Cartoons on Technology at Work, Home, and School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons on Technology at Work, Home, and School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons on Technology at Work, Home, and School

For this month, I have collected a melange of cartoons about technology use in different venues. Enjoy!

MORE CARTOONS: Cartoons on Technology at Work, Home, and School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Labor Movement Comes Back Big After 'Janus' - NEA Today

Labor Movement Comes Back Big After 'Janus' - NEA Today

Labor Movement Comes Back Big After ‘Janus’

In January, Virginia teacher Nicole Loch attended a #RedForEd rally at the statehouse in Richmond. She arrived on a charter bus sponsored by the Fauquier Education Association (FEA), even though Loch had never joined the union—a decision she had resisted for 11 years.“It was a bus full of other educators from my county,” says Loch, a civics teacher at Auburn Middle School in Warrenton.

“When I got to Richmond, I saw the power of mobilization and strength in numbers,” she says. “I knew then I needed to join.”

Loch marched and chanted for a mile—from Monroe Park to the capitol steps—where the crowd numbered 4,000. Standing there—holding a sign with the words “I Teach, I Matter”—she realized that many of the 250 FEA members at the rally had been meeting for months to organize their road trip, produce T-shirts and signs, and arrange meetings in the offices of legislators to discuss education policy and funding in Fauquier County.

Longtime teacher Nicole Loch joined her local association the day after attending a statehouse #RedForEd rally. (photo: Philippe Nobile)

“I felt I had been left behind,” she says. “I had no idea what people in my county had been doing to prepare for the event because I wasn’t a part of FEA.”

A mere 24 hours after the rally, Loch had joined FEA and the Virginia Education Association (VEA)—the state’s largest educator union.

“Being an FEA member has emboldened me to speak out about the value of public education and demand action from local officials to do what’s best for children and educators,” says Loch, who became a building representative soon after joining FEA.

The Perfect Civics Lesson

Loch attended the rally, she says, because she wanted to show her students what it means to advocate for public schools.

“I teach them to exercise their First Amendment rights and speak out when they see injustice,” she says.

Loch had read about the massive 2018 educator walkouts in “red” conservative CONTINUE READING: Labor Movement Comes Back Big After 'Janus' - NEA Today

The "X"odus Files: Shortage Denial Syndrome. | BustED Pencils

The "X"odus Files: Shortage Denial Syndrome. | BustED Pencils

The “X”odus Files: Shortage Denial Syndrome.

A few weeks ago Peter Greene posted a blog about the fact that there is NO TEACHER SHORTAGE. He even mentioned me as one of the shortage deniers. I sent his post to a host of people—teachers, politicians, government agencies, and anybody else that needed a reminder. I then went on with my day delusionally convinced that I had done my part and that the reality of the teacher “X”odus would supplant the teacher shortage narrative. If only!

Instead of a mass awakening and a torrent of thank you emails I received one email from a friend in a government agency suggesting that I was possibly causing harm by insisting that the teacher shortage narrative was bunk.

According to my friend, I was “conflating the reason for the shortage with whether or not there is a shortage.” And that a state legislator was now using my teacher shortage denial syndrome as a way to disparage a proposed student loan forgiveness program for future teachers—since there was no teacher shortage.

I would love to believe that any legislator would actually cite me as a teacher shortage expert and that my denial syndrome was being used to thwart a great idea. Because if this was the case then it was a perfect opportunity to confirm the false shortage narrative and drive home the “X”odus facts such as the ones laid out in Brevard, Florida where 625 CONTINUE READING: The "X"odus Files: Shortage Denial Syndrome. | BustED Pencils

CREDO’s New Orleans “Learning Gains” a Sleight of Information | deutsch29

CREDO’s New Orleans “Learning Gains” a Sleight of Information | deutsch29

CREDO’s New Orleans “Learning Gains” a Sleight of Information

According to Emily Langhorne of Forbes, education reformers should “rejoice” because in May 2019, the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released this summary and accompanying presentation of New Orleans charter school “learning gains.”

According to CREDO, New Orleans charter school “learning gains” are impressive when compared with those of the state:

In reading, New Orleans students experienced stronger learning gains in 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 compared to the state average learning gains. In math, New Orleans students posted greater learning gains in 2014-15, similar progress in 2015-16, and stronger growth in 2016-17 compared to the state average.

