Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/11/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader | Bob Braun's Ledger

Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader | Bob Braun's Ledger: Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leaderNewark public school officials are seeking the indictment of a top officer of the Newark Teachers Union. They are charging John Abeigon, the NTU’s director of organization, with “defiant trespass,” a fourth degree crime that carries with it possible

by mike simpson / 30min 

Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control | Capital New York

Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control | Capital New York: Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral controlTeachers' union leaders Michael Mulgrew and Randi Weingarten offered only partial support for mayoral control of public schools on Thursday, saying that they want to see changes to one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's key initiatives in Albany. Mayoral control, passed d

by mike simpson / 2h 

ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions | Otha Thornton

ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions | Otha Thornton: ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement ProvisionsMore than 40 years of research shows - no matter a family's income or socioeconomic background - family engagement in education is essential for student success. Students whose families are involved attend school more regularly, earn better grades, enrol

by mike simpson / 2h 

'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests (OPINION) | OregonLive.com

'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests (OPINION) | OregonLive.com: 'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests Reynolds teacher Emily Crum, center, talks during an opt out committee meeting in April. About 5 percent of Portland Public Schools students have opted out of taking new Smarter Balanced assessments. (Laura Frazier/Staff)By Kathleen JeskeyIn response to Bill Porter's rece

by mike simpson / 2h 

Arne Duncan on Fraud, Waste and Corruption in The Charter School Industry

Arne Duncan on Fraud, Waste and Corruption in The Charter School Industry 

by mike simpson / 5h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?

CURMUDGUCATION: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?I respect reform advocate Andy Smarick for his willingness to consider some of the problems that come with the reformster movement in education. Yes, he steadfastly advocates for choice and charters, and yes, I think he's wrong about many things. But he wrote a long series of posts about the inher

by mike simpson / 5h 

Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed. | janresseger

Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed. | janresseger: Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed.New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie’s disdain for democracy is notorious.  The state of New Jersey has been running the public schools of Newark for 20 years, and referring to the citizens—parents and students—of

by mike simpson / 5h 

A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts | VAMboozled!

A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts | VAMboozled!: A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS EffortsVAMs were first adopted in education in the late 1980s, when an agricultural statistician/adjunct professor [emphasis added, as an adjunct professor is substantively different than a tenured/tenure-track professor] at the Un

by mike simpson / 5h 

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity: New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund SchoolsHow States Can Raise the Revenue to Fundthe Schools Our Students DeserveNew fact sheets for advocates and policymakers!Click here to downloadthe new fact sheets!Over a year ago, the OTL Campaign jo

by mike simpson / 5h 

Stealing Schools and Ending Democratic Public Education in America | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Redefining the School District in America | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Redefining the School District in AmericaJune 10, 2015By: Nelson SmithIn Redefining the School District in America, Nelson Smith reexamines existing recovery school districts (RSDs)—entities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan charged with running and turning around their state’s worst schools—and assembles the most com

by mike simpson / 6h 

Lawmakers Desire to Destroy MPS | Educate All Students: Larry Miller's Blog

Lawmakers Desire to Destroy MPS | Educate All Students: Larry Miller's Blog: Lawmakers Desire to Destroy MPSFiled under: MPS Takeover,Wisc Budget Bill — millerlf @ 12:21 pm HALL MONITOR — Lawmakers deal MPS deathblowBy Jay Bullock June 1, 2015 Bayview CompassSee blog at: http://bayviewcompass.com/category/hall-monitor/After Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee finished its late-night work on educat

by mike simpson / 6h 

This Week In Education: Thompson: The Perils -- And Potential -- Of "Right-Click" Credit Programs

This Week In Education: Thompson: The Perils -- And Potential -- Of "Right-Click" Credit Programs: Thompson: The Perils -- And Potential -- Of "Right-Click" Credit ProgramsRate, which identifies three major ways that school systems try to improve their graduation rates.NPR finds that some districts did it in the proper way, by "stepping in early to keep kids on track."

by mike simpson / 6h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Here's the problem with 'data-driven" school reform. You need good data.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Here's the problem with 'data-driven" school reform. You need good data.: Here's the problem with 'data-driven" school reform. You need good data. Rahm projected an 82% graduation rate when he ran for office.“No one questions the facts: more CPS students are graduating than ever before, those students are more prepared for their futures and we’re making hug

by mike simpson / 6h 

The Arne Duncan Shuffle: Some For-Profit Colleges Have "the Ethics of Payday Lending" | David Halperin

