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Monday, September 15, 2014

Seattle PreSchool Initiative 1B: Acelero, The fox watching the hen house | Seattle Education

Seattle PreSchool Initiative 1B: Acelero, The fox watching the hen house | Seattle Education:



Seattle PreSchool Initiative 1B: Acelero, The fox watching the hen house

It seems in the world of education these days that whenever someone has an idea, there are efforts in play to try to co-opt the idea and make money off of it.
Here’s an example in our own backyard and is happening before our very eyes. Acelero.
In the march by the Seattle City Council led by Tim Burgess, seemingly now the czar of ed for the City of Seattle, to establish a Universal preK program some folks have joined the parade who we need to take a second look at.
Right now that person is Ellen Frede who, along with Dr. Steven Barnett, have been selected by the City to lead the Initiative 1B effort of “Preschool for All”
Ms. Frede is also Senior Vice President of Education and Research for Acelero
Acelero is a for-profit venture that has taken over Head Starts in four cities so far
From the Hechinger Report
Aaron Lieberman, founder and chief executive officer of Acelero Learning Inc.
Aaron Lieberman, founder and chief executive officer of Acelero Learning Inc.
“Acelero Learning, the largest for-profit company in the country that runs Head Start programs in three other states, has arrived in Milwaukee with a $5.6 million federal grant, and it’s gearing up to enroll the first of 800 children it will serve.”
On a recent spring morning at the St. Elizabeth’s Head Start center in North Philadelphia, Ashley Post, a first-year teacher freshly graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, clicked on her “listening ears” and patted down her “thinking cap” as a room full of 15 preschoolers imitated her every move.
Many of the children were here last year, but most of the adults in the room – including Post, the center director, the curriculum manager, and a Teach For America mentor taking notes on Post’s lesson – are brand new, along with many of the toys, books, Seattle PreSchool Initiative 1B: Acelero, The fox watching the hen house | Seattle Education:

Join us for Public Education Nation Event in NYC on October 11, 2014 | Cloaking Inequity

Join us for Public Education Nation Event in NYC on October 11, 2014 | Cloaking Inequity:



Join us for Public Education Nation Event in NYC on October 11, 2014

NPE event
The Network for Public Education will hold a historic event in one month’s time. You may choose to attend in person at the Brooklyn New School in New York or view it via Livestreaming. A live-stream of the event will be available on Saturday, Oct. 11, starting at Noon Eastern time, 9 am Pacific time at http://www.schoolhouselive.org/
PUBLIC Education Nation will deliver the conversation the country has been waiting for. Rather than featuring billionaires and pop singers, this event will be built around intense conversations featuring leading educators, parents, students and community activists. We have waited too long for that seat at someone else’s table. This time, the tables are turned, and we are the ones setting the agenda.
This event will be livestreamed on the web on the afternoon of Saturday, October 11, from the auditorium of Brooklyn New School, a public school. There will be four panels focusing on the most critical issues we face in our schools. The event will conclude with a conversation between Diane Ravitch and Jitu Brown. 
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Testing and the Common Core:
New York Principal of the Year Carol Burris will lead a discussion with educators Takeima Bunche-Smith, Rosa Rivera-McCutchen and Alan Aja.
Support Our Schools, Don’t Close Them:
Chicago teacher Xian Barrett will moderate a panel featuring education professor Yohuru Williams, Hiram Rivera of the Philadelphia Student Union, and a representative of the Newark Student Union.
Charter Schools:
North Carolina writer and activist Jeff Bryant will host a discussion that will include New Orleans parent activist Karran Harper Royal, New York teacher and blogger Gary Rubinstein, and Connecticut writer and activist Wendy Lecker.
Authentic Reform Success Stories:
The fourth panel will be led by Network for Public Education executive director Robin Hiller and will include New York teacher Brian Jones, and from Cincinnati, Greg Anrig.
Diane Ravitch and Jitu Brown, In Conversation
The event will finish off with a conversation between leading community activist Jitu Brown and Diane Ravitch, who will talk about where we are in building a movement for real improvement in our schools.
This event will be broadcast live on the web, and can be viewed from anywhere in the world, at no cost. No registration is required.
If you happen to be in the New York area, you can join the studio audience at the Brooklyn New School, at 610 Henry St. Brooklyn, for the live event.
Screen Shot 2014-08-17 at 6.06.57 PM
The Network for Public Education is hosting this event. It is NOT sponsored by the Gates, Walton or Bloomberg foundations. It is sponsored by YOU, each and every one of the people who care about our children’s future.
Can you make a small donation to help us cover the expense of this event? We are determined to create the space not ordinarily given to voices like these. But we need your participation. Please donate by visiting the NPE website and clicking on the PayPal link.
Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog.
Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button in the upper left hand corner of this page.
Twitter: @ProfessorJVH
Click here for Vitae.