Now, what CREDO has not released are actual average scores on the tests, nor do they offer any caution that greater “learning gains” are not synonymous with higher average test scores.

It is possible to have a fantastic “learning gain” and still fail a test.

It is also possible to do quite well on a pretest, with better pretest outcomes increasingly restricting how much of a “learning gain” a student can have on a post-test.

For example: A student scores a 42 out of 100 on a pretest and 60 on a post-test. That’s a “learning gain” of 18 points. Still an F (below 67), but an impressive “learning gain.”

Meanwhile, a second student scores an 89 out of 100 on the same pretest and a 95 out of 100 on the post-test, for a “learning gain” of six points. Note that the second student is well above passing on both pre- and post-test and actually improved from a B to an A (93 is the threshold). Note further that the highest CONTINUE READING: CREDO’s New Orleans “Learning Gains” a Sleight of Information | deutsch29

Is the Adversity Score a Tool for Acknowledging Poverty (as a surrogate for race) in College Admissions or a Tool to Enrich the SAT? | Ed In The Apple

Is the Adversity Score a Tool for Acknowledging Poverty (as a surrogate for race) in College Admissions or a Tool to Enrich the SAT? | Ed In The Apple

Is the Adversity Score a Tool for Acknowledging Poverty (as a surrogate for race) in College Admissions or a Tool to Enrich the SAT?

About ten years ago I sat in a room with a group of principals and watched/listened to David Coleman’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” kickoff of the Common Core.

At the end of the presentation a teacher in the audience commented, “We’re already using these strategies: what’s new?” Coleman snapped back, “If that’s the case why are our kids doing so poorly?”

I knew we were in trouble.

States adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), tests were aligned with the CCSS, instruction was measured by CCSS and we all anticipated achievement to begin to move up the ladder – we’re still waiting:  NAEP scores remain flat and in New York State test scores are still mired in the lower half of states

The Organization for Education, Co-Operation and Development (OECD) takes a deep dive into reading instruction across the OECD nations, “Measuring Innovation in Education: 2019,” and reports,

It turns out that over 90 percent of U.S. teachers were already regularly doing these Common Core-endorsed practices back in 2006 … for all the Common Core-induced hoopla—there was little obvious change in U.S. practice, while other nations actually spent 2006-2016 doing more of what the U.S. was already doing back in the Bush years.

 Turns out that teacher in the audience was correct.

 I’ve always wondered why ED Hirsch’s Core Knowledge has never caught on, a rich curriculum and high level of instruction in a collaborative environment is CONTINUE READING: Is the Adversity Score a Tool for Acknowledging Poverty (as a surrogate for race) in College Admissions or a Tool to Enrich the SAT? | Ed In The Apple

Journey For Justice Had a Busy Day | Diane Ravitch's blog

Journey For Justice Had a Busy Day | Diane Ravitch's blog

Journey For Justice Had a Busy Day

Don’t believe the right wingers who claim that  charter schools are supported by Black and Brown people.

Not only did the NAACP, the nation’s most venerable civil rights group, call for a moratorium on charter schools but so did Black Lives Matter.

The Journey for Justice Alliance is a true grassroots civil rights organization. It led demonstrations across the nation today. One of its demands: No more public funds for charter schools, which are a tool of gentrification. J4J knows what matters most: full funding of Title 1 and special education, not privatization and charter schools.

May 22 PRESS RELEASE FOR NATIONAL ACTIONS:
We Choose Equity So Fund Our Future! National Day of Action
May 22, 2019

Thousands rally nationwide for education justice on May 22, 2019!

On May 22nd coalitions from 20 cities are uniting forces to hold 11 powerful actions to demand equity and end racial injustice in schools nationwide. As we commemorate the landmark Brown V. Board Decision we will renew our call for an end to the egregious disparities in resources allocated schools serving Black and Brown youth. We will also demand for full funding of Title I and IDEA. The Journey for Justice Alliance will also hold Equity Bus Tours and Forums throughout the country. Many city and statewide coalitions are organizing large rallies with bold actions connected to their local demands for fair funding, sustainable community schools and progressive revenue. Our May 22nd Day of Action will galvanize our communities as we create the momentum to make education a pivotal issue in the 2020 Presidential elections.

May 22nd Calendar

WASHINGTON DC Coalitions: Journey for Justice Alliance (New York, Baltimore, Newark, Camden, Patterson and Pittsburgh), the Alliance for Educational Justice, and the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools

• Actions:

1) Rally at Supreme Court with parents and youth from 6 cities, President Randi Weingarten (AFT) and Sen Chris Van Hollen to commemorate Brown V. Board and a renewed demand for equity
2) Equity Bus Tour in DC’s Wards 7 and 8 to highlight resource disparities in local schools
3) Press Conference at Hart Middle School with US Rep. Susie Lee, Liz Davis and President of the Washington Teachers Union

BIRMINGHAM. Coalition/Organization Name: Citizens for Better Schools and Sustainable Communities
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

CINCINNATI. Coalition: Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition
• Action: Protest/Rally in front of campus of new charter school “Regeneration Schools” set to open in August, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Demand: No more public $$ to charter schools. Demand for equity in school funding, including local campaign demands for tax abatement policy changes. ( The proposed charter school is pushed by local deep pockets organized as the Cincinnati Accelerator started as an offshoot of MindTrust in Indianapolis. These people talk about high-quality seats–a dead give away thet the are using test scores and the absurd Ohio report card as a reason to push for a charter. Key players here are a retired banker and the family that owns CINTAS.)

CHICAGO. Coalition: The Grassroots Education Movement and Chicago Teachers Union
• Action: Fair Contract Rally–Keep the Promise: Equity & Funding for our Schools, Students & Community Thompson Center (110 W. Randolph, downtown Chicago)
• Demand: Call for new mayor to agree to a fair contract that improves educator pay & benefits, reduces class sizes and increasing critical staffing needs (ELL and SPED teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, nurses, counselors, social workers, restorative justice coordinators) Demands include expanding sustainable community schools and increasing affordable housing.

DENVER. Coalition/Organization Name: Breaking Our Chains
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

DALLAS. Coalition/Organization Name: Texas Organizing Project
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

BATON ROUGE. Coalition/Organization Name: Step Up Louisiana, LAE
• Action: Rally and Press Conference regarding harm done by charters and their lack of accountability (due to ‘autonomy’ given by state laws)
• Demands: Stop the proliferation of charters and a fair plan to address budget deficit

HOUSTON. Coalition/Organization Name: Save Our School Houston and Texas Organizing Project
• Action: Rally and Protest
• Demand: End Punitive dress code policies that police parents of color and prevent their engagement in school activities

JACKSON. Coalition/Organization Name: IDEA and One Voice
• Action: Forum on School to Prison Pipeline and Education Equity
• Demand: End Punitive tactics to police our children

PEORIA. Coalition: Peoria’s People Project
• Action: Organizing for Racial Equity in Education Training co-sponsored by the NAACP
• Demand: Full funding of Title I and IDEA

SACRAMENTO + (Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento) Coalitions: Oakland Public Education Network, Reclaim Our Schools LA, Close the Gap, Oakland Education Association, UTLA, United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Families Union, Coleman Advocates, California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour & Coalitions will unite at a rally of 1,000 people in Sacramento (Rotunda of State Capitol)
• Demand: The statewide coalition is calling on legislators to support legislation for fair school funding and bills aimed at ending school privatization. They are also demanding full funding of Title I and IDEA and the fulfillment of the mandate to honor Brown V. Board decision.

Journey For Justice Had a Busy Day | Diane Ravitch's blog

May Ed Town Hall BUS: Against Charters – Education Town Hall Forum

May Ed Town Hall BUS: Against Charters – Education Town Hall Forum

MAY ED TOWN HALL BUS: AGAINST CHARTERS

The next BUS ride covers The Fight Against Charters! First up we have Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, returning to give an update on how the fight against charters is playing out after the NPE’s release of the report Asleep at the Wheel. For the second half, we have Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig returning to discuss Bernie Sanders education plan and how his own fight against for-profit charters turned into a racist attack. Listen at 11 a.m. EASTERN on Thursday,May 23, via TuneIn or by visiting We Act Radio and clicking on arrow at upper left (NOTE: Not all “listen” buttons are working at present).

The Education Town Hall with Thomas Byrd
broadcasts from Historic Anacostia
in Washington, DC, on We Act Radio,
Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern
New programming 2nd and 4th Thursdays, alternating with classic shows.
Listen live via TuneIn.
Shows are archived for convenient listening shortly after broadcast.

After years of weekly broadcasts, the program now focuses one show each month on local issues and one on “the BUS,” organized by BadAss Teachers, United Opt Out, and SOS March.

May Ed Town Hall BUS: Against Charters – Education Town Hall Forum

Insolvency Avoided, New Budget Is Fixable - Sacramento City Teachers Association

Insolvency Avoided, New Budget Is Fixable - Sacramento City Teachers Association

INSOLVENCY AVOIDED, NEW BUDGET IS FIXABLE

The latest budget document circulated by the District at community forums contains two huge developments:

1. The District made a $16 million mistake by undercounting at least 700 students, a mistake that SCTA has been pointing out since January.
2. The District has now doubled its projected reserve from the state required 2% (about $11.5 million) to 4% ($23 million).  So when the District says it now projects a $34 million deficit, approximately $23 million (an extra $11.5 million for two years) of the $34 million “deficit” is a result of a higher reserve goal—money that should be spent our students.

Many of have speculated that the budget crisis was manufactured.  We can’t say whether it’s that or human error.  But either way, the District’s budget fiasco, is, at it always has been, easily fixable. 

The new budget fully implements the SCTA salary schedule, and enables health plan savings to be used to lower class sizes and improve services to students (as legally required by the contract).  It does not implement SCTA’s budget solutions that would:  1.  Chop from the Top; 2. Use retiree health insurance overfunding ($8.5 million per year, or $25.5 million over three years) 3. Or reduce contracts to outside consultants and more. 

With SCTA’s reforms, the SCUSD structural problems could also be fixed.  The real question is whether District leaders are prepared to work with educators, parents, students and the broader community to create a district that truly puts students first.

Insolvency Avoided, New Budget Is Fixable - Sacramento City Teachers Association

L.A. Charters Suspend Black and Disabled Students at Higher Rates | Capital & Main

L.A. Charters Suspend Black and Disabled Students at Higher Rates | Capital & Main

GRADING CHARTER SCHOOLS: L.A. Charters Suspend Black and Disabled Students at Higher Rates
Los Angeles charters suspended black students at almost three times the rate of traditional schools; students with disabilities were suspended at nearly four times the non-charter school rate.

School suspensions are out, restorative justice is in. At least that’s the case at the Los Angeles Unified School District and wherever schools are struggling to shift from the harsh, zero-tolerance discipline of the past to a less punitive, problem-solving approach. Restorative justice de-emphasizes punishment and instead aims to repair the damage that is done when, for example, a child disrespects a teacher, or a student starts a fight. The goal is to have misbehaving students think about their negative behavior and hear directly from the person that they hurt—often in what’s known as a harm circle — about how they were affected and what can be done to fix the situation and the relationship.

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22 L.A. charters — nearly all of them in high- poverty neighborhoods –accounted for 42% of the charter schools’ nearly 32,700 suspensions last year.

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The shift comes 20 years after the fatal shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, after which many schools turned to “no excuses” discipline policies to stem violence. While such policies haven’t stopped school shootings, they have been profoundly damaging to some students – particularly African-Americans and those with disabilities. According to researchers at the University of California and elsewhere, students from these two groups have been suspended at far higher rates, with consequences that can last a lifetime – making school discipline a civil rights issue.

A classroom at Green Dot’s Ánimo James B. Taylor Middle School. (Photo: Robin Urevich)

Kids who are suspended are more likely to lag behind in schoolwork and to drop out of school. Even more consequentially, some are swept along the “school to prison pipeline,” whereby kids who are suspended from school are more likely to get in trouble with law enforcement.

Under pressure from education activists and federal civil rights officials, LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest school district, has slashed suspensions in its traditional schools.

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Crete Academy in South Los Angeles, an elementary school serving homeless students, suspended about one in 10 of its students last year.

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Most Los Angeles charter schools have also curbed suspensions, but they have been slower to CONTINUE READING: L.A. Charters Suspend Black and Disabled Students at Higher Rates | Capital & Main

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Do Charters Need The Freedom To Hire Great Teachers?

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Do Charters Need The Freedom To Hire Great Teachers?

OH: Do Charters Need The Freedom To Hire Great Teachers?

If there's one thing that charter school advocates never run out of, it's arguments about why charter schools should get to ignore some of the rules of education.

Fordham Institute's blog, Ohio Division, recently ran a piece in this genre, written by Jessica Poiner-- "Give charter schools the freedom to hire great teachers."

Poiner graduated from Baldwin-Wallace University with a BA in English (perfectly nice school--my niece graduated from BW) in  2011, then put in her two Teach for America years in Shelby County, including seven months as a teacher leadership coach (we talk a lot about how five weeks of training don't prepare you for the classroom, but we should talk more about TFA's notion that a year or so in a classroom qualifies you as an educational leader). She put a year in Tennessee's ill-fated Achievement School District. That positioned her to join Fordham as an Education Policy Analyst in 2014, where she's been working since.

Poiner has several parts of her plea for relief of the helpless charter industry.

More Warm Bodies, Please

The foundation of this discussion involves some arcane bits of Ohio teacher certification. One of the less-noted features of ESSA (the newest batch of federal education law) was that it scrapped the CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Do Charters Need The Freedom To Hire Great Teachers?

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Red for Ed. Education Rally at State Capitol

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Red for Ed. Education Rally at State Capitol

 Red for Ed. Education Rally at State Capitol

Together, we will join educators, parents, students, and community members to demand the full funding of our public schools, common-sense charter school accountability, and social & racial justice.

Shoulder to shoulder with thousands of educators, students, and community members, we'll take over the rotunda of the state capitol. That building belongs to all of us — it's about time that the lawmakers who make decisions that impact our daily lives remembered that.

Sacramento DSA will welcome DSA members from all over California on May 22 for a statewide day of action to demand the public education California students deserve!


We'll meet at 4:30 PM for a group photo with DSA members all over the state!

Date: Wednesday, May 22nd, 9:00am-5:30pm
Location: California State Capitol (Exact meeting location TBA)

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Red for Ed. Education Rally at State Capitol

Bernie Sanders’s Education Plan Laments Rise of Charter Schools - The New York Times

Bernie Sanders’s Education Plan Laments Rise of Charter Schools - The New York Times

Bernie Sanders’s Education Plan Laments Rise of Charter Schools

Senator Bernie Sanders took aim at charter schools on Saturday, calling for a moratorium on federal funding for the schools in a declaration of his education policy priorities ahead of the 2020 election.

In a 10-point plan, Mr. Sanders, one of nearly two dozen candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, said that, if elected, he would “desegregate schools” in part by forbidding federal spending on new charter schools as well as by banning for-profit charter schools — which account for a small proportion of existing charters.

“The proliferation of charter schools has disproportionately affected communities of color,” Mr. Sanders wrote, adding, “We do not need two schools systems; we need to invest in our public schools system.”

Mr. Sanders of Vermont would also require that charter schools be subject to the same oversight as public schools, and that teachers and parents account for at least half the representation on all charter school boards. Additionally, his plan would demand that charter schools disclose student attrition rates, nonpublic sources of funding and financial interests.

Charter schools were supported by the Obama administration and, in general, have had the support of Democrats.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is also running for president, has been a strong supporter of charter schools. Last year, Mr. Booker said in an interview that “my loyalty is to a free public school, high-quality public school education,” allowing that charter and magnet schools could be part of the mix.

Other Democratic candidates have unveiled education plans in recent weeks. A proposal by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts focused on higher education, with the goals of canceling most student loan debt and eliminating tuition at public colleges. Julián Castro, the former housing secretary, announced similar goals, as well as proposals to increase teacher pay and create a national, federally funded prekindergarten program.

Mr. Sanders revealed his plan one day after the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that legally desegregated United States public schools. Its name, A Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education, invokes the lawyer who argued the case for the N.A.A.C.P. before he became a Supreme Court justice.

“Many U.S. schools remain unacceptably segregated,” Mr. Sanders wrote in the plan.

Mr. Sanders’s plan also explains that black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as white students — a disparity he attributes to “implicit racial bias” that also puts black youth at greater risk of becoming entangled in the criminal justice system.

“When a child is pushed out of school they lose instructional time and are more likely to become involved with the juvenile and adult justice systems,” the plan said. “We must end the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Parts of the plan focused on educators, declaring Mr. Sanders’s support for a $60,000 baseline for teachers’ starting salaries as well as unionization efforts by charter schoolteachers.

Bernie Sanders’s Education Plan Laments Rise of Charter Schools - The New York Times