UPDATE: THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #CHANGEGONNACOME #BIDEN #edsec

  Big Education Ape

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 

Reopening a New York City School: ‘It’s Been a Tough Start’ - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/video/nyregion/100000007469742/nyc-bronx-school-reopening.html

A Simple Fix: Kindergarten at Night - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/us/kindergarten-at-night.html

NYC middle schools, high schools to change admissions rules - New York Daily News - https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-nyc-covid-schools-admissions-rule-change-20201218-zyv46xbk7bc4pd4mero3xn6y4a-story.html via @nydailynews

Teachers, first responders next for California COVID vaccine? - Los Angeles Times - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-17/teachers-first-responders-next-california-covid-vaccine?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29 by @@LukeMMoney on @latimes

D.C., teachers? union reach deal on how to reopen school buildings in pandemic - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-schools-reopening-pandemic/2020/12/17/9f635002-40c3-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_local-education

MacKenzie Scott gifts to HBCUs, other colleges surpass $800 million - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/mackenzie-scott-hbcu-donations/2020/12/17/0ce9ef5a-406f-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_local-education

Special-ed evaluations paused during pandemic - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/special-education-evaluations/2020/12/18/a9542aec-3a7d-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_local-education

Education innovation: Empower learners to empower society - Big Think - https://bigthink.com/Charles-Koch-Foundation/learner-empowerment-education?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Supreme Court smacks down private Christian school’s request for a coronavirus exemption https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/supreme-court-smacks-down-private-christian-schools-request-for-a-exemption/#.X9z10GXF5jw.twitter

In one patch of Texas, it’s back to school after online learning flunks – Raw Story - https://www.rawstory.com/?p=1698421

COVID-19 cases hold steady in NOLA Public Schools, 769 people quarantining | The Lens - https://thelensnola.org/?p=559172 by @https://twitter.com/martajewson on @TheLensNOLA

Citing imminent expiration, justices reject Christian school’s request for exemption from Kentucky’s in-person school closures - SCOTUSblog - https://www.scotusblog.com/?p=298250 via @SCOTUSBlog

On the first day of Christmas, teachers got a headache over blurred line between church and state | Salon.com - https://www.salon.com/2020/12/18/on-the-first-day-of-christmas-teachers-got-a-headache-over-blurred-line-between-church-and-state_partner/

OPINION | EDITORIAL: Left behind - https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/dec/17/left-behind/ on @arkansasonline

'The new administration really has to help get kids back in school': AFT President Randi Weingarten - https://finance.yahoo.com/video/administration-really-help-kids-back-212319037.html on @Yahoo

School Privatization Zealot Betsy DeVos Reportedly Urging Career Education Staff to Obstruct Biden Agenda – Jake Johnson (12/18/2020) – WallStreetWindow.com - http://wallstreetwindow.com/?p=33882

'One of the things I'm most proud of is my doctorate': Jill Biden responds to WSJ op-ed - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/17/jill-biden-doctorate-wsj-op-ed-448037

Stitt moves teachers up for vaccine, State Board cancels school report cards https://nondoc.com/2020/12/18/stitt-moves-teachers-up-for-vaccine-state-board-cancels-school-report-cards/ via @nondocmedia

Overhauling California’s Child Care and Preschool System - LA Progressive - https://www.laprogressive.com/?p=357187

These 5 ballot measure victories show the power of educator organizing - Education Votes - https://educationvotes.nea.org/2020/12/18/these-5-ballot-measure-victories-show-the-power-of-educator-organizing/

Trump appoints 1776 Commission members in last-minute bid to advance 'patriotic education' - POLITICO - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/18/trump-1776-commission-appointments-448229

Chicago schools watchdog to review computer deal with Lightfoot donor https://chicago.chalkbeat.org/2020/12/17/22187440/chicago-public-schools-watchdog-to-investigate-emergency-computer-deal-with-lightfoot-donor via @ChalkbeatCHI

Fall Data Show Fewer Students Going To College Amid Coronavirus : NPR - https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/925831720/losing-a-generation-fall-college-enrollment-plummets-for-first-year-students#new_tab on @NPR

Ohio group hires lawyers for new school-funding lawsuit over vouchers - https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/education/2020/12/17/ohio-group-won-derolph-hires-lawyers-new-school-funding-lawsuit-over-vouchers/3938180001/#new_tab via @DispatchAlerts

High court denies Kentucky religious school's plea to reopen - https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-neil-gorsuch-education-samuel-alito-kentucky-1424f13a391a407b2b2cca74f301341e#new_tab on @ap

N.Y.C. to Change Many Selective Schools to Address Segregation - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/nyregion/nyc-schools-admissions-segregation.html?auth=login-email&login=email#new_tab

Despite COVID hindrances, school nonattendance cases are proceeding - https://www.caller.com/story/news/education/2020/12/17/despite-covid-hindrances-school-nonattendance-cases-proceeding/3948156001/#new_tab via @callerdotcom

Diversity would be taught in N.J. schools under bill that just cleared Legislature - nj.com - https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/12/diversity-would-be-taught-in-nj-schools-under-bill-that-just-cleared-legislature.html#new_tab on @njdotcom

Chicago Public Schools’ reopening plan a step closer to reality after teachers union injunction is denied - Chicago Tribune - https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-covid-19-chicago-schools-ctu-injunction-denied-20201217-4xaipmenmbginjtqckoi4bkkla-story.html#new_tab via @chicagotribune

How the school reopening debate is tearing Brookline, Massachusetts, apart. - https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/12/school-reopening-teachers-unions-parents-brookline-massachusetts.html#new_tab on @slate

CURMUDGUCATION: Children are not our future

Big Education Ape / 9min

Children are not our future There are plenty of warm fuzzy teacher sayings that I could well do without, emphasizing as they do that teachers are too noble to ever want to do things like, say, insist on being paid a decent wage or have control over their working conditions. But there's a child-focused saying that I would like to banish to the Island of Misfit Cliches-- Children are our future. O

The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Big Education Ape / 9min

The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now This abridged op-ed was originally published in The Grio . Click here to read the full essay. The story of America is the power of common people coming together around a vision of opportunity, democracy, and a better way of life for generations to come. However, from our earliest beginnings, that vision was executed with instruments of

The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

Big Education Ape / 9min

THE CRIME OF BRANDING STUDENTS AS CRIMINALS Throughout my time as an educator, I’ve been pulled into my share of “special taskforces” meant to address “at-risk” students – namely Black students. I have no doubt that such groups can be found in schools across America; primarily (I believe) because districts accept “helping” Black children on the backend with interventions that feign problem solvi

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

Big Education Ape / 9min

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife Biden’s rhetoric and policies suggest the president-elect is still listening closely to teachers unions in a way Obama often did not. When teachers were upset about the stringent accountability measures Barack Obama imposed on them as president, their union boss turned to Joe Biden for some empathy. “He listened,” recalls Randi Weingarten, who

SSPI Outlines Actions to Address Pandemic's Impact - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Big Education Ape / 9min

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Outlines Actions, Priorities, and Investments Needed to Address Pandemic’s Impact on Students SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today outlined priorities and investments needed to address the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, laying out critical next steps for ways the California Department of Education (CDE

Another “School” of the Future | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Big Education Ape / 9min

Another “School” of the Future Steve Davis, a reader of the blog, told me of this Isaac Asimov story published in 1951 about teaching and learning in 2155. I thought readers who saw the previous post on “Schools of the Future” would enjoy this as much as I did . Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2155, she wrote, Today Tommy found a real book! It was a

Thursday, December 17, 2020 NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Big Education Ape / 9min

NewBlackMan (in Exile) NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/12/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile_12.html DREAMWEAVERS: In / Conversation - Ming Smith and Arthur Jafa by Mark Anthony Neal / 13h 'Check out episode 2 of UTA Artist Space's Dreamweavers series featuring artists Ming Smith and Arthur Jafa – i