9-15-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:







Will Dog the Bounty Hunter Save School Enrollment in a Dying City?
Every day brings a new reason to wonder why anyone would ever move to Memphis to teach.  Salary schedules are a thing of the past, and pay raises are now bonuses that are based on test scores.  Teachers are in constant fear of being surplussed or excessed or some other term to disguise the ugly truth of teacher firing. Pay for advanced degrees has been eliminated, and the oligarchs are pouring mil






9-14-14 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Indy's John Harris Loflin and José Evans' Big Gig at International ED ConferenceBy Doug MartinBelow is, first, a press release from public school activist John Harris Loflin, director of education and youth issues at the Black and Latin@ Policy Institute.  (Loflin's research has appeared here at Schools Matter in various forms, in my blogs, as well as a guest blog posted by Douglas

Raw Story » Bible-pushing Christians open the door for Satanic activity books in Florida schools

Raw Story » Bible-pushing Christians open the door for Satanic activity books in Florida schools:



Bible-pushing Christians open the door for Satanic activity books in Florida schools

The Satanic Children's Big Book of Activities ( The Satanic Temple)

The Satanic Temple has responded to an Orange County, Florida decision to disseminate religious materials in public school by creating complementary materials that espouse the philosophy and practice of Satanism.
Last month, a Florida judge ruled that if the Orange County school district allowed Christian groups to disseminate Bibles and Christian-oriented religious materials in its schools, it would also have to allow atheist groups to do the same.
David Williamson of the Central Florida Free Thought Community — who recentlyfought against Brevard County’s attempt to ban atheists from offering invocations at public meetings — sued the district over its initial unwillingness to allow atheist literature with titles like “Jesus Is Dead” and “Why I Am Not a Muslim” in the schools.
A judge dismissed that case after the school board decided to allow the materials.
The Satanic Temple took advantage of this decision, deciding to flood Orange County schools with a pamphlet entitled The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities that contains kid-friendly Satanic lessons.
“These bullies are mad and afraid of things they don’t understand,” the instructions on the word-jumble reads. “Help Damian use inclusive language to defuse the situation.
The spokesman for the Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, explained that his organization “would never seek to establish a precedent of disseminating our religious materials in public schools because we believe our constitutional values are better served by respecting a strong separation of Church and State.”
“However,” he continued, “if a public school board is going to allow religious pamphlets and full Bibles to be distributed to students — as is the case in Orange County, Florida — we think the responsible thing to do is to ensure that these students are given access to a variety of differing religious opinions, as opposed to standing idly by while one religious voice dominates the discourse and delivers propaganda to youth.”
The Satanic Temple made headlines earlier this year when it successfully petitioned the state of Oklahoma to allow it to erect a goat-headed Baphomet statue adjacent to a display of the Ten Commandments.
Greaves made it clear that, in both cases, his organization is only responding to provocations by the Christian community.
““Even as we prefer public policies respecting secularism, we feel that opportunities — such as this — to establish an equal voice for contrasting religious opinions in the public square, tend to favor marginalized, lesser-known, and alternative religions,” he said.
“I am quite certain that all of the children in these Florida schools are already aware of the Christian religion and it’s Bible, and this might be the first exposure these children have to the actual practice of Satanism. We think many students will be very curious to see what we offer.”Raw Story » Bible-pushing Christians open the door for Satanic activity books in Florida schools:

