 3h Inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring business | City PagesMike Kooiman Dan DiMaggio was blown away the first time he heard his boss say it. The pensive, bespectacled 25-year-old had been comingby Rene Diedrich / 3h LAUSD's outrageous 'parent trigger' suspension

by mike simpson / 8h 

8-19-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

Why Did the Core Have a Bad Year?

Today's big headline from the new Education Next poll is "Teachers No Longer Love CCSS."Support for the Core among teachers dropped like a stone, from 76% in 2013 to 46% in 2014. That's a lot of love lost. Now, as we move from the "Holy schneikies!" phase into the "Got some splainin' to do" phase, we'll start to ask the big question.Why?Over at The Fordham, Mike Petri

by Peter Greene / 18min

Whatever Happened to Affordable College Education

I enjoy the blog Curmudgeon Central not just because the name makes us some sort of internet cousins, but because the writer, a college professor in Texas, makes me look like Little Mary Sunshine.Recently, he published a post that jumps off from this internet meme If you are of a Certain Age (say, mine) then you recognize this is more-or-less accurate. I graduated from college in 1979, but it was

13 by Peter Greene / 1h hide  //  save

Survey Shows CCSS Support Plummeting

Support for the Core among teachers has been cut almost in half. That is just one of the findings in a survey released today by Michael Henderson, Paul Peterson and Martin West in Education Next.  The survey, administered in May and June of this year to 5000 adults, provides info on several issues. With charts and graphs! All of this has to be viewed through a careful filter-- EdNext is a reformst

34 by Peter Greene / 2h

8-18-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Sanders's Charter School Not Ready for Prime TimeThe problem of athletic academies that push sports and ignore academics is not a new one.One recent growth industry has been the post-grad prep school, schools set up so that athletes who failed to make the necessary scores to qualify for NCAA play can take another year to make their numbers while still maintaining their sports edge.

by mike simpson / 8h 

8-19-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School:

NYCDOE Finally Kicks Yuppie Sports League/Drinking Organization From DOE Property

Meant to post about this a few days ago:The city has once again revoked the Lower East Side permits for an adult sports league residents say was using school properties to run an “alcohol-driven” social league.ZogSports, a co-ed league for young professionals in cities across the U.S., had been hosting several kickball games each week at MO25 145 at Stanton St. and P.S.142, at 100 Attorney St. Not

by reality-based edu... / 35min 

One Crooked Politician Stumps For Another Crooked Politician

She's back from the political dead:Gov. Cuomo's Women's Equality Party rallied today at City Hall to tout its massive signature-gathering effort ahead of November's election, but it was one woman who ended up stealing the show.Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in her first visit to City Hall since leaving office last year, made a surprise appearance at the rally, where she had a starrin

by reality-based edu... / 37min 

NYSUT, Other Unions Already Endorsed Andrew Cuomo In Spring

Jimmy Vielkind at Capital NY:ALBANY—In one sense, the AFL-CIO's decision Monday not to endorse Andrew Cuomo's re-election is bigger than it looks. That's because the union's decision, sources say, was partially the result of heavy lobbying from other labor groups that are snubbing or actively opposing the governor.The union's decision is somewhat smaller in terms of the likelihood that it will hav

by reality-based edu... / 59min 

Support For Common Core Continues To Drop - Even In Reform-Friendly Polls

Who will UFT President Michael Mulgrew punch over this very disheartening news for Common Core supporters?Anybody watching the escalating battle across the country over the Common Core State Standards and aligned standardized testing will hardly be surprised by a new national poll which reveals a significant loss of support over the last year — especially among teachers, whose approval rating drop

by reality-based edu... / 2min 

8-18-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Time For An Investigation Into New York State's Test Score Results, Data TrackingTwo stories from over the weekend show that the statistics and data issued by NYSED Commissioner John King and his merry men and women in reform at SED cannot be trusted.First, as I posted yesterday, the NY Post covered how NYSED lowered the cut score levels on this year's state Common Core exam

by mike simpson / 8h 

How Are Children Faring in America? The Good and Bad News | NEA Today

How Are Children Faring in America? The Good and Bad News | NEA Today:

How Are Children Faring in America? The Good and Bad News

August 19, 2014 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories

Leave a Comment

By Tim Walker

In  1990, the Annie E Casey Foundation released the first Kids Count report, an annual survey measuring the well-being of the nation’s children examining various indicators across four key areas – economic well-being, education, health care, and family and community. Kids Count takes a look at  positive policies and practices that have improved children’s lives in these areas, highlighting specific success stories from individual states and what works at the federal level..