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

Big Education Ape / 9min

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/12/this-week-in-education-larry-ferlazzos_12.html “Twelve Ways to Make Math More Culturally Responsive” by Larry Ferlazzo /

DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? A site to discuss better education for all #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #edsec

Big Education Ape / 9min

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? A site to discuss better education for all Big Education Ape: KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/12/keep-up-catch-up-with-diane-ravitchs.html Jeff Bezos: A Not-So-Good Billionaire? by dianeravitch

Teacher Tom: A Profession in Crisis

by Mike Simpson / 1h

A Profession in Crisis The pandemic notwithstanding, if 25 percent of our nation's doctors were planning to quit the profession, it would constitute a national crisis. If my neighbor Amazon got word that one in four of their professional employees were going to walk away, it would be a disaster. Indeed, if any profession or employer had that much of their workforce ready to walk away, not for "b

Writing as an Academic and Scholar – radical eyes for equity

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Writing as an Academic and Scholar My transition to being an academic and scholar occurred in the mid-1990s after I had been a public school English teacher for more than a decade and a writer for almost two decades. Looking back, one of the most pivotal moments of that transition was when Craig Kridel, a leading scholar of educational biography who would become the anchor on my doctoral committ

Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake Lorrie A. Shepard is one of the nation’s most eminent assessment experts. In this article in Education Week, she explains that it would be a mistake to resume testing this spring. She is University Distinguished Professor in the research and evaluation methodology program of the school of education at the University of Colorado B

Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020 | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020 This is an enjoyable read. Edutopia identified what it calls the ten most significant education studies of 2020 . Probably none of these studies made it into the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse. Here are the first three: 1. TO TEACH VOCABULARY, LET KIDS BE THESPIANS When students are learning a new language, ask

NYC Educator: Bad Admin and Crickets

by Mike Simpson / 1h

Bad Admin and Crickets Do you feel like the kid in the picture sometimes? An awful lot of teachers do. It seems, particularly with an evaluation system that bares its teeth at us, that a lot of supervisors speak to us like that. I began as an English teacher. I ended up as an ESL teacher by happy accident. For one thing, I could never find a permanent job as an English teacher. By the time I did

How students should be protected from surveillance during remote learning | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

by Mike Simpson / 1h

HOW STUDENTS SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM SURVEILLANCE DURING REMOTE LEARNING December 2020 Endorsed by Access Living, ACLU of Illinois, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Children’s Screen Time Action Network, Civitas ChildLaw Center, Hartlieb & Horste, LLC, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, Raise Your Hand for

English Language Development Video Series Released - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

by Mike Simpson / 1h

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces Release of English Language Development Video Series SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today the release of a new tool designed to aid educators who support students learning English: an Integrated and Designated English Language Development (ELD) Video Series. The series is intended to support educators who

Mike Klonsky's Blog: The path towards safe school reopenings

by Mike Simpson / 1h

The path towards safe school reopenings I don't see any pathway to safe urban school reopenings without first classifying teachers and school staff as essential, frontline workers, and putting them near the top of the vaccine priority list. This should be part of a national campaign championed by the incoming Sec. of Education. Schools should also become centers for mass community inoculation. C

CURMUDGUCATION: More Teacher Effectiveness Mirages

by Mike Simpson / 1h

More Teacher Effectiveness Mirages The Fordham Institution has a new report entitled " Teacher Effectiveness and Improvement in Charter and Traditional Public Schools. " Despite what it claims to study, the report is a neear-perfect demonstration of Campbell's Law in action. The study starts with a question that, as used car salesmen put it, assumes the sale: Study after study has found that urb

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES #REDFORED #tbats #COVID-19 #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE #CHANGEGONNACOME #BIDEN

by Mike Simpson / 22h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES 'Snow days as we know them may be gone': How distance learning might cancel 'magical' ritual https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/snow-days-may-be-

 Big Education Ape

CURMUDGUCATION: Children are not our future

CURMUDGUCATION: Children are not our future

Children are not our future

There are plenty of warm fuzzy teacher sayings that I could well do without, emphasizing as they do that teachers are too noble to ever want to do things like, say, insist on being paid a decent wage or have control over their working conditions. But there's a child-focused saying that I would like to banish to the Island of Misfit Cliches--

Children are our future. Or, sometimes, children are the future.