9-15-14 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):







New deal could mean millions for LA Unified’s TV station
New deal could mean millions for LA Unified’s TV station After suffering years of harsh budget cuts, LA Unified-owned public TV station KLCS could see a financial windfall next year should its recently announced plan to auction off bandwidth to the FCC go forward. The potential value of the deal has been estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. The money would likely go directly to the s


Compare: LAUSD teacher salary competitive with other CA cities
Compare: LAUSD teacher salary competitive with other CA cities The Los Angeles Unified school district offers competitive teacher salaries compared to other large districts in the state of California. That’s according to the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a nonprofit which complies data from across the country. Despite a recent press report indicating LAUSD was below the average, it t


‘Email delete’ policy is misunderstood according to LAUSD
‘Email delete’ policy is misunderstood according to LAUSD A policy intended to delete unnecessary emails on LA Unified district computers has caused a media storm and much confusion, but ultimately is misunderstood, according to officials who spoke to LA School Report. “It could be this is much ado about nothing” said school board member, Steve Zimmer. The bottom line: the ‘delete’ program does no
Morning Read: LAUSD owns grenade launchers and M16 rifles
Morning Read: LAUSD owns grenade launchers and M16 rifles What LAUSD is doing with its military-surplus grenade launchers and assault rifles Opinion: So how about the curious finding that the Los Angeles Unified School District has taken possession of Pentagon military surplus that included 61 M16 assault rifles, three grenade launchers and a mine-resistant protective vehicle? LA Times Strained t
9-13-14 This Week in 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):Next election season opens for 2015 primaryNext election season opens for 2015 primary With more than a month left before November’s election, the Los Angeles City Clerk is already looking toward the next election season. It announced today that candidates intending to run for office in the primary, slated


Cali Education Headlines 9-15-14 Fiscal Crisis & Management Team

Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team | CSIS – California School Information Services:










Education Headlines

  • Santa Ana Unified aims to close the AP achievement gap

    In Santa Ana Unified — where the percentage of low-income students is 91 percent — about 40 percent of juniors and seniors take an AP exam. And among those who take the tests, 37 percent get a passing score. Santa Ana Unified School District officials are taking steps to improve the district’s AP course offerings and encourage more students to enroll in the classes.
     
  • Push to split Fresno Unified resurfaces

    A plan to break Fresno Unified into two school districts has new life after two years of work by a collection of business people determined to start a public debate on the topic — and eventually get a measure on the ballot.
     
  • Sacramento City Unified reaches deal with teachers on pay hikes, class sizes

    Sacramento City Unified and its teachers association have ended a long stretch of discord by tentatively agreeing to two years of pay hikes and smaller class sizes for the youngest students at high-poverty schools.
     
  • Modesto world religions course recognized in new book, state resolution

    As religious violence flares, Modesto City Schools’ course in world geography and religions finds itself in the spotlight once again, included in an upcoming book and the subject of a freshly passed Capitol resolution.
     
  • Manteca Unified to spend $30 million buying computers for all, kindergarten through high school

    Every student in the Manteca Unified School District will be getting a tablet-style laptop in early 2015 thanks to a $30 million launch into the digital age. The school board officially hit the on switch Monday night, awarding the contract for 24,000 Panasonic 3E devices.
     
  • Denair Unified looks at merging elementary school, charter

    The Denair Unified School District is looking at merging its popular elementary charter school with adjacent Denair Elementary by next year. Superintendent Aaron Rosander said preliminary discussions are being held on unifying Denair Elementary and Denair Academic Avenues, called D2A, in time for the 2015-16 school year.
     

Note: FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education - Scientific American

Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education - Scientific American:



Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education

Some educators swear by them as valuable high-tech teaching tools but little is known about their impact on learning


A student plays MinecraftEdu.

Courtesy of TeacherGaming LLC
As kids all across the U.S. head back to school, they’re being forced to spend less time in front of their favorite digital distractions. Or are they?
 
Video games are playing an increasing role in school curricula as teachers seek todeliver core lessons such as math and reading—not to mention new skills such as computer programming—in a format that holds their students’ interests. Some herald this gamification of education as the way of the future and a tool that allows students to take a more active role in learning as they develop the technology skills they need to succeed throughout their academic and professional careers.
 
Few would argue that video games can do it all in terms of education, says Scot Osterweil, a research director in Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Comparative Media Studies program and creative director of the school’s Education Arcadeinitiative to explore how games can be used to promote learning. But games are a powerful learning tool when combined with other exploratory, hands-on activities and ongoing instruction from a teacher acting more as a coach than a lecturer, he adds.
 
Others, however, question whether a greater reliance on video games is in students’ best interests, indicating there is little proof that skillful game play translates into better test scores or broader cognitive development.
 
In the past decade schools have become preoccupied with meeting national Common Core standards, which dictate what students should be able to accomplish in English and mathematics at the end of each grade and use standardized testing as a way of tracking a student’s progress. Such demands are not conducive to creative teaching methods that incorporate video games, Osterweil acknowledges. He adds, however, that a growing backlash against the perceived overuse of standardized tests is starting to encourage creativity once again.
 
Gamestars
Testing fatigue, combined with more pervasive computer use in and out of the classroom and continued experimentation with games as learning tools, suggests that such video games will play a significant role in the future of education. The Quest to Learn public school in New York City offers a glimpse of how gaming is already transforming not just how students learn, but also what they learn. The teachers there have been using the principles of video game design to write their curriculum since the school opened its doors in 2009. This curriculum—organized into missions and quests—focuses on multifaceted challenges that may have more than one correct answer, Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education - Scientific American:

What Was I Doing in New Jersey? - Lily's Blackboard

What Was I Doing in New Jersey? - Lily's Blackboard:


What Was I Doing in New Jersey?


NEA’s Back to School Tour continues in New Jersey. Lily met with educators, community leaders and the students they love.

SIX THINGS THE US DEPT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY | COMMON CORE

SIX THINGS THE US DEPT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY | COMMON CORE:





SIX THINGS THE US DEPT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY   46 comments


The story of Common Core and data mining begins as most stories do, with a huge, unmet need.
Self-appointed “stakeholder” know-it-alls at the federal level (also at state, corporate, and even university levels) determined that they had the right, and the need, for open access to personal student data– more so than they already had.
They needed state school systems to voluntarily agree to common data core standards AND to common learning standards to make data comparisons easy. They didn’t care what the standards were, as teachers and parents and students do; they only cared that the standards would be the same across the nation.
So, without waiting around for a proper vote, they did it. The CEDS (Common Education Data Standards) were created by the same people who created and copyrighted Common Core: the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). No surprise.
CEDS common elements
Because the federal “need” to control schools and data was and is illegal and unconstitutional –the federal government “needed” to do (and did) at least six sneaky things.
SIX SNEAKY THINGS THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY:
1. Sneaky Thing Number One: It bribed the states with ARRA Stimulus monies to build 50 linkable, twinlike State Longitudinal Database Systems (SLDS). This act created a virtual national database.
These SLDS’s had to be interoperable within states and outside states with a State Interoperability FrameworkUtah, for example, accepted $9.6 million to create Utah’s SLDS. Think about it. All states have an SLDS, and they are built to be interoperable. How is this not a de facto national database?
2. Sneaky Thing Number Two: It altered the (previously privacy-protective) federal FERPA (Family Educational Rights Privacy Act) law to make access to personally SIX THINGS THE US DEPT OF EDUCATION DID TO DEPRIVE YOUR CHILD OF PRIVACY | COMMON CORE: