Monday, August 25, 2014

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 8-25-14

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

A Clockwork iPad: FROM THE INTERSECTION OF BALDERDASH AND IMPLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY

in which smf of 4LAKids comments upon this morning’s L.A. Times article: LAUSD OFFICIALS HAD CLOSE TIES WITH APPLE, PEARSON EXECS, RECORDS SHOW | http://bit.ly/1rvapUU Monday, 25 August, 2014 From The Times In one email, from May 24, 2012, then-Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino seems to strategize with higher-ups from Pearson, an international

by smf / 17min

iPadGate: LAUSD OFFICIALS HAD CLOSE TIES WITH APPLE, PEARSON EXECS, RECORDS SHOW

L.A. Unified officials and Apple and Pearson execs began discussing a computer effort two years before it was put out for bid By Howard Blume . LA Times | http://lat.ms/YVaYKR Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy's relationship with executives raises new questions about the iPad bidding process (Associated Press) Aug 24, 2014 :: Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy and his chief

by smf / 29min

iPADDED IN LAUSD: The smoking gun of the done deal. What’s next?

by smf for 4LAKidsNews | Monday morning, 25 August 2014 The following graphic is from reporter Annie Gilbertson of KPCC’s recent revelations – posted already on KPCC’s website and on these pages. original graphic from KPCC Obviously the next move is with the Board of Education. Time is of the essence; this has the appearance of a criminal matter and despite the niceties of Brown Act the

by smf / 16min

LAUSD’s iPad project: HOW IT STARTED …BEFORE THE BIDDING BEGAN

by Annie Gilbertson KPCC 89.3 Pass/Fail | http://bit.ly/1pXVT5u Walking in the street while texting: Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy checks his phone outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, before the verdict in a lawsuit on teacher tenure. Damian Dovarganes/AP August 25, 2014 5am :: Superintendent John Deasy was a year into his tenure at the Los Angeles

by smf / 5min

DEASY PLANNING TO HIRE HIS OWN ‘LIASON’ FOR MiSiS PROJECT + smf’s 2¢

Deasy says the person he will hire will report directly to him and will not require board approval. When does it all end? by Vanessa Romo in LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1t5D2b8 August 21, 2014 4:31 pm :: As LA Unified teachers continue their complaints about the district’s new student data management program, MiSiS, Superintendent John Deasy said today he plans to hire an independent

by smf / 5h

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 8-24-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Voices from the field: The MiSiS CRISIS + smf’s 2¢The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update | Week of August 25, 2014 | http://bit.ly/1ojn9Go 21 August 2014 :: On August 12, 2014, LAUSD opened the school year using a new student information system, MiSiS (My Integrated Student Information System). The result has been chaos at secondar

by mike simpson / 8h

8-25-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Jefferson High Students Stage Walkout Over LAUSD Computer System « CBS Los Angeles

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/08/25/jefferson-high-students-stage-walkout-over-lausd-computer-system-glitch/ Jefferson High Students Stage Walkout Over LAUSD Computer System August 25, 2014 2:28 PM View Comments

by Rene Diedrich / 3min hide // save

LAUSD Chief: One Bad Apple? | Bill Carroll on KFI AM 640

by Rene Diedrich / 13min

New Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District superintendent likes challenges

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/general-news/20090726/new-norwalk-la-mirada-unified-school-district-superintendent-likes-challenges

by Rene Diedrich / 14min

Frustrated Teachers on Film

by Rene Diedrich / 18min

OOOPS, DEASY DID IT AGAIN! THE MISIS MESS HAS Happened Before....

MiSiS: VOICES FROM THE FIELD AALA has received many emails and calls from secondary administrators concerned with the myriad MiSiS mishaps they experienced as they opened the school year. The MiSiS crisis has dramatically increased the workload of administrators who have spent many evenings and weekends trying to make the system work on behalf of students. Here are a few of their concerns.“

by Rene Diedrich / 26min hide // save

LACOE WANTS TO KNOW THE RATIONALE FOR $700 million on English Learners and Foster Kids

ED NOTES: I DOUBT THAT THEY PLAN TO SPEND IT ON TEACHERS . In an Aug. 13 letter to the school board president, the chief financial officer of the Los Angeles County’s Office of Education asked district officials to provide their “rationale” in listing $700 million as being spent on children who are poor, English learners or foster kids. Out of 80 school districts in Los Angeles County, the

by Rene Diedrich / 1h

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LAUSD’s iPad project: HOW IT STARTED …BEFORE THE B...