Arne Duncan Transcript: Some For-Profit Colleges Have "the Ethics of Payday Lending" | David Halperin:  For-Profit Colleges Have "the Ethics of Payday Lending"Arne Duncan:        Well I think we've been very clear and have a, you know, five or six year track record of - and to be very clear, we're supportive of for profits that are helping real people gain real skills that lead

by mike simpson / 7h 

For Asian Americans, standardized testing is its own costly, hyper-competitive culture - Quartz

For Asian Americans, standardized testing is its own costly, hyper-competitive culture - Quartz: For Asian Americans, standardized testing is its own costly, hyper-competitive cultureOver the weekend, 16-year-old Mira Hu went missing in San Marino, California. Hu—a student at San Marino High School—had been dropped off at nearby Arcadia High School on Saturday to take the SAT college entrance exam

by mike simpson / 8h 

Unrest at Ann Arbor school board meeting over teachers union, testing policies | MLive.com

Unrest at Ann Arbor school board meeting over teachers union, testing policies | MLive.com: Unrest at Ann Arbor school board meeting over teachers union, testing policiesA dozen audience members at Wednesday's Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education meeting stood up and turned their back to the board members sitting on on the Skyline High School stage.The action was representative of the growi

by mike simpson / 9h 

With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ - Working In These Times

With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’ - Working In These Times: With Thousands Marching in the Streets, Chicago Teachers Union Declares ‘This Means War!’Teachers, Students and Community Members demonstrate in front of the Chicago Board of Trade   (Martin de Bourmont)Cries of “this means war!” echoed throughout Chicago’s financial district this Tu

by mike simpson / 10h 

I Believe in Freedom of Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog

I Believe in Freedom of Choice | Diane Ravitch's blog: I Believe in Freedom of ChoiceParents should be able to send their children to the school of their choice. And they do, but the public should not be expected to pay for their private choices.The public has a civic obligation to support public education. Even if you don’t have children, you pay taxes to educate the children of the community. Ev

by mike simpson / 10h 

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk: BustED Pencils Trending News: Apologize to the students; Brian did what??; HauntingPosted June 11, 2015 by Tim Slekar These tasks are not really related to your usual job.  If you don’t care, is it working??  Apologies are in order. The First Hurdle http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/the-first-hurdle_b_7517602.html?utm_hp_ref=tw  Nevada governor

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Charter Schools' Katrina Memory Hole

Charter Schools' Katrina Memory Hole: CHARTER SCHOOLS' KATRINA MEMORY HOLEPre-Katrina New Orleans graduation numbers are charter school advocates' exhibit A for reform. One problem: the U.S. and Louisiana Departments of Education say they don't exist.We’ve heard the narrative so many times we know it by heart. "Results-based" charter schools "turned around" a "broken educa

by mike simpson / 21h 

Tweetable: Friedman on Think Tanks | deutsch29

Tweetable: Friedman on Think Tanks | deutsch29: Tweetable: Friedman on Think TanksI am not on Twitter. I don’t have the time for it. But if I were on Twitter, I would tweet the excerpt below from a 1995 interview with “father of school choice,” economist Milton Friedman.I would tweet it not because I endorse Friedman’s ideas on school choice and what translates into the reckless bankrupting of Ame

by mike simpson / 22h 

The tough tests facing New York’s new state education commissioner - The Washington Post

The tough tests facing New York’s new state education commissioner - The Washington Post: The tough tests facing New York’s new state education commissionerLast month,  New York tapped a new state education commissioner, MaryEllen Elia. She is the 2015 Florida Superintendent of the Year who led the public schools in Hillsborough County for a decade before she was fired by the school board this pas

by mike simpson / 22h 

LAUSD RELAXES GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS- FAIRNESS OR MORE PREMEDITATED FRAUD? - Perdaily.com

