Derek Black’s Fine New Book Explores the History of America’s Idea of Public Education — Part I | janresseger

Derek Black’s Fine New Book Explores the History of America’s Idea of Public Education — Part I | janresseger

Derek Black’s Fine New Book Explores the History of America’s Idea of Public Education — Part I

Derek Black’s stunning new book, School House Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy, threads together a history that has rarely been collected in one volume. Black, a professor of constitutional law at the University of South Carolina, presents the history of an idea first articulated in the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, threatened again and again throughout our nation’s history but persistently revived and reanimated: that a system of public education is the one institution most essential for our democratic society. And, while the specific language defining a public education as each child’s fundamental right is absent from the U.S. Constitution, the guarantee of that right is embedded in the nation’s other founding documents, in the history of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War, in the second Reconstruction during the Civil Rights Movement, and in every one of the state constitutions.

Today’s post will skim the history as Derek Black presents it; on Wednesday, this blog will explore how Black believes both public education and democracy are threatened today.

While the U.S. Constitution never formally names public education as the nation’s fundamental and necessary institution, the provision for public education is the centerpiece of the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787: “The Ordinances, and education’s role in them, however, cannot be so easily dismissed. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is one of the most significant legal documents in our nation’s history and the current United States Code teats it as such… In many important ways, the history and effect of the Constitution and the Ordinances are inseparable.  First, the documents were passed by many of the same people… Second, the Northwest Ordinance’s substance is a constitutional charter of sorts. Practically speaking, it established the foundational structure for the nation to grow and organize itself CONTINUE READING: Derek Black’s Fine New Book Explores the History of America’s Idea of Public Education — Part I | janresseger

Whatever Happened to Authentic assessment? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Whatever Happened to Authentic assessment? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Whatever Happened to Authentic assessment?

No Child Left Behind drove a stake into its heart. OK, that is a bit dramatic but the standards, tests, and accountability movement that began in the early 1980s, picking up speed in the 1990s, then accelerating to warp drive with the passage of NCLB brushed aside this Progressive instructional reform called “authentic assessment.”* Pick your metaphor but, save for scattered teachers across America who began teaching during the height of “authentic assessment,” few new superintendents, novice principals, and rookie teachers, much less reform-minded parents have ever heard of this Progressive way of assessing student learning.

Where and When Did Authentic Assessment Originate?

In the 1980s following A Nation at Risk report state policymakers rushed to raise curriculum standards and increase school and district accountability. One outcome of these cascading reforms across the country was a sharp increase in students taking required standardized tests. By the late-1980s and early 1990s, Progressives of the day such as Deborah Meier, Grant Wiggins, Fred Newmann, Linda Darling Hammond, and Ted Sizer sought to make schooling more CONTINUE READING: Whatever Happened to Authentic assessment? | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Stupid Zoom Trick 1 | JD2718

Stupid Zoom Trick 1 | JD2718

Stupid Zoom Trick 1

Teaching this way is not like real teaching. Maybe a pale facsimile. And that’s not a real classroom. But I still need to find ways to have fun.

This story needs some context. You may know that I stopped giving tests. But I live in a world, and teach in a world, with tests. One of my ‘classes’ this term is one term advanced – scheduled to take a Regents Exam in January – a Regents Exam that will never happen.

How do I avoid spending a horrible zoom-term prepping for an exam that won’t happen? I need to convince the kiddos that it is not necessary. And how do I do that? I’m lucky. My students are good at taking tests (that’s the nature of the school). Their instructor in the Spring was good. He taught, pretty well, over half the material on the Regents. And the scoring scale is bizarre – associating passing with earning one-third of the points. (Really. Look.)

So I gave a Regents, in three parts, so that we don’t have to do any more testing or test prep this term. They did a Part I during an asynchronous class CONTINUE READING: Stupid Zoom Trick 1 | JD2718

The Awful Inhumanity of Life at NY’s Success Academy | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

The Awful Inhumanity of Life at NY’s Success Academy | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

The Awful Inhumanity of Life at NY’s Success Academy

Eva Moskowitz is a former NYC council woman who was chosen by hedge funders to operate a charter school chain in New York, Success Academy (SA).

Her authoritatian leadership produces high test scores (from “little test-taking machines”)– and high student and teacher attrition. 

 SA’s ever-percolating dysfunction has found expression on the Instagram site, @survivors_of_successacademy, described as “a place to anonymously share your experience of racism and/or mismanagement at Success Academy.”

Below are some entries detailing a twisted inhumanity at SA:

“On my last day at SA as an assistant, I fainted in the blocks room with my K kids. This was after a nonstop day, in the hot sun with them outside, and no lunch break besides trying to snack when I could sneak away to my bag really quick during the day. … My head teacher was annoyed I missed dismissal because I fainted. She realized it was bad when I needed my dad to pick me bc I wasn’t comfortable driving. I called the dean on the way home and quit.”

“In the 2018-19 school year, my leadership team made us keep scholars who had low grade fevers in school. I would call their parents and tell them we would ‘monitor’ the situation, even though SA guidelines are to have scholars with a fever  sent home. Only if the fever kept rising is when we would ask for them to [be] picked up. My direct manager, a business operations manager, made the main office switch from an in-ear thermometer to an orl thermometer because she thought the ear thermometer was giving inaccurate results. She then told us we couldn’t order the oral thermometer covers because it would make the readings higher. When we expressed to her how unhygienic that was, she told us to ‘wipe the thermometer with an alcohol pad after each use.'”

“[One of our teachers this year] wasn’t feeling well on a Wednesday and found out she had the flu. She was still asked to come in for the full day Thursday CONTINUE READING: The Awful Inhumanity of Life at NY’s Success Academy | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Reflections on Teaching » Week 3 in Distance Learning 2020

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 3 in Distance Learning 2020

Week 3 in Distance Learning 2020

I’m still tired. This week, it’s mostly due to poor planning on my part, and things in my family life. Class, that’s settling into a routine. I’m making adjustments as I get feedback from my parents. Mostly it’s about giving kids “breaks” but also transition signals and check-ins to get them or keep them on track. I’m running classes about 30 minutes of direct instruction, then 30+ minutes for them to work independently finishing up work based on what I taught. The direct instruction includes Nearpods or discussions (small group or whole class).

A notable recent moment in the classroom was during the novel I’ve been reading to students, Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid which is part of his Kane Chronicles series based on Egyptian Mythology. I picked the book out because I wanted to find a fun book to start out the school year, and I wanted to have a non-white character, since most of those types of books used in elementary, and most of the novels that have traditionally been used for fourth grade have white characters. I had read the novel to my son when he was younger (but older than 9). The story starts with an explosion at the British Museum, where the Kane family was visiting after hours. Dad is African American Egyptologist. The kids are mixed, their mom was a white CONTINUE READING: Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 3 in Distance Learning 2020

NYC Public School Parents: Principals vote "no confidence" in Mayor; ability of DOE to provide an adequate education to NYC kids more in doubt than ever

NYC Public School Parents: Principals vote "no confidence" in Mayor; ability of DOE to provide an adequate education to NYC kids more in doubt than ever

Principals vote "no confidence" in Mayor; ability of DOE to provide an adequate education to NYC kids more in doubt than ever

Mark Cannizzaro, President of the CSA, the administrator's union, just announced that they had unanimously approved a resolution this morning, saying they had lost trust in the Mayor, and calling him to cede control over NYC schools and let the NY State Education Department take over.  

It is clear from the CSA resolution, press release and subsequent press conference that the frustration of principals has reached a boiling point, given all the repeated last minute changes in DOE's reopening plans and how they were not  included in any of the discussions that has made their attempt to staff their schools even more difficult that it was already, with three different teachers required for in-person learning, remote blended learning, and 100% remote learning.

The lengthy resolution says, among other things,  that DOE had "entered into grossly irresponsible staffing agreements that fail to prioritize needs of school children and families" & district superintendents have pressured principals "to falsely report their staffing needs already met."

The straw that broke the camel's back, according to President Mark Cannizzaro at a press conference this afternoon, was the latest DOE MOU with the UFT, released on Friday, that will allow teachers to stay home if they are teaching remotely,  which he said makes the orderly staffing of schools even more difficult.  He also cited a DOE email that went out to administrators, saying that they would have teach classes, even though the Chancellor had earlier agreed that this would be a voluntary decision on their part. 

FACE (DoE's office of Family and Community Empowerment) also emailed parents late on Friday, linking to the new UFT agreement and highlighting the new role of CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Principals vote "no confidence" in Mayor; ability of DOE to provide an adequate education to NYC kids more in doubt than ever

Stumbling Towards School Re-Opening: Can NYC Successfully Bring a Million Kids Back to Hybrid Schools? | Ed In The Apple

Stumbling Towards School Re-Opening: Can NYC Successfully Bring a Million Kids Back to Hybrid Schools? | Ed In The Apple

Stumbling Towards School Re-Opening: Can NYC Successfully Bring a Million Kids Back to Hybrid Schools?

UPDATE: Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) union executive board unanimously passed a “no confidence” resolution condemning the mayor and the chancellor – see here

At the core of the revival of New York City is slowly and safely returning to normalcy, stores and restaurants reopening, workers returning to offices, and, student returning to schools safely.

Spain, Italy, France and Great Britain all thought they had turned the corner only to see COVID numbers spike. As we move further and further into colder weather and more and more indoor activities will we see a spike in New York City?

The COVID data in New York State is widely available online.

COVID School Report Cards: https://schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov/#/home

COVID by zip code: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/nyregion/new-york-city-coronavirus-cases.html

NYC COVID Positive Testing Rate: https://forward.ny.gov/percentage-positive-results-region-dashboard

The most complicated issue: whether to reopen schools, and, if so, how do you CONTINUE READING: Stumbling Towards School Re-Opening: Can NYC Successfully Bring a Million Kids Back to Hybrid Schools? | Ed In The Apple

A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

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

A VERY BUSY DAY

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The latest news and resources in education since 2007

 

 

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

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

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 ): A Pivotal Moment for U.S. and Public Schools? (Part 2) is by Larry Cuban. Beyond Spending Levels: Revenue Uncertainty and the Performance of Local Governments∗ is a new study that finds even questions about future

The “Write. Right. Rite.” Series With Jason Reynolds Is A Gold Mine For Teachers & Students

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

To help build a sense of community in my distance learning classes, one of the activities I did with them was Jason Reynolds’ Frame A Special item lesson I found at Facing History. It went very well. However, it wasn’t until this week that I found out that it was just one of many videos and activities that he made for The Library of Congress this year, and they look great! You can find them all a

Monday’s Must-Read Articles About School Reopening

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

geralt / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : Florida education commissioner orders Miami to open schools earlier than planned is from The Washington Post. As Covid-19 Closes Schools, the World’s Children Go to Work is from The NY Times. As I said last week, I wasn’t sure it was possible to find a school district that was more dysfu

Everything You Wanted To Know About Teaching Current Events But Were Afraid To Ask

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

stux / Pixabay I have over 2,100 frequently revised and updated “Best” lists on just about every subject imaginable, and you can find them listed three different ways in three different places (see Three Accessible Ways To Search For & Find My “Best” Lists ). I’m starting to publish a series where each day I will highlight the “Best” lists in a separate category. Today, it’s on Current Events: Th

Most Popular Posts Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

I’m making a change in the content of the regular feature. In addition to sharing the top five posts that have received the most “hits” in the preceding seven days (though they may have originally been published on an earlier date), I will also include the top five posts that have actually appeared in the past week. Often, these are different posts. You might also be interested in IT’S THE THIRTE

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

by Larry Ferlazzo / 13h

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). This is a relatively new addition to that list. Some of these resources will be added 

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