..4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: LAUSD’s iPad project: HOW IT STARTED …BEFORE THE B...: by Annie Gilbertson KPCC 89.3 CHECK OUT THE FUKL STORY BY CLICKING THE LINK ABOVE!

by Rene Diedrich / 2min

New York Times Reports on Duncan’s Retreat from Test-Based Evaluations of Teachers | Diane Ravitch's blog

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by Rene Diedrich / 31min hide // save

The Violence and Hatred of Common Core Fanatics | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

by Rene Diedrich / 43min

LA Schools, Apple and Common Core Publisher Duck Conflicts Report

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/08/24/LA-Schools-Apple-and-Common-Core-Publisher-Duck-Conflicts-Report#comments Despite opposition by parents and teachers to the Pearson Education Corporation's Common Core curriculum, conflicts of interest may explain why the Los Angeles School

by Rene Diedrich / 2h

YESTERDAY

True Grit, Social Emotional Learning and Purloined Language Perverted by LA School Reform by Larry F.

Anyone who has read my blog or my books knows that I'm a big supporter of Social Emotional Learning, including helping students develop "grit" (see The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of "Grit" and the grit lessons and strategies in my books). I've also been critical of "school reformers" who try to hijack Social Emotional

by Rene Diedrich / 7h

8-24-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Pictures Sent From PhotoPad by ZAGGby Rene Diedrich / 9h hide // save8-23-14 Hemlock on the RocksHemlock on the Rocks: “Reframing” California Common Core for a Better Public SaleWordPress.com deutsch29 posted: "The Frameworks Institute is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the images of other nonprofits with the goal of hooking the publicby Rene Diedrich / 3h L.A. Now

by mike simpson / 8h

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Atty. Gen. Holder meets with students from St. Louis Community College

Eric Holder

“History simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson.” -- New Republic

Lesley McSpadden (Michael Brown's mother)

“We couldn’t even see him. They wouldn’t even let us go see him. They just left him out there, four and a half hours, with no answers. Wouldn’t nobody tell us nothing.” -- N.Y. Times

Tyona Fields

“I’m praying to God we can get these kids in school because kids have been out too long,” said Tyona Fields, one of the cafeteria workers at Griffith Elementary School. School is scheduled to start next Monday.-- N.Y. Times

Rahm EmanuelMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

Petrilli’s New PR Common Core Campaign. How’s That Working? | Missouri Education Watchdog

Petrilli’s New PR Common Core Campaign. How’s That Working? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Petrilli’s New PR Common Core Campaign. How’s That Working?

Michael Petrilli recently announced the Common Core advocates needed to change their marketing push for the privately owned/copyrighted standards for public schools and be more ‘emotional’. From Politico and Moms winning the Common Core war:

…backed with fresh funding from philanthropic supporters, including a $10.3 million grant awarded in May from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supporters are gearing up for a major reboot of the Common Core campaign.
“We’ve been fighting emotion with talking points, and it doesn’t work,” said Mike Petrilli, executive vice president of the Fordham Institute, a leading supporter of the standards. “There’s got to be a way to get more emotional with our arguments if we want to win this thing. That means we have a lot more work to do.”

Mercedes Schneider doesn’t take his ‘emotion’ seriously. She’s on to something:

The “emotion” Petrilli advocates is manufactured as part of an advertising campaign. Indeed, Petrilli-concocted “emotional arguments” will be entirely void of any firsthand connection to the public school classroom upon which CCSS is intended to be imposed.

Petrilli thinks in a tank. He does not teach in a classroom.

From his position as CCSS promoter external to the classroom, in his July 31, 2014, post, Petrilli lists what he considers to be “legitimate concerns” regarding CCSS.

He lists three (federal role; standards aren’t perfect; confusing, convoluted textbooks).

He chooses not to address the fact that CCSS “success” rests wholly upon ideology and theory.

He does not mention that CCSS is assumed to work– nothing more.

Never tested. Assumed to work. Called “not perfect” by Petrilli, yet the CCSS website sells CCSS as The Solution:

To ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12^thgrade. [Emphasis added.]

Petrilli notes that some schools might “interpret” CCSS as a “ceiling” rather than a “floor.”

I challenge Petrilli to demonstrate how such “interpretation” should play out. If CCSS is Petrilli’s New PR Common Core Campaign. How’s That Working? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Infographic: LA schools iPad project: How it started ... before the bidding began | 89.3 KPCC

Infographic: LA schools iPad project: How it started ... before the bidding began | 89.3 KPCC:

LA schools iPad project: How it started ... before the bidding began

Timeline: iPad Talks before the bidding

Superintendent John Deasy was a year into his tenure at the Los Angeles Unified School District when he started talking to the largest publishing company in the world, Pearson PLC, about working together on a digital transformation in public education.

He had inherited a school system in crisis: Thousands of Los Angeles teachers, counselors and librarians had lost their jobs during the recession; fewer than half of students were reading at grade level; more than 10,000 dropped out of high school every year. For Deasy, transformation was not just possible; it was an urgent mandate.

“I’m not going to be interested in looking at third-graders and saying, ‘Sorry, this is the year you don’t learn to read,’ or to juniors and saying, ‘You don’t get to graduate,’" he told KPCC in May 2012. "So the pace needs to be quick, and we make no apologies for that.”

That same month, emails show Pearson’s CEO and a sales rep met Deasy for lunch to pitch him on software under development that would harness the power of tablets. Using games, videos and other interactive elements, they said, it would revolutionize education and help struggling students like his.

Deasy jumped right in, documents show.

“Needless to say we have been in furious and exciting conversations since last Friday,” Deasy wrote in an email to Marjorie Scardino, then Pearson’s CEO, on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. “Looking forward to further work together for our youth in Los Angeles!”

He thanked her for lunch and said he was working with his staff on a “concept paper” on using her software and would have it to her in a week.

Scardino’s response was equally enthusiastic.

"Dear John, It's I who should thank you. My mind was racing all weekend, and I was so impressed by your intelligent and committed and brave hold on the moving parts of the opportunity. I really can't wait to work with you. I would love to think that we could together do this so well that in your Sunday visits to prisons you won't see one person who has been educated in LAUSD rather, you'll be meeting them as teachers, as contractors, as bankers (well, maybe not bankers), as poets all around the city. I'll stay by the mailbox. Sincerely, Marjorie”

Dozens of emails

Those emails and dozens of others obtained by KPCC through a public records request show Deasy directed his staff to figure out how to incorporate Pearsons’s software into the school system’s plan to transition to the Common Core standards.

Officials with Pearson were copied on communication between Deasy and Jaime Aquino, the district’s head of curriculum at the time, who expressed reservations at some of the costs and the speed with which the district was moving. Emails show Pearson weighed in on questions of how to finance software purchases.

Deasy also personally pitched Apple on working with Pearson, according to the emails.

Those meetings and conversations began nearly a year before L.A. Unified put the project out to public bid. Apple and Pearson won the contract on June 24, 2013, after committees made up of school district staff members picked them from among 19 bids.

Deasy and other school district officials have declined KPCC's requests for comment. In a written statement, a district spokesperson said they are still reviewing the emails.

L.A. Unified board member Steve Zimmer said he plans to question district staff about the emails at Tuesday’s board meeting. He obtained his own copies after KPCC first reported their contents on Friday.

“We have to make sure this is completely ethical and above board,” he said.

Deasy told the L.A. Times over the weekend that he was only discussing a pilot with Pearson in the emails.

After reviewing a report by L.A. Unified’s inspector general earlier this year, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute anyone at L.A. Unified regarding the iPad and software purchases. Two high ranking school officials told Infographic: LA schools iPad project: How it started ... before the bidding began | 89.3 KPCC:

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