The Foundation recently released the 25th edition, which takes a look at the progress – and setbacks – since 2005 and between 1990 and 2012, a time when the nation’s child population grew from 64 million to 74 million.

Some of the education numbers are rather promising, but this good news is dampened by a crisis that has stubbornly persisted since the economic recession. Let’s take a look.

More Children Attending Preschool

During the past two decades, preschool attendance among 3- and 4-year-olds has increased by 34 percent. This improvement can be attributed in large part to successful federal programs, such as the creation of Early Head Start in 1994 and the increase in enrollment of Head Start until the recession hit in 2007-08. Too many kids – more than 4 million  3- and 4- year olds nationwide – continue to be locked out of these programs, however,

Slow Progress in Reading Proficiency

An alarming 66 percent of fourth graders in public school were reading below the proficient level in 2013, a slight improvement from 70 percent ten years ago. The numbers are still obviously way too high. More than 80 percent of African-American and Latino fourth graders and 78 percent of American Indian fourth graders fell short inn reading, compared with 49 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders and 55 percent of whites. Still, the Kids Count report notes that these figures have gradually improved.

Math As Well

Nationwide, 66 percent of public school eighth graders were not proficient in math in 2013, a drop of seven points since 2005. Like reading for fourth graders, eighth-grade math achievement improved for all racial and ethnic groups from 2005 to 2013, including an 8 percentage point improvement for Latinos. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia saw improvements, but a a wide gap  lies between Massachusetts (45 percent of its eighth-graders are not proficient) and Alabama (80 percent).

More Students Graduating On Time

In 2005-06, 27 percent of high school students did not graduate in four years. That number dipped to 19 percent in the 2011-12 school year. With 81 percent of high school students graduating on time in that year, the U.S. high school graduation rate is at an all-time high – gains that have been driven by a 15 How Are Children Faring in America? The Good and Bad News | NEA Today:

Cartoons about Coding and High Tech for Young Children | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons about Coding and High Tech for Young Children | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Cartoons about Coding and High Tech for Young Children

As a follow-up to the previous post on coding for kindergartners, I have selected some cartoons about the unceasing and ever-escalating demands of schooling young children and current efforts to use high-tech devices. Cartoonists have a special angle on a topic often missing from how policymakers see the world. And best of all, cartoonists make their points using either a sledge-hammer or an ice pick rather than the tools policymakers use such as words and dollars. Enjoy!

Cartoons about Coding and High Tech for Young Children | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Shanker Blog » No Teacher Is An Island: The Role Of Social Relations In Teacher Evaluation

Shanker Blog » No Teacher Is An Island: The Role Of Social Relations In Teacher Evaluation:

No Teacher Is An Island: The Role Of Social Relations In Teacher Evaluation

Posted by Alan J. Daly and Kara S. Finnigan on August 19, 2014

This is the fourth post in a series on “The Social Side Of Reform”, exploring the idea that relationships, social capital, and social networks matter in lasting, systemic educational improvement. For more on this series, clickhere. 

Our guest authors today are Alan J. Daly, Professor and Chair of Education Studies at the University of California San Diego, and Kara S. Finnigan, Associate Professor at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. Daly and Finnigan have published numerous articles on social network analysis in education in academic and practitioner journals, and recently co-edited Using Research Evidence in Education: From the Schoolhouse Door to Capitol Hill (Springer, 2014), which explores the use and diffusion of different types of evidence across levels of the educational system.

Teacher evaluation is a hotly contested topic, with vigorous debate happening around issues of testing, measurement, and what is considered ‘important’ in terms of student learning, not to mention the potential high stakes decisions that may be made as a result of these assessments.  At its best, this discussion has reinvigorated a national dialogue around teaching practice and research; at its worst it has polarized and entrenched stakeholder groups into rigid camps. How is it we can avoid the calcification of opinion and continue a constructive dialogue around this important and complex issue?