LAUSD RELAXES GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS- FAIRNESS OR MORE PREMEDITATED FRAUD? - Perdaily.com: LAUSD RELAXES GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS- FAIRNESS OR MORE PREMEDITATED FRAUD?(Mensaje se repite en Español)Rather than address its longstanding failure to educate students in a timely age-sensitive manner, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has now voted to further degrade the value of a high sch

by mike simpson / 23h 

“Sociopath” was too small a word for a Feudal Lord | Reclaim Reform

“Sociopath” was too small a word for a Feudal Lord | Reclaim Reform: “Sociopath” was too small a word for a Feudal LordPosted on June 10, 2015by Ken PrevitiIncredibly, some people felt that “sociopath” was a mere prejudicial term to describe the billionaire (a-few-dollars-short-of-being-a-billionare) governor who is now attempting to purchase an entire new legislature of his own, thus combining pe

by mike simpson / 23h hide  //  save

NYC Educator: UFT DA Not Ready to Vote No Confidence in Reformy MaryEllen Elia

NYC Educator: UFT DA Not Ready to Vote No Confidence in Reformy MaryEllen Elia: UFT DA Not Ready to Vote No Confidence in Reformy MaryEllen EliaPresident’s reportMulgrew thanks DA for our work (but notably, does not offer us cake). Says we have implemented contract but not far enough. Says we had no idea Cuomo would become nemesis. Makes me wonder why he chooses to disregard those of us who recogn

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/10/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMA Celebration of Civil Disobedience | Vicki CobbA Celebration of Civil Disobedience | Vicki Cobb: A Celebration of Civil DisobedienceRecently, I went to a dinner that celebrated a small but growing movement of civil disobedience. Its purpose was to bestow the annual "Skinny" Awards, by Class Size Matters , an organization founded by Leonie Haimson, to

by mike simpson / 23h 

Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader | Bob Braun's Ledger

Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader

Newark public school officials are seeking the indictment of a top officer of the Newark Teachers Union. They are charging John Abeigon, the NTU’s director of organization, with “defiant trespass,” a fourth degree crime that carries with it possible penalties of up to 18 months in jail, a $10,000 fine, and revocation of state  teaching licenses.

The charges against the 58-year-old union leader arise from an incident in March that followed the death,   probably as a result of  meningitis,  of an 6-year-old pupil from the Oliver Street School. Abeigon says he went to the school to determine whether it had been adequately cleaned and disinfected to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Newark school administration had not been totally honest about its handling of the tragedy, initially issuing a false report that the child had not been in school when she was contagious. A spokeswoman for Cami Anderson, the state-appointed schools superintendent, said officials had “misread” attendance reports.

Douglas Petty–signed the complaint against Abeigon.

Abeigon said he was ordered out of the school before he had the chance to speak with the teacher who had the child in her class.  Instead of leaving, he took a stairway up to the second floor and did try again to speak with the teacher. He was again ordered out of the school. Weeks later, he was served with a summons to appear, not before a  municipal judge in Newark, but before a state Superior Court judge, Siobhan Teare.

At that initial appearance–last Friday–Abeigon’s attorney,  Joseph Fusella, was told by an assistant prosecutor the leadership of the Newark Public Schools was seeking a grand jury indictment of the union leader. That’s why it was in state, rather than municipal, court–and headed for the grand jury.

“I had never been told the charges against me until that day,” said Abeigon.

Another hearing has been scheduled for next month. The Essex County prosecutor’s mujst decide by then whether it will go along with presenting the case to a grand jury or reduce the charge to a disorderly person’s offence and send it down to municipal court.

This site has obtained the complaint signed by Douglas Petty, the principal of Oliver Street. Petty contends Abeigon “pulled away” from school officials while he was being escorted out of the building, “ran” upstairs  and was later “found” outside the classroom of the child who had died and was again escorted outside.

The complaint from Petty calls the crime “criminal trespass.” The law cited is Newark school leaders seeking indictment of teacher union leader | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control | Capital New York

Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control | Capital New York:

Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control

Teachers' union leaders Michael Mulgrew and Randi Weingarten offered only partial support for mayoral control of public schools on Thursday, saying that they want to see changes to one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's key initiatives in Albany. Mayoral control, passed during Michael Bloomberg's first term, is due to expire at the end of the month.

The union leaders spoke after hosting de Blasio at a press conference at the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers, during which the mayor made a pitch in favor of mayor control. The union leaders made their remarks after de Blasio left.

Mulgrew, president of the U.F.T., told reporters that the "position of our union is we support mayoral control but not in its current version."

The U.F.T., Mulgrew said, wants the mayor to have less control over the Panel for Educational Policy (P.E.P.), the governing body of the Department of Education. A majority of the 13-member panel is appointed by the mayor, and critics charged that it acted as a rubber stamp for Bloomberg. The P.E.P. has shown a streak of independence recently by rejecting co-location proposals and further complicating Mayor Bill de Blasio's relationship with charter leaders. 

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"The thing is, in New York, everyone thinks it's mayoral control or nothing," Mulgrew said. "That's not the case. Every city that has mayoral control has different versions of it but the idea of mayoral control, yes, we do not want to go back to the school boards and the Board of Education."

Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, also said mayoral control should be subject to changes, a notion that de Blasio opposes. She did not offer specific changes she would like to see.

"Everybody knew [the sunset of mayoral control] was coming due," she said during the same press conference on Thursday. "If you want to make changes to it, you do it months and months and months in advance, not at the very last minute."

"Are there things that should be done? Of course," she added, "but you don't do that at the very last minute."

In their remarks, Weingarten and Mulgrew chose to criticize Albany rather than praise mayoral control.

"Albany is starting to look like Washington, D.C.," Mulgrew said. 

He and Weingarten specifically objected to a proposal advanced by Republicans in the Teachers' union leaders talk of changes to mayoral control | Capital New York:

ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions | Otha Thornton

ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions | Otha Thornton:

ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions

More than 40 years of research shows - no matter a family's income or socioeconomic background - family engagement in education is essential for student success. Students whose families are involved attend school more regularly, earn better grades, enroll in higher-level programs and have higher graduation rates. Research also shows that family engagement is critical for school improvement as well as plays a key role in helping communities grow strong and thrive.

Despite strong evidence of the important role families play in student achievement, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB) does not include critical improvements that prioritize family engagement.

ESEA/NCLB has been up for reauthorization since 2007. Currently, the U.S. Senate has a bipartisan reauthorization bill, the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177), that is expected to be debated and voted on in the next few weeks. At this time, the bill does not incorporate stronger family engagement provisions.

Recent reports have found that states and districts across the country are increasingly prioritizing family engagement and adopting systemic and sustained efforts to integrate families into the fabric of their schools - recognizing the important impact of family engagement on student learning.

California, for example, has developed a Family Engagement Framework to help districts meet requirements in the state's new school funding law to include families in the school budget decision-making process. Districts such as Washoe County School District in Reno, Nev. and Springfield, Mass. School District have created positions and departments specifically geared toward implementing long-term, integrated and high-impact strategies to bolster family engagement.

At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Education released the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships in 2014 to encourage schools to link student learning to family engagement through meaningful activities that are tied directly to curriculum or student achievement efforts.

While progress is being made, all states and school districts need additional capacity ESEA Reauthorization Needs Stronger Family Engagement Provisions | Otha Thornton:

'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests (OPINION) | OregonLive.com

'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests (OPINION) | OregonLive.com:

'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests 

Reynolds teacher Emily Crum, center, talks during an opt out committee meeting in April. About 5 percent of Portland Public Schools students have opted out of taking new Smarter Balanced assessments. (Laura Frazier/Staff)

By Kathleen Jeskey

In response to Bill Porter's recent guest column, nothing has "hijacked the roll-out" of the Smarter Balanced test more than the test itself. It takes hours, over many days. The average third-grader at my school spent 12 hours taking the test. Our high school's schedule was disrupted for weeks. Some kids who weren't taking the tests couldn't move on in their instruction, as juniors in their mixed-grade classes were out taking Smarter Balanced.

Additionally, the test had many unreportable errors resulting from faulty reporting methods, communication breakdown between state and school level, and the virtual gag order placed on teachers by the test security assurance form. Disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, can result from violating this agreement. So can refusal to give the test, as I learned when I requested to be excused from administering.

Porter goes on to construct a straw man, insinuating that those promoting opt out are against all testing and should just be focusing on better tests. He asserts that Smarter Balanced is better, the questions more "open-ended." This test has some parts that allow open-ended answers, but the majority of the test is still pick-the-right-answer. Dropping and dragging or clicking the right sentence in the paragraph is still multiple choice. Then there's the whole question of who's scoring those open-ended answers.

Parents know this test is bad. That's why they don't want their kids to take it. That's why parents and teachers together have pushed our legislators to pass House Bill 2655, which cleared the Oregon House of Representatives easily in a bipartisan vote of 47 to 10.

School districts should not be trimming local assessments that local educators have decided work well with their students, as Porter suggests, in favor of Smarter Balanced. Let's decide on tests at the local level, where it's transparent and easy for parents to see and understand their child's results. Smarter Balanced, like its predecessor OAKS, gives parents and teachers little information beyond a number.

Standardized tests can be used appropriately for a big picture. That big picture could be obtained just as easily using sampling. Diane Ravitch, assistant secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, agrees that annual testing is not needed. So does Professor Yong Zhao, presidential chair of the College of Education in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership at University of Oregon.

This is not "hysteria." I wonder if Porter sees any irony in the use of that word, which once referred to a mental condition believed to be exclusively female. It was used throughout history to dismiss women's real physical aliments and legitimate complaints. When parents began complaining about Common Core standards, Arne Duncan, U.S. secretary of education said, "It's fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from ... white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn't quite as good as they thought they were, and that's pretty scary." Instead of allowing democratic debate over legitimate concerns regarding standards and testing, Duncan and Porter engage in "mindless misogyny."

Parents and teachers are sick of the failed test and punish policy begun with No Child 'Mindless misogyny' and flawed standardized tests (OPINION) | OregonLive.com:

Arne Duncan on Fraud, Waste and Corruption in The Charter School Industry

Arne Duncan on Fraud, Waste and Corruption in The Charter School Industry 

CURMUDGUCATION: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?

CURMUDGUCATION: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?:

Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?

I respect reform advocate Andy Smarick for his willingness to consider some of the problems that come with the reformster movement in education. Yes, he steadfastly advocates for choice and charters, and yes, I think he's wrong about many things. But he wrote a long series of posts about the inherent tension between conservative values and conservative support for reformy stuff (here's my response to one of them), and he was a practitioner of respectful and reasonable dialogue before reformsters decided that it would be a good PR move.

So I was all eyes when Smarick connected with Edushyster for an interview. It's right here, and you should read it. 

Democracy vs. School Choice

Smarick and 'Shyster (which sounds like an excellent vaudeville act) get directly to one of the great tensions in the choice movement-- the tension between democracy and choice.

The reformster theory is that school choice ought to be democracy on steroids, a free market where every customer gets a direct vote on What School Looks Like and any entrepreneur can enter that race.

In practice, that seems to be very much what does not happen. Every place that people have been given the chance to "vote with their feet," they have lost all other voice in the process. (Not to mention that when a city moves to a "vote with their feet system," non-parent taxpayers end up with no vote at all-- not feet, not ballots, not anything.) This is not playing well. As Edushyster puts it

In recent elections, voters in both Chicago and Philadelphia basically shouted that they want more say over their schools.  Is it just me, or does it seem like if you give voters a vote over whether they want an actual vote vs. the vote with their feet kind of vote, they always seem to vote for the *vote vote*?

Edushyster also throws in Camden and Newark as examples of how choice has led to disempowered and denocracy-free cities. And Smarick... agrees.

I totally agree with you. State takeovers of urban districts are sometimes necessary but they CURMUDGUCATION: Which Choosey Choosers Choose the Choices?:

Reading Is Good For You

Above the door to the chamber in which King Ramses II of Egypt kept his books was written what is, apparently, considered to be the world's oldest library motto:

House of Healing for the Soul

Now here comes the New Yorker this week to remind us that bibliotherapy is a thing.

The article hangs itself on the hook of Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin, a pair of bibliotherapists associated with the School of Life, a school headquartered in London that is...well, not traditional in its focus but does not appear to be run by a bunch of wastrelly hippies, either. The article's author, Ceridwen Dovey, describes being given a session with Berthoud as a gift and the ensuing email conversations that led to Berthoud recommending a list that ran from The Guide by R. K. Narayan to Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow.

The notion that reading can be therapeutic is not a new one, and its practice goes back to pretty much as long as we've been able to write down words. The 1800s saw it adopted as a more common treatment approach, and the term "bibliotherapy" was coined in an article for the Atlantic in 1916. Within the next decade, there were training programs for it at Western Reserve University and the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Reading was a prescribed treatment for veterans of the 

Reading Is Good For You

Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed. | janresseger

Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed. | janresseger:

Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed.

New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie’s disdain for democracy is notorious.  The state of New Jersey has been running the public schools of Newark for 20 years, and referring to the citizens—parents and students—of Newark, Christie declared: “And I don’t care about the community criticism. We run the school district in Newark — not them.”  It would appear that Christie is equally cavalier about his promises to Arne Duncan and the U.S. Department of Education.  New Jersey’s Department of Education has been ignoring the terms of the state’s No Child Left Behind Waiver—ignoring the program the New Jersey Department of Education’s own staff proposed as the way New Jersey would implement the waiver.

Here is how the National Education Association and the New Jersey Education Association describe the problem in a formal letter of complaint they sent to U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, earlier this week: “(T)he state made extensive commitments to support the turnaround of its lowest-performing Priority schools, primarily through seven new Regional Achievement Centers throughout the state, in exchange for the waiver of many statutory requirements under ESEA (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act), including the requirements…  related to corrective action for schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, as well as sections… expanding the State’s flexibility in distributing federal funds.  The Education Law Center recently alerted the Department that the State has failed to fulfill these commitments in the Newark Public School system.  We are writing to inform the Department of even farther-reaching deficiencies in the Camden City School District…. Instead of working to turnaround Priority schools in Camden, the State is seeking to transfer five public schools to private parties to operate as ‘renaissance’ charter schools and to close an additional public school.”

The letter  describes a series of supports for struggling schools that were promised in the state’s application for a federal waiver.  Regional Achievement Centers were to be established to develop comprehensive individualized school improvement plans for each of New Jersey’s seriously struggling schools.  Improvements were to include model curriculum, new tests, Gov. Christie Favors Charter Schools, Ignores Waiver Agreement with U.S. Dept. of Ed. | janresseger:

A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts | VAMboozled!

A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts | VAMboozled!:

A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts

VAMs were first adopted in education in the late 1980s, when an agricultural statistician/adjunct professor [emphasis added, as an adjunct professor is substantively different than a tenured/tenure-track professor] at the University of Knoxville, Tenessee – William Sanders – thought that educators struggling with student achievement in the state should “simply” use more advanced statistics, similar to those used when modeling genetic and reproductive trends among cattle, to measure growth, hold teachers accountable for that growth, and solve the educational measurement woes facing the state at the time by doing so. It was to be as simple as that….

Hence, Sanders developed the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), which is now known as the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS®), in response.

Nowadays, the SAS® EVAAS® is widely considered, with over 20 years of development, the largest, one of the best, one of the most widely adopted and used, and likely the most controversial VAM in the country. It is controversial in that it is a proprietary model (i.e., it is costly and used/marketed under exclusive legal rights of the inventors/operators), and it is often akin to a “black box” model (i.e., it is protected by a good deal of secrecy/mystery).

Not surprisingly, Tennessee was one of the first states to receive Race to the Top funds to the tune of $502 million, to further advance the SAS® EVAAS® model, still referred to as the TVAAS, however, in the state of Tennessee. See prior posts about Sanders efforts, in Tennessee and beyond here, here, here, here, and here.

Nonetheless, on the SAS® EVAAS® website developers continue to make grandiose marketing claims without much caution or really any research evidence in support (e.g., using the SAS® EVAAS® will provide “a clear path to achieve the US goal to lead the world in college completion by the year 2020″). Riding on such claims, EVAAS backers  continue to sell their SAS® EVAAS® model to states (e.g., Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and school districts (e.g., the Houston Independent School District), at a significant amount (as in millions) of taxpayers’ revenues.

As per the news today, released by Chalkbeat Tennessee, “TVAAS creator William VAMs were first adopted in education in the late 1980s, when an agricultural statistician/adjunct professor [emphasis added, as an adjunct professor is substantively different than a tenured/tenure-track professor] at the University of Knoxville, Tenessee – William Sanders – thought that educators struggling with student achievement in the state should “simply” use more advanced statistics, similar to those used when modeling genetic and reproductive trends among cattle, to measure growth, hold teachers accountable for that growth, and solve the educational measurement woes facing the state at the time by doing so. It was to be as simple as that….

Hence, Sanders developed the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), which is now known as the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS®), in response.

Nowadays, the SAS® EVAAS® is widely considered, with over 20 years of development, the largest, one of the best, one of the most widely adopted and used, and likely the most controversial VAM in the country. It is controversial in that it is a proprietary model (i.e., it is costly and used/marketed under exclusive legal rights of the inventors/operators), and it is often akin to a “black box” model (i.e., it is protected by a good deal of secrecy/mystery).

Not surprisingly, Tennessee was one of the first states to receive Race to the Top funds to the tune of $502 million, to further advance the SAS® EVAAS® model, still referred to as the TVAAS, however, in the state of Tennessee. See prior posts about Sanders efforts, in Tennessee and beyond here, here, here, here, and here.

Nonetheless, on the SAS® EVAAS® website developers continue to make grandiose marketing claims without much caution or really any research evidence in support (e.g., using the SAS® EVAAS® will provide “a clear path to achieve the US goal to lead the world in college completion by the year 2020″). Riding on such claims, EVAAS backers  continue to sell their SAS® EVAAS® model to states (e.g., Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and school districts (e.g., the Houston Independent School District), at a significant amount (as in millions) of taxpayers’ revenues.

As per the news today, released by Chalkbeat Tennessee, “TVAAS creator William A VAM Sham(e): Bill Sanders to Receive Distinguished Award for VAM/EVAAS Efforts | VAMboozled!:

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools

How States Can Raise the Revenue to Fund
the Schools Our Students Deserve
New fact sheets for advocates and policymakers!

Click here to download
the new fact sheets!

Over a year ago, the OTL Campaign joined the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center to release an online toolkit called"Investing in the Future: Revenue Options to Give Every Child the Opportunity to Learn." The toolkit presented strategies that states can use to raise revenue to fund important investments in education, transportation and more – and do so fairly.

To make that online resource even more accessible to advocates and policymakers across the country, this month we are releasing a series of fact sheets that distill the critical takeaways from the toolkit. These 2-page fact sheets offer brief overviews of strategies like instituting a millionaire’s tax or closing tax loopholes for large, profitable, multi-state corporations.

We encourage you to take these bite-sized fact sheets with you to meet your state legislator or to hand them out at your next conference. You can even share them on Twitter and Facebook!

These new tools will give you the information you need to make a powerful call for investing in your state’s public education system. Let’s ensure all students have access to the high quality schools they deserve.

Click below to read and download the fact sheets. And don’t forget to share them with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter.

Click here to download the fact sheets!

New Fact Sheets on Raising State Revenues to Fund Schools | National Opportunity to Learn Campaign | Education Reform for Equity and Opportunity:

Stealing Schools and Ending Democratic Public Education in America | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Redefining the School District in America | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute:

Redefining the School District in America

June 10, 2015

By: 

Nelson Smith

In Redefining the School District in America, Nelson Smith reexamines existing recovery school districts (RSDs)—entities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan charged with running and turning around their state’s worst schools—and assembles the most comprehensive catalog of similar initiatives underway and under consideration elsewhere.

Among more than twenty recommendations gleaned from both failed and successful attempts to create and implement RSDs, Smith recommends that those who go down the turnaround path should:

• Call your lawyer. A close reading of the state constitution is essential. Some states are so wedded to traditional forms of “local control” that setting up a state district will require fancy legal footwork, if not a constitutional amendment.
• Decide the endgame—for both schools and the turnaround district. Apart from setting goals for school performance, other decisions must be addressed—and the earlier the better.
• Expect course corrections. Running a statewide district is a huge, complex undertaking full of political, financial, and logistical challenges—not to mention the myriad crises and complications that always arise in institutions serving real children. Sometimes even turnaround efforts need to turn around.
• Give the locals a chance. After taking over failing schools, reformers sent by the state may want to clean house and start fresh with a whole new cast of characters. Yet incumbent staff should be given the opportunity to apply for work under the new arrangement and prove that, under different circumstances, they can shine.

As with everything in education reform, when it comes to the design of turnaround districts, details truly matter.

This is the final brief in a three-part series. Download the second brief, Redefining the School District in Tennessee, and the third brief, Redefining the School District in Michigan, to learn more.

Register to attend or watch the event, Turnaround Districts: Lessons from Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan, on June 29.