TODAY’S UPDATE On New Resources To Help Educators Figuring Out How To Support Students During School Closures | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

TODAY’S UPDATE On New Resources To Help Educators Figuring Out How To Support Students During School Closures 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Expansion Of “Smart Compose” To Google Docs Is Great Learning Tool For ELLs, But Not Available To School Users

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h

377053 / Pixabay Most people are probably familiar with the “smart compose” feature in Gmail, where Artificial Intelligence is used to extrapolate the words you might be typing next. It’s much, much better than autocorrect and predictive text on the iPhone. Google recently expanded this feature to some users of Google, primarily businesses. However, they are not planning to do so for schools who

Sunday’s Resources To Help Teachers Cope With The School Closure Crisis

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

geralt / Pixabay Here are new additions to either The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coronavirus) – Please Make More Suggestions ! or The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures: NYC forbids schools from using Zoom for remote learning due to privacy and security concerns is from Chalkbeat. School districts, including New Yor

The Best Resources For Learning How Black Girls Are Treated Unfairly & What To Do About It

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

I’ve shared a number of posts over the years about how black girls can be unfairly targeted in schools and, with the new release of a PBS documentary on the topic (see below), I thought it would be useful to bring them together on a “Best” list: How Black Girls Get Pushed Out of School is a NY Times article about this new documentary. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is that

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in THE BEST ARTICLES, VIDEOS & POSTS ON EDUCATION POLICY IN 2019 – PART TWO ): Schools, the Coronavirus, and the Near Future (Part 1) and Schools, the Coronavirus, and the Near Future (Part 2) are both from Larry Cuban. DeVos Weighs Waivers for Special Education. Parents Are Worried. is from

Easter & Passover Are Coming Up – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h

annca / Pixabay Easter and Passover are coming up over the next few days. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Easter & Passover .

YESTERDAY

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

BiljaST / Pixabay Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO. A

My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On “Teaching ELLs Online: What’s Working?”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18h

Teaching ELLs Online: What’s Working? is the topic of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio show. I’m joined by Sam Olbes, Helen Vassiliou, Sarah Said, and Nicholas Fotopoulis, who have also all contributed written commentaries to my Education Week Teacher column. I’m adding this show to All My BAM Radio Shows – Linked With Descriptions . By the way, the show is now available on iHeartRadio .

I’ve Sent This Video About Making Face Masks To All My Students

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

coyot / Pixabay As you probably know, the Centers For Disease Control yesterday recommended that people in the U.S. start wearing face masks in certain situations where we are near other people, like in a grocery story. It’s not easy to find them to purchase now, and The Surgeon General just put out a forty-five second video showing how anyone can make one quickly and simply. I’ve sent it out to

These Are Great! Six Free Tools Teachers & Students Can Use To Learn English, Spanish & Other Languages During The Coronavirus Crisis

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

thisisprabha / Pixabay I’ve previously shared the tools I’m having my English Language Learners use to develop their language skills (see Here’s The Revised Online Teaching Plan I Hope To Implement Next Week and HERE’S 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

The Unregulated World of Online Charter Schools - Progressive.org

The Unregulated World of Online Charter Schools - Progressive.org

The Unregulated World of Online Charter Schools
A scandal in Oklahoma reveals why we should be wary of outsourcing education to the private sector.

As schools remain closed due to COVID-19, parents and policy leaders may be tempted to think of online charter schools as a solution. But an ongoing scandal in Oklahoma focused on the academic and regulatory problems posed by these schools presents a cautionary story. 

After years of failing to regulate charters, especially online and for-profit charters, Oklahoma is just one state that illustrates how hard it is to catch up and hold virtual schools accountable for either education outcomes or financial transactions.

In July 2019, according to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation search warrant, “[Epic’s co-founders] enticed ghost students to enroll in Epic by offering each student an annual learning fund ranging from $800 to $1,000.” This was despite the fact that Epic knew that the parents of many homeschool students “enrolled their children . . . to receive the $800 learning fund without any intent to receive instruction.”

Epic’s recruitment of “ghost students,” who were technically enrolled but received minimal instruction from teachers, allowed the company to legally divert state funds for their own personal use, while simultaneously hiding low graduation rates to attract more support.   

This year, Epic has received over $100 million in taxpayer money. And the company, in an exposé by the Tulsa World, admitted that over the years its “Learning Fund”—which is shielded from public scrutiny—received $50.6 million from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. 

Tulsa World estimates the Learning Fund could cost the state about $28 million for 2019-2020. Moreover, the private management company Epic Youth Services receives a “10 percent cut” of the charter’s student funding. Also, state appropriations pay for the millions that Epic spends on  advertising and CONTINUE READING: The Unregulated World of Online Charter Schools - Progressive.org

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY

Kandace Springs Pays Tribute To 'The Women Who Raised' Her

by Mark Anthony Neal / 6min

' Kandace Springs ' third record is a source of familiarity in uncertain times. Titled The Women Who Raised Me , it's full of beloved and recognizable songs associated with jazz artists who inspired and influenced Springs as an artist: Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Lauryn Hill and Norah Jones, among many others. But the album is not only a tribute to some of those legends, it's also a showcase of

Cheryl Wall on Opening Up the University

by Mark Anthony Neal / 25min

'The late Cheryl Wall is a Board of Governors Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English and former Chair of the English Department. Wall is an author and a specialist in Black women’s writing, the Harlem Renaissance, and Zora Neale Hurston. Joining the Douglass Residential College in 1972 as an assistant instructor, Wall describes her role in the development of the college and its leg

Why Chef Kwame is Fighting for Independent Restaurants

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h

'Chef Kwame Onwuachi returns to All Of It to talk about the current state of the restaurant industry and his new Instagram live series, Eating Clean While Quarantined .'

Cite Black Women – Experiences Embodied in Language and Flesh: Dr. Dora Santana

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h

'In celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility 2020, CBW Collective member Michaela Machicote talks with trans woman warrior, scholar, activist, artist, and story-teller, Dr. Dora Santana, about experiences embodied in language and flesh. Dr. Santana is an assistant professor of Gender Studies at John Jay College CUNY and holds a PhD in African and African Diaspora Studies by the

Social Distancing as The New Culture Wars

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h

'McKay Coppins , staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House (Little Brown, 2015), talks about how some Conservatives and Republicans are defying social distancing measures as a political act.' -- The Brian Lehrer Show

Thundercat On 'It Is What It Is,' Losing Mac Miller And Learning To Do Nothing

by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h

'The collaboration-loving bassist Thundercat said "It's hard to see clearly through the pain of losing him," when asked about the death of close friend Mac Miller . That loss permeates his fourth studio album, It Is What It Is .' -- All 

NewBlackMan (in Exile)