One way, as we suggest here, is to continue to discuss alternatives around teacher evaluation, and to be thoughtful about the role of social interactions in student outcomes, particularly as it relates to the current conversation around valued added models. It is in this spirit that we ask: Is there a ‘social side’ to a teacher’s ability to add value to their students’ growth and, if so, what are the implications for current teacher evaluation models?

It should be noted that neither of us is an expert in the area of value added, but what we do bring is a fresh perspective, strongly informed by our work examining the social side of educational change and our research in the areas of educational leadership and policy (e.g. Daly, 2010; Finnigan & Daly, 2012; 2013).

From our vantage point, one major assumption underlying the idea of ‘value-added’, as typically construed, is that student achievement, simply put, is the result of the interaction between: teacher knowledge/training/experience; his/her ability to effectively teach content; previous student performance; and student demographics. The second Shanker Blog » No Teacher Is An Island: The Role Of Social Relations In Teacher Evaluation:

NYC Educator: NYSUT Opts for Ignorance

NYC Educator: NYSUT Opts for Ignorance:

NYSUT Opts for Ignorance

This year, NYSUT once again declined to endorse Andrew Cuomo, and now the AFL-CIO, for the moment at least, is doing the same. All over the Twittersphere NYSUT patronage employees are trumpeting their great victory. From where I sit, a bold move would have been endorsing Zephyr Teachout and taking a principled stand against Cuomo's crippling anti-public education policies.

As Perdido Street School pointed out yesterday, a truly bold move would have been getting behind Teachout's bid to get on the Working Families ticket. In fact, UFT, which controls NYSUT, was discussing pulling support from WFP over the spectre of actually nominating a pro-teacher candidate. Threatening the status quo of pols who hate us and everything we stand for was unacceptable to our leadership. As always, leadership could not be bothered consulting with those of us who actually work in classrooms and trailers.

Yesterday, Beth Dimino, President of the Port Jefferson Station Teacher Association, rose to speak in favor of a Teachout endorsement. Sergeant at arms told the chair, who refused to recognize her. Obviously, the decision had already been made, and there was no point whatsoever in allowing the other side even to speak.

Revive NYSUT compared Cuomo to Scott Walker in its campaign literature, but won't even go so far as to endorse his opponent. This reminds me the great victory UFT enjoyed when it declined to endorse Bloomberg's opponent term 3. Some of you may recall going 6 years without a raise NYC Educator: NYSUT Opts for Ignorance:

8 EDUCATION BOOKS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE: CONNECTED EDUCATORS SERIES | My Island View

8 EDUCATION BOOKS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE: CONNECTED EDUCATORS SERIES | My Island View:

8 EDUCATION BOOKS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE:

CONNECTED EDUCATORS SERIES

Mark Barnes | August 16, 2014 | Featured, Innovation, Mobile Learning, Social Media |No Comments

Ask any of the thousands of teachers who regularly use Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook about connected education, and you may get an earful about using digital tools as a means to connect with educators and students worldwide.

But if you ask teachers who have never used a social network, blog, or mobile device for learning in their classrooms to discuss connected education, you are likely to be met with blank stares, furrowed eyebrows and shrugged shoulders.

Enter Corwin Press and the Connected Educators Series.

In an effort to connect all teachers, EdWeek author and Corwin editor Peter DeWitt enlisted the help of his professional learning network (PLN) in order to launch a series of books on digital learning, digital leadership, mobile learning, digital citizenship, and everything else that is connected education.

“It is our hope and intent to meet you where you are in your digital journey, and elevate you as educators to the next level.” Peter DeWitt, Connected Educators Series Editor

Corwin’s Connected Educators Series features short books, about 70 pages, in both paperback and electronic formats, aimed at helping educators improve classroom practice and educational leadership in the digital world, something that has been sorely missing in the education book world.

The first books in the series will be published in August and September.

Corwin Connected Educators Series

The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning, by Tom Whitby and Steven Anderson: Two of the profession’s most connected educators explain how to effectively use social media to build a professional learning network.

Flipped Leadership Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel, by Peter DeWitt: If we can flip the classroom, why can’t we flip faculty meetings and other kinds of 8 EDUCATION BOOKS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE: CONNECTED EDUCATORS SERIES | My Island View: