Stephen Krashen Blog 9-27-14

SKrashen:

Phonics “pays off” only on tests of phonics

Sent to the Guardian, September 25".... phonics method pays off" (September 25) provides evidence only that intensive and "sysgtematic" phonics instructions will produce higher scores on tests of phonics. In the test, known as the "phonics check," five and six-year old children were asked only to pronounce words presented in a list.  There is substantial research show

1 by skrashen / 1d hide  //  save

SEP 23

Flocabulary?

Exaggerated Claims of "Educational Hip-Hop": A Review of Flocabulary ResearchStephen Krashenhttp://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=6649Advertised as "educational hip-hop" (flocabulary.com), Flocabulary is a direct instruction program designed to help middle school students increase their academic, or "tier 2" vocabulary. It consists of units, each containing 15 target

2 by skrashen / 3d 

Judy Blume’s comments on Accelerated Reader

I love it when I hear from teachers that they've read the Fudge books aloud to their kids and how this has started kids on the path to wanting to read. "I want more funny books. Who else writes funny books like this?" There are certainly many, many, many wonderful books to recommend. I love to hear that they can use a book like Blubber or another one of my books in the classroom and that

33 by skrashen / 3d 

Does Accelerated Reader promote altruism?

Stephen KrashenAccelerated reader (AR) is a reading management program in which students take quizzes on what they have read, and are awarded prizes for the points they earn on the quizzes.Despite the failure of research to demonstrate that AR) promotes literacy development (Krashen, 2003, 2005) and the negative attitudes many students have about AR (Smith and Westberg, 2011), there may be one red

5 by skrashen / 3d 

9-27-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

“Florida PTA Urges State to Make Changes to School Accountability System”

Florida PTA Urges State to Make Changes to School Accountability System is the headline of an Ed Week post. Here’s an excerpt: The Florida PTA issued a press release this week asking lawmakers and state Department of Education officials for the following: Proper field-testing and test development in areas that mirror Florida’s diverse demographics; A suspension of school letter grades until perfo

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h 

“How Districts Can Lay the Groundwork for Lasting Family Engagement”

How Districts Can Lay the Groundwork for Lasting Family Engagement is a new report from SEDL, which generally puts out some decent resources. Here’s how it describes its report: Family engagement in a student’s education can lead to improved student academic achievement, attendance, and behavior. Yet many districts and schools still struggle to form strong partnerships with the families they serve

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h 

Three New Resources On Parent-Teacher Conferences

I’m adding these new resources to The Best Resources On Parent/Teacher Conferences: Why Students Should Take the Lead in Parent-Teacher Conferences is from MindShift. Supporting Ongoing, Constructive, and Meaningful Conversations About Student’s Progress is from The Harvard Family Research Project. Parent Night: Declaring Students’ Independence is from Middleweb (not exactly on conferences, but cl

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 17h 

SEP 23

Georgia School Board Member Won’t Let A Bad Idea Die: No Grad Tickets For Parents If They Don’t Come To Open House

Earlier in the year, I posted a news report about a Georgia School Board member who wanted to ban parents from their children’s high school graduation. It appears he has now refined his idea a bit further: “I think a parent should earn the right to attend a graduation,” he said. “How do you earn that right? Come to the open house. Come to curriculum night. And any other third thing that we deem im

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d 

“Three Tips to Focus Parent-Teacher Conferences On Creating a Partnership”

Three Tips to Focus Parent-Teacher Conferences On Creating a Partnership is a useful post from MindShift. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Parent/Teacher Conferences.

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d 

NYC School Threatens Parents With A Call To Child-Welfare Agency If They Pick-Up Their Kids Late

Charter school parents warned that late pick-ups could mean child-welfare report is the headline of an article in Chalkbeat: New York. Here’s how the article begins: A charter elementary school on the Lower East Side is telling families they will be reported to the city’s child-welfare agency if they make a habit of not picking up their child on time. And this story is the newest additions to The

12 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d 

NPR Offers Parent-Teacher Conference Advice

NPR offered two separate shows on Rethinking A Fall Classic: The Parent-Teacher Conference. I’m adding them to The Best Resources On Parent/Teacher Conferences.

1 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d hide  //  save

“Parent Communication Toolbox”

Parent Communication Toolbox is a very useful post from Edutopia, written by Gwen Pescatore. I’m adding it to A Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Using Technology To Help Engage Parents.

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d 

Parent Trigger Ready To Bring Chaos To Ohio Schools

Schools in Columbus, Ohio, are bracing for chaos as they become a pilot project for using the parent trigger. The former superintendent (don’t you love it when people make decisions and don’t hang around to deal with the consequences?) offered the city up to the state as a place to experiment. The state has chosen StudentsFirst as a “neutral party” to be responsible for informing parents — Unbelie

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 4d 

9-27-14 All NEW Living in Dialogue

Home | Living in Dialogue:

Long Shadow Report: Strong Schools Require Strong Communities

By Paul Horton. An important new study, The Long Shadow: Family Background, Disadvantaged Urban Youth, and the Transition to Adulthood by Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson, casts doubt on the current policy push to starve neighborhood public schools and fund charter schools that are not connected to supportive communities. The 2014 Russell Sage Foundation study emphasizes that it doe

76 by Anthony Cody / 17h 

Rebel-lion by Columbine Rebels Brings Student Walk-Outs to South Jeffco

By Paula Noonan.  The Rebels — students from Columbine High School — headed to adjacent Clement Park at 10:30am yesterday to protest the Jefferson County (Jeffco), Colorado, school board’s anti-Advanced Placement/US History resolution.  The Rebels, the George Washington kind from the American Revolution, got lots of car honks from supportive Jeffco citizens. Asked whether their teachers “put them

36 by Anthony Cody / 18h 

SEP 25

A Response to Marc Tucker: Can We Win the Struggle For Democracy When Big Money Writes Public Education Policy?

By Denny Taylor. I have read with interest the dialogue between Marc Tucker, Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody, and Yong Zhao on the establishment of an American test-based public education accountability system. Forty years of research on the impact of political structures on social systems,[1], [2] in particular public education,[3] leads me to categorize Marc Tucker’s rhetoric as nothing more than po

19 by Anthony Cody / 1d 

Jefferson County Students and Teachers Protest Revised American History Curriculum

By Paula Noonan. Both the last straw and the straw that broke the camel’s back dropped onto Jefferson County Schools on the night of September 18 at the Jefferson County Schools Board Meeting. The next morning 50 Jefferson County teachers, unable to carry any straws anymore, called in sick or took personal leave. Parents, teachers, citizens turned to twitter to share the new history content. The B

28 by Anthony Cody / 1d 

SEP 23

Opposition Researchers Target New Mexico Facebook Education Activist

By Anthony Cody. A New Mexico mother of four has been targeted by conservative political leaders unhappy with her education activism on Facebook and in her community. Kathy Korte serves on the Albuquerque school board, and is active in a grassroots organization called Stand4KidsNM, which has an active Facebook page here, and a website here. The group has been active for the past year, and in Octob

400+ by Anthony Cody / 3d 

York, Pennsylvania, Community Rallies Against School Privatization

By Becky Pringle, Vice President, National Education Association. It has been three years since Governor Tom Corbett cut millions of dollars from York City public schools, creating a funding crisis that is still being felt  in the city’s schools today. David Meckley, Corbett’s hand-picked ‘chief recovery officer’ for the district, now wants to solve the schools’ financial challenges by handing ove

77 by Anthony Cody / 3d 

Are the New Reform Cops the Same as the Old Cops?

By John Thompson. The old test-driven, accountability-driven school reform movement is overextended, cut off, and heading for a catastrophic defeat – and they know it. That is why some of its most zealous crusaders are doubling down on anti-teacher legal campaigns. This is the accountability hawks’ last chance to prove that they were right all along in taking the Big Stick approach to school impro

41 by Anthony Cody / 3d 

SEP 22

Straight Out of Brooklyn: Public Education Nation

PUBLIC EDUCATION NATION from Schoolhouse Live on Vimeo. For years, reformers have talked down to students, parents and teachers. Now it’s time for us talk back! Join Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody and Leonie Haimson as they take on Common Core, charters and school closures, and other threats to public education, October 11, 2014, 12-5 PM (EST), for the first ever Public Education Nation webcast, on s

50 by Vincent Precht / 4d 

Chicago Teacher: Privatized Janitorial Services Mean Dirty Bathrooms and Classrooms

By Michelle Gunderson. My friend who is a janitor in the Chicago Public Schools told me that he warned his daughters to only use the bathrooms at school if they have to. He said, “I know how impossible it is to get our schools clean right now. It just can’t be done with the cutbacks.” Can you imagine telling your child that school is too dirty to safely use the toilet? Last March the Chicago Schoo

400+ by Anthony Cody / 4d 

SEP 20

Time to Give Up: Yong Zhao Responds to Marc Tucker

A Response to Marc Tucker’s Response to Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody on Fixing Our National Accountability System By Yong Zhao. I was very impressed with Marc Tucker’s indictment of the test-based accountability system that has been in place for over a decade: The test-based accountability system now universally mandated in the United States—a system that reflects in every way the blue-collar co

200+ by Anthony Cody / 6d