Morning Wink 8-28-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-28-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: “The People Who Write These Tests Don’t Know You…”I received news from England that a letter written by Rachel Tomlinson, the head of Barrowford, a primary school in Lancashire, went viral. The letter was a clone of one written by American teacher Kimberly Hurd Horst on her blog. No claims of plagiarism here. Maybe every principal

by mike simpson / 0min 

8-28-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": “Teacher home visits ease kindergarteners’ fears of first day of school”Teacher home visits are certainly in the news these days! Here’s the latest article about what’s going on in Tulsa: Teacher home visits ease kindergarteners’ fears of first day of school. Here’s the final sentence in the story: “We’re really trying to f

by mike simpson / 6min 

Who Owns Your Schools? In Lee County, Florida They Belong to Parents and Children

Who Owns Your Schools? In Lee County, Florida They Belong to Parents and Children: Who Owns Your Schools? In Lee County, Florida They Belong to Parents and ChildrenAUGUST 28, 2014 BY NANCY BAILEY 1 COMMENTFor years now, I’ve wondered who owns school boards. Venture philanthropists come into cash-strapped districts and suddenly parents and citizens find their voices no longer matter. Anyone with th

by mike simpson / 10min 

The Answer Sheet 8-28-14

Answer Sheet: Assistant principal who secretly changed son’s grades gets $7,000 fineTeachers can lose their jobs if their students don’t do well enough on standardized tests. An assistant principal in New York City who secretly changed 11 of his own son’s test scores and class grades received a $7,000 fine but still remains employed by the Education Department. The New York Daily News explains in

by mike simpson / 12min 

8-28-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: School District in Florida Votes to Opt-Out of Common Core TestingIn what can only be called unbelievable courage, a school district in Florida, Lee County, has voted to opt the entire district out of Common Core testing. The school board vote was 3-2 with the superintendent warning, "This will hurt children."From News-Press:Throughout the tense three-hou

by mike simpson / 13min 

8-28-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Little Eva Moves to Wall Streetfrom Juan Gonzalez at the Daily News:Eva Moskowitz, the firebrand chief of the city’s fastest growing charter chain, isn’t just backed by Wall Street, she’s officially moved there — with Wall Street-type salaries to boot.Last November, Moskowitz, who for years boasted of opening her Success Academy Charter Schools in the city’s poorest neighborhoods,

by mike simpson / 15min 

8-28-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: New Resources On Students & Sleep© 2011 Pink Sherbet Photography, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are some new additions to The Best Resources For Helping Teens Learn About The Importance Of Sleep: Let Them Sleep In: Docs Want Later School Times for Teens is from NBC News. Students Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep—School Sta

by mike simpson / 17min 

8-28-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Denying White Privilege Has an Evidence ProblemIf I had to guess, I suspect Bill O’Reilly fancies himself more akin to George Will, Newt Gingrich, or Cal Thomas than Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. But speculating on that self-delusion isn’t really necessary because the rea

by mike simpson / 19min 

8-28-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: LAUSD’S John Deasy shoots his iPad outEdNotes: below is an editorial by someone with half the story who writes like he actually did his homework. While it is true the government has imposed the common core thus gadgetry on schools, it is not exactly Sacramento that mandates the common core, although the state does have final say on using CCSS. Notably, Governor Brown butted h

by mike simpson / 22min 

empathyeducates – I’m Black, My Brother’s White … and He’s a Cop Who Shot a Black Man on Duty

empathyeducates – I’m Black, My Brother’s White … and He’s a Cop Who Shot a Black Man on Duty: I’m Black, My Brother’s White … and He’s a Cop Who Shot a Black Man on DutyIt’s one thing to have to ask this of the police. It’s another to ask it of your brother. Photograph: Steve Eberhardt/Demotix/CorbisBy Zach Stafford | Originally Published at The Guardian. August 25, 2014 07.30 EDTI never thought

by mike simpson / 24min 

8-28-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Time To Send Tony Avella To The Political Trash HeapI have nothing but disdain for the the Independent Democratic Caucus, the group of breakaway Dems that governed with Republicans and helped Governor Cuomo with much of his pro-Wall Street, pro-education reform agenda.The member of the IDC I have the most disdain for is Tony Avella, the "maverick" who stuck the kni

by mike simpson / 25min 

Serial Killers! Don’t call the cops! | Bill Ayers

Serial Killers! Don’t call the cops! | Bill Ayers: Serial Killers! Don’t call the cops!I’m re-reading Herman Melville and thinking about Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Kajieme Powell—and the serial killing of young African Americans that characterizes America today.In Melville’s Benito Cereno a New England sealing ship operating off the coast of Chile in 1805 comes upon a Spanish frigate with a fi

by mike simpson / 33min 

NYC Educator: Role Model Among Role Models

NYC Educator: Role Model Among Role Models: Role Model Among Role ModelsAsk yourself this--what do you do when your own kid fails classes? Do you talk to them? Get them extra help? Take away some electronic device? Well, if you happen to be principal of the school they attend, you have other options. You can simply change their grades. After all, you have the super-duper master password to the sch

by mike simpson / 37min 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Talking violence, trauma tonight on WGN

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Talking violence, trauma tonight on WGN: Talking violence, trauma tonight on WGNLATE-NIGHTERS...I'll be back on WGN tonight at 11:30, on the Patti Vasquez Show. Along with a few other noteworthy Chicagoans I'll be talking about gun violence. You can call in and join the conversation.Doctors demand trauma centerI'm certainly going to take issue with the Univ. of Chica

by mike simpson / 38min 

8/28/14 – Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign

8/28/14 – Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign: 8/28/14 – Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad CampaignAugust 27, 2014 SubscribeTHIS WEEK: Widening Inequality … Report Urges Fewer Tests … Arne Duncan’s Harmful Policies … High Teacher Turnover … Student Loan ApocalypseTOP STORYCharter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign, They Need RegulationBy Jeff Bryant“This time of year, while classroom teachers

by mike simpson / 44min 

YESTERDAY

Who Cares? | The Crucial Voice of the People

Who Cares? | The Crucial Voice of the People: Who Cares? A selling point my House representative makes to his throngs of followers is that he is “a protector of the people against the tyranny of their government.” So why hasn’t he lifted a finger, or even lent an ear, to fight against the tyranny of incessantly testing young children?Why do we still have yearly testing mandated by federal law?Did

by mike simpson / 7h 

Over Easy: Public Schools in New Orleans 1958-1959 | MyFDL

Over Easy: Public Schools in New Orleans 1958-1959 | MyFDL: Over Easy: Public Schools in New Orleans 1958-1959By: Crane-Station Wednesday August 27, 2014 3:25 am Letty Owings, age 89 and the author of this post, recalls moving to New Orleans and teaching in a public elementary school in 1958.New Orleans, 1958Cultural experiences abound in this land of ours, but none can surpass living in New Orlea

by mike simpson / 9h 

California schools superintendent Tom Torlakson tours Long Beach City College’s career technical education center

California schools superintendent Tom Torlakson tours Long Beach City College’s career technical education center: California schools superintendent Tom Torlakson tours Long Beach City College’s career technical education centerState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson took a tour of Long Beach City College as part of a statewide tour of Career Pathways Trust grant recipients. Torla

by mike simpson / 12h 

Major Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp fired over Kevin Johnson's strong mayor initiative - Page Burner - August 27, 2014 - Blogs - Sacramento News & Review

Major Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp fired over Kevin Johnson's strong mayor initiative - Page Burner - August 27, 2014 - Blogs - Sacramento News & Review: Major Sacramento labor leader Bill Camp fired over Kevin Johnson's strong mayor initiativeby Cosmo GarvinBill Camp, the outspoken executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, has been fired, apparently because of an inter

by mike simpson / 12h 

CRIMINAL CHARGES SHOULD BE BROUGHT AGAINST LAUSD'S SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY - Perdaily.com

CRIMINAL CHARGES SHOULD BE BROUGHT AGAINST LAUSD'S SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY - Perdaily.com:CRIMINAL CHARGES SHOULD BE BROUGHT AGAINST LAUSD'S SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY(Mensaje se repite en Español)Whether the Los Angeles Unified School District's  (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy is criminally culpable for his actions in dealing with Pearson and Apple on behalf of the district concerning his cle

by mike simpson / 14h 

Education, Inc. By Tim Scott and Deborah Keisch, Truthout

Education, Inc.: Education, Inc.Tuesday, 26 August 2014 10:28By Tim Scott and Deborah Keisch, Truthout | News Analysis44font size   Print Email(Illustration: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t)This story could not have been published without the support of readers like you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Truthout and fund more stories like it!Presidential administration proclamatio

by mike simpson / 14h 

Wow! Gates, PBS, Parents, Teachers, CCSS, etc. – Interactive Graphic Journalism | Reclaim Reform

Wow! Gates, PBS, Parents, Teachers, CCSS, etc. – Interactive Graphic Journalism | Reclaim Reform: Wow! Gates, PBS, Parents, Teachers, CCSS, etc. – Interactive Graphic JournalismPosted on August 27, 2014by Ken PrevitiThe most fascinating graphic journalism about the immense power and money behind Corporate Education Reform, CCSS, high stakes testing, media information control, etc. is created by Ad

by mike simpson / 14h 

Nite Cap 8-27-14 #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 CAPempathyeducates – Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s Deathempathyeducates – Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s Death: Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s DeathPhotographic Credit: Photo Credit: wa

by mike simpson / 15h 

empathyeducates – Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s Death

empathyeducates – Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s Death: Illinois School Bans Discussions of Michael Brown’s DeathPhotographic Credit: Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia } Shutterstock.comBy Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at AlterNet. August 26, 2014Prohibiting students from talking about events in Ferguson offers them exactly the opposite of what they need.When faced w

by mike simpson / 15h 

Boycott the cruel “One Newark” plan | Bob Braun's Ledger

Boycott the cruel “One Newark” plan | Bob Braun's Ledger: Boycott the cruel “One Newark” planDeseret Segura, 16, comforts her sobbing grandmother, Deseret Richardson, 83, outside the “enrollment center” in Newark.Angry men and women stood in the unforgiving noontime heat before television cameras Wednesday to explain why Newark parents should boycott the opening of school next week–but none  was m

by mike simpson / 15h 

America's public schools remain highly segregated

America's public schools remain highly segregated: America's public schools remain highly segregatedAuthor: Reed Jordan| Posted: August 27th, 2014Fifty million children will start school this week as historic changes are under way in the U.S. public school system. As of 2011 48 percent of all public school students were poor* and this year, students of color will account for the majority of public

by mike simpson / 16h 

Emails prompt LA schools' inspector general to reopen iPad probe | 89.3 KPCC

Emails prompt LA schools' inspector general to reopen iPad probe | 89.3 KPCC: Emails prompt LA schools' inspector general to reopen iPad probeThe inspector general of the Los Angeles Unified School Distict is reopening an investigation into the purchase of iPads and Pearson software based findings in a KPCC investigation into communication between district officials and those companies nearly a ye

by mike simpson / 16h 

Secretary Arne Duncan, Oxygen Sucker | Bill Ayers

Secretary Arne Duncan, Oxygen Sucker | Bill Ayers: Secretary Arne Duncan, Oxygen SuckerIf you need an example of hubris, hypocrisy, and arrogance, here it is. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the tester-in-chief who has vehemently opposed sensible approaches to evaluation and assessment in favor of corporate-driven high-stakes tests for almost two decades, is now suspending for one year the tes

by mike simpson / 17h 

Teacher Asks Students To Split Into 2 Groups To Simulate Ideal Class Size | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Teacher Asks Students To Split Into 2 Groups To Simulate Ideal Class Size | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: Teacher Asks Students To Split Into 2 Groups To Simulate Ideal Class SizeGREENSBORO, NC—Hoping that a hands-on demonstration would help students grasp the concept, local teacher Rachel McKenzie reportedly instructed her class of 38 fourth-graders Wednesday to divide into two groups

by mike simpson / 17h 

Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroom | Lily's Blackboard

Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroom | Lily's Blackboard: Everything I know about what kids need I learned in the Utah classroomAug 27th, 2014 by Lily.SALT LAKE CITY — Lily Eskelsen Garcia will take office Sept. 1 as president of the more than 3.5 million-member National Education Association.Garcia began her career in education as the salad girl in the school lun

by mike simpson / 17h 

Multi-Craft Core Project Launched - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

Multi-Craft Core Project Launched - Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Launches Pre-Apprenticeship Pilot ProjectSACRAMENTO—Nine California high schools will participate in a pilot project this fall designed to help students earn pre-apprenticeships into the construction trade industries, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.As pa

by mike simpson / 18h 

8-27-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Charter Angst: Democracy Prep Parent Ready to Pull Child After 5 DaysAll I see every morning and evening is this tall man dressed in bright clothing yelling at the parents every single day since school started... parent at Democracy PrepDP founder Seth Andrews - or Eva Moskowitz in dragOh the joy in this comment on another beloved crooked charter, especially with today's news (see

by mike simpson / 20h 

8-27-14 @ 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 / 21h 

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother | deutsch29

Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage Mother | deutsch29: Eva Moskowitz: Wall Street Stage MotherAugust 27, 2014Hedge-funded, politically-connected New York charter pusher Eva Moskowitz is trying to paint herself as a “protector of children.”She insinuates that her charter school forcefulness is.. ahem.. “for the children,” andlikens herself to to a “mama bear”:“I’d be bullied, maybe, if children weren

by mike simpson / 21h 

8-27-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Law Professor Says Duncan's Actions Un-ConstitutionalAn upcoming article in the Vanderbilt Law Review argues that the administration's waiver program is both illegal and a very, very bad precedent. University of South Carolina law professor Derek W. Black has written articles about the intersection of federal power and school law before, but none quite as feisty as "Federalizi

by mike simpson / 22h 

Elite Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on Education

Elite Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on Education: Elite Attackers of Public Schools Don't Admit the Impact of Economic Inequality, Racism on EducationWednesday, 27 August 2014 09:56By Mark Naison, Haymarket Books | Book Excerpt3font size   Print Email(Image: Nick Thompson)Wayne Au, editor of Rethinking Schoolsand coeditor of Pencils Down: Rethink

by mike simpson / 22h 

Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor? | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights: Common Core: Headache or Brain Tumor?By The American Federation of Teachers on August 27, 2014By Amber Chandler, American Federation of Teachers member and 7th grade English Language Arts Teacher at Frontier Middle School in Hamburg, NYReligion. Politics. Sexual Orientation. Breastfeeding. Abortion. Homesc

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-27-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): For LAUSD school board a new year, but old problemsFor LAUSD school board a new year, but old problems Alex Caputo-Pearl, President of UTLA It might be the new school year, but it was a series of old problems awaiting the LA Unified school board yesterday as it met long into the night with a full compleme

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-27-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Finding Common GroundI have been an education activist for a long time and I have never had any delusions about my effectiveness. After all, the district officials have all of the power and all of the authority, so they don't have to do anything they don't want to do and they are free to do whatever they like. We have seen that there is almost no accountability or

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-27-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: "TeacherTown" Now Paying Charters Over $80 Million Per Year in Projected Enrollment CashNot only is Shelby County and the State coughing up over $80 million each year for corporate reform schools whose test scores are, for the most part, the same or worse than the schools they replaced, but almost $20 million of that is for enrollment that never materialized.  In 2013-14,

by mike simpson / 22h 

8-27-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: Can Supt. Deasy survive LAUSD's iPad fiasco? - Los Angeles Times |http://itcompanyegypt.com/can-supt-deasy-survive-lausds-ipad-fiasco-los-angeles-times-2/ Can Supt. Deasy survive LAUSD's iPad fiasco? – Los Angeles Times So, remember that $1-billion plan to get iPads for each and every Los Angeles Unified student the district has beenby Rene Diedrich / 5min 8-26-14 Hemlock on

by mike simpson / 22h 

What Chicago's upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements - Waging Nonviolence

What Chicago's upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movements - Waging Nonviolence: What Chicago’s upcoming mayoral race says about the power of movementsKaren Lewis, the former high school chemistry teacher who led the Chicago Teachers Union to an unprecedented strike in 2012, is seriously considering running for mayor of Chicago — and she’s already beating incumbent Rahm Emanuel in the

by mike simpson / 23h 

Is Smart the New Gangsta? | Missouri Education Watchdog

Is Smart the New Gangsta? | Missouri Education Watchdog: Is Smart the New Gangsta?inShareMy daughter has left the nest and been safely delivered to University. Modern communication technology makes this parting not as difficult  as it might have been even 5 years ago. Thanks to smart phones we can Facetime any time we want (make that any time she wants) which means we can have more frequent conver

by mike simpson / 23h 

Morning Wink 8-27-14 AM Posts #edchat #edreform

BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS8-27-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice GuyWait What?: Wait What? All Week Pelto/Murphy 2014 Barriers for 3rd party challengers are widespread – Here is a new disturbing case in MassachusettsProving that the notion that supporting the Constitution and “Protecting Freedom and Democracy” is a relative term for some peop

by mike simpson / 23h 

2nd Banana 8-23-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

2nd Banana 8-16-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post

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

Nite Cap 8-27-14

Nite Cap 8-26-14

Nite Cap 8-25-14

Nite Cap 8-24-14

8-23-14 Saturday Matinée Double Feature 

Nite Cap 8-22-14

Nite Cap 8-21-14

Nite Cap 8-20-14

Nite Cap 8-19-14

Nite Cap 8-18-14

Nite Cap 8-17-14

Nite Cap 8-16-14

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-28-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Texas Tribune Explains Judge Dietz’s Ruling on Funding Equity

This is the best story yet on the Texas story today, in which Judge John Dietz said that the current funding system was inequitable. Of course, his decision will be appealed as some folks would rather not pay more money to educate the children of Texas. The story appears in the Texas Tribune. Here is a great quote from the decision and the article: “As he presented his ruling, Dietz discussed wha

1 by dianeravitch / 5min 

Texas: Commissioner of Ed Says Wait and See

State Commissioner of Education Michael Williams issued a statement I response to court ruling that held state funding inadequate and unconstitutional. Be it noted that Commissioner Williams is not an educator. He is an ally of the Bush family, a real good tie in Texas. In his last post he regulated the oil and gas industry. TEA News Releases Online Aug. 28, 2014 Statement of Commissioner Michael

by dianeravitch / 6min 

More on Blockbuster Ruling in Texas About School Funding

Here is a good article explaining Judge John Dietz’s decision that school funding in Texas violates the state constitution. “State District Judge John Dietz decided in favor of the more than 600 school districts who sued the state. They argued the Legislature has consistently underfunded schools while imposing new and expensive academic requirements for students. “In his ruling, the judge also po

1 by dianeravitch / 3min hide  //  save

Breaking News: Texas Judge Rules That School Funding Violates State Constitution

Judge John Dietz ruled that the state of Texas is failing to provide adequate funding to its public schools and is violating the state constitution. He also ruled that school choice and vouchers are not a substitute for needed funding. The Legislature cut school spending by $5.3 Billion in 2011 and never restored the cuts after the economy recovered.

5 by dianeravitch / 20min 

Jason Stanford: Testing is a Lousy Way to Hold Schools Accountable

Jason Stanford is a journalist in Austin, Texas, who follows the testing wars with keen interest, probably because he has children in school. Having followed the blowback in Texas, where parents and educators together convinced the legislature that their zeal for testing was unreasonable, Stanford decided that standardized testing is not a good way to hold schools accountable. Actually, he says i

2 by dianeravitch / 26min

Denver: School Officials and “Reformers” Spin Poor Results

Jeannie Kaplan, a former member of the Denver Board of Education, has written about the poor results of a decade of corporate reform. Here she explains the word “chutzpah” to define the desperate efforts of school officials and “reformers” to convert poor results into good news. She writes: “At noon Thursday, August 14, 2014 the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) released Colorado’s 2014 sta

by dianeravitch / 6min 

NOLA Ill-Prepared for Influx of Immigrant Students

Daniele Dreilinger of the Times-Picayune reports that charter schools in Néw Orleans are ill-prepared by large numbers of new students from Central America, and the students and their families are confused by the city’s choice system. One school saw its Spanish-speaking enrollment jump from 10 to 53 in one year, 20% of its students. “That’s a gargantuan challenge for a small school that six weeks

1 by dianeravitch / 9min 

Who Wrote the Letter First?

Earlier today I posted about a letter that went viral. Its authorship was attributed to two different people. A reader, Mary Ginley, says she wrote the letter in 1999: “I wrote the original letter in 1999 and it was published in the East Longmedow Town Reminder in Maasachusetts. I was active in the anti-MCAS movement at the time.”

by dianeravitch / 13min 

Dallas: Will Public Schools Survive the Latest Charter Push?

In an in-depth article that appears in the journal “In These Times,” journalist George Joseph describes a campaign by business leaders to take advantage of an obscure provision in state law and use it to turn Dallas into a “home rule” district. This would be a prelude to turning Dallas into an all-charter district. The business community already controls the school board. The campaign for “home r

by dianeravitch / 4min 

FAIRTEST: The Resistance to Test Mania Grows Stronger

If the issues were not so serious, watching test-and-punish advocates backpedal in the face of the rapidly growing testing resistance movement would be great entertainment. From U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan crying crocodile tears about the impacts of the very policies he advocated, to Rhode Island Commissioner Deborah Grist’s sudden embrace of an even longer suspension of the graduation te

2 by dianeravitch / 19min

“The People Who Write These Tests Don’t Know You…”

I received news from England that a letter written by Rachel Tomlinson, the head of Barrowford, a primary school in Lancashire, went viral. The letter was a clone of one written by American teacher Kimberly Hurd Horst on her blog. No claims of plagiarism here. Maybe every principal and teacher should send the same letter home when students get their Common Core test scores, saying they failed. R

1 by dianeravitch / 7min 

Beware the Charter Attrition Game

The media loves the story of miracle schools. Imagine that! A school where 90% or more pass the state tests! Where 100% graduate. Where 100% are accepted into four-year colleges. Michael Klonsky once said to me, miracles happen only in the Bible. When the subject is schools, miracle claims should be carefully investigated. With that caution and skepticism in mind, we turn again to a post by a res

9 by dianeravitch / 1h 

Valerie Strauss: Lee County, Florida, Decision to Opt Out Is an Act of Civil Disobedience

Valerie Strauss describes what happened in Lee County last night when the school board voted 3-2 to opt out of state testing, and she reviews what the state might do in response. She writes: “The pushback from Lee County — the ninth-largest district in the state and the 37th largest in the country, with more than 85,000 students – is striking in a state that has been at the forefront of standard

23 by dianeravitch / 1h 

Peter Greene: What Is the Connection Between Zip Codes and Schools?

Peter Greene has often heard reformers say that children’s destiny should not be defined by their zip code. He read an article by one of the bigwigs in the New Orleans experiment, who argued against neighborhood schools and in favor of the greatest possible choice so that children’s schooling would not be tied to their zip code. Greene responds that neighborhood schools build community cohesion.

6 by dianeravitch / 2h 

Los Angeles: At Least $2 Million in Computers Went Missing

Howard Blume reports in the LA Times that at least $2 million in computers cannot be accounted for. “More than $2 million worth of Los Angeles Unified computers, mostly iPads, could not be accounted for during a recent audit by the school system’s inspector general. “The review also found that the school district lacked an effective tracking system — and that losses could be higher as a result. “

6 by dianeravitch / 2h hide  //  save

YESTERDAY

Annie Gilbertson: Emails Prompt Inspector General to Reopen Investigation

Annie Gilbertson of public radio station KPCC in Los Angeles somehow managed to get the emails that broke open the Los Angeles iPad fiasco. Once her story broke, Superintendent John Deasy canceled the contract with Apple and Pearson. Gilbertson reported: “The emails show the officials detailed aspects of a one-to-one student technology program, down to the specifics of tech support and teacher t

14 by dianeravitch / 9h 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-27-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Ohio Teacher Says “No Thanks” to StudentsFirst and $5,000Chris Roberts, a new teacher in Ohio, was attracted to the message of StudentsFirst. He was impressed by what he read and by “Waiting for Superman.” He joined and was invited to apply for their Teachers for Transformation Academy. He was offered a stipend of $5,000 to be Stud

by mike simpson / 8h