The first is worse, carrying with it the notion children belong to us--and not just now, but in perpetuity, as if their adult selves will exist only to take care of the rest of us. "Shut up, kid, and get back to work. Grampa is going to need a new pair of shoes!"

But I object to both for other reasons.

I hear in this cliche the echoes of a notion that children are empty vessels just waiting for Wise Adults to fill them up with knowledge and thoughts and values and all the other stuff that makes a person an actual person. Because, yeah, if they're empty vessels, they're not exactly persons, are they.

The modern version of this is to view them as a sort of empty hard drive, just waiting for programming to be added. I think this is part of the reason that the "science of reading" moniker rubs me the wrong way--the implication that one simply plugs or pours in this scientific programmy stuff, and that will result in every single child being filled up with proper reading stuff.

And, of course, if the child is an empty lot, we needn't look inside to see what's already there--we CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Children are not our future

The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now

This abridged op-ed was originally published in The Grio. Click here to read the full essay.

The story of America is the power of common people coming together around a vision of opportunity, democracy, and a better way of life for generations to come. However, from our earliest beginnings, that vision was executed with instruments of brutal and legalized oppression, heavily fueled by racial bias, which for centuries has metastasized through every system of American life: healthcare, education, employment, policing, faith, technology, and infrastructure. 

Over the past several years, the Schott Foundation’s Loving Cities Index has documented the racial disparities in support for children in families in major cities across the country. The link between structural racism and the opportunity for children of color to learn and thrive is so interwoven that aggressively reducing racial disparities is the clearest pathway to ensuring their educational opportunities, social mobility, and democratic participation for generations to come.

Out of the urgent need to decouple America’s vision of opportunity from America’s historic systemic racism and oppression, this moment calls for Congress to advance a multi-year, $10-12 trillion federal racial equity stimulus package focused on investments in states, urban, rural, and tribal communities, and most importantly in our people as a new reconstruction investment in building one America. This bold fiscal effort could only be aided by a Cabinet-level advisor to the president on racial justice, equity and advancement, a recent proposal made by the NAACP and other civil rights groups. 

Four major events in our nation’s history immensely increased America’s wealth, but equally imposed a system of racism on generations to come: 

• the genocide and forced relocation of Native Americans
• the slave trade, which began in 1619 and continued to 1865
• the 1848 Mexican Cession of Land following the Mexican-American War
• federal policies like segregation and redlining that locked Black people out of the benefits of the New Deal

These events were essentially down payments on the wealth and growth of the nation. Yet, the people who were the victims of this oppression have never been re-centered in the national vision.

While these events were pivotal, other laws and practices also undergirded centuries of systemic racism, including: it was a crime for slaves to learn to read and write; the U.S. Constitution considered enslaved people as three-fifths human until 1868; Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that separate but equal schools and accommodations were constitutional; the war on drugs and sentencing vastly increased the number of Black people incarcerated for non-violent offenses. Simply stated, racism and oppression have been the operating system in America based on whiteness as the dominant power structure. 

Though many of these acts were implemented centuries ago, evidence of their impact is all around us. Consider this: white, non-Hispanics make up 60% of the U.S. population, and yet:The ten richest Americans are 100 percent white and the U.S. Congress is 78 percent white. 

These and many other abnormal statistical outcomes are clear evidence that America has not achieved a system where there is a fair opportunity to succeed regardless of race. To the contrary, both qualitative and quantitative data clearly indicate success and failure are too often predetermined by race. You don’t get heavily slanted, racially identifiable outcomes without the preferential treatment and head start that whiteness was given from America’s early beginnings. 

Systemic racism has been braided in America’s history and growth, but it is not a problem that is insurmountable or unsolvable. There is nothing wrong with our nation that eliminating systemic racism won’t fix. Systemic racism, which creates outcomes that are racially identifiable, can be weakened, unraveled, and eliminated. We can achieve a time when our children’s success or failure can no longer be predicted by race.  

There is Precedent

From the 1950s through the 1970s, the U.S. began to use the legal lever to tackle systemic racism and its disparities with the passage of Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, fair housing laws, etc. While none of these policies completely eliminated disparities, they helped address some inequities impacting Black children and families. 

It is undeniable that we have seen progress in the presence of Black people in political and corporate offices, yet while CONTINUE READING: The Time for a Federal Racial Equity Stimulus Package is Now | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

THE CRIME OF BRANDING STUDENTS AS CRIMINALS

Throughout my time as an educator, I’ve been pulled into my share of “special taskforces” meant to address “at-risk” students – namely Black students. I have no doubt that such groups can be found in schools across America; primarily (I believe) because districts accept “helping” Black children on the backend with interventions that feign problem solving, rather than working on the frontend on behalf of Black children.

Districts that work on the frontend are districts that hire more Black teachers, make curricula culturally relevant and teaching culturally responsive – with rigor – districtwide, and ensure that teaching resources and assignments are both culturally and community affirming. They do not assume that pre-service training is good enough to serve Black students and spend time in deep and meaningful in-service, coaching, and mentoring. But I digress.

“At-risk” students are generally identified by teachers and administrators to identify which students have an increased risk for dropping out of school, usually because of failing grades and an unsightly discipline record. It always starts with an email attached with a list of names; educators love making lists. I’ve received these lists and I always notice the overabundance of Black children on them – lists of children of color that are often rife with racial biases and negative mindsets about Black and Brown communities .

Never did I consider that my colleagues would ever refer these lists to local CONTINUE READING: The Crime of Branding Students As Criminals - Philly's 7th Ward

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife

Biden’s rhetoric and policies suggest the president-elect is still listening closely to teachers unions in a way Obama often did not.

When teachers were upset about the stringent accountability measures Barack Obama imposed on them as president, their union boss turned to Joe Biden for some empathy.

“He listened,” recalls Randi Weingarten, who heads the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers. Obama’s vice president may not have agreed with her during those conversations, Weingarten said in an interview this week, but Biden became her “go-to” when things got tense amid the regime of education reform

Now the good cop has to call the shots — and Biden’s rhetoric and policies suggest the president-elect is still listening closely to teachers unions in a way Obama often did not, including as Biden’s team considers potential nominees for Education secretary.

Obama was questioned about possible signs of daylight between the two men on education policy in a recent interview with New York magazine. When asked whether Biden seemed intent on rolling back his “education-reform legacy,” Obama demurred, “Ah, we’ll see.” CONTINUE READING: Biden breaks the Obama mold on teachers union strife - POLITICO

SSPI Outlines Actions to Address Pandemic's Impact - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

SSPI Outlines Actions to Address Pandemic's Impact - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Outlines Actions, Priorities, and Investments Needed to Address Pandemic’s Impact on Students

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today outlined priorities and investments needed to address the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, laying out critical next steps for ways the California Department of Education (CDE), state leaders, and school districts can work together to support student success.

The priorities, discussed during a virtual media briefing today, build on the work of the CDE since the onset of the COVID-19 public health crisis and outline additional goals designed to jump start schools’ recovery and close equity gaps.

“Our educators, parents, and communities have never worked harder to support students during this crisis, and we all are deeply concerned by the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated impacts on our highest-need students. Our actions and investments moving forward must be bold, meaningful, and targeted to accelerate learning and advance educational equity,” said Thurmond. “The priorities we choose in the weeks and months ahead will not only help our schools accelerate a return to safe in-person learning but also address and prevent ongoing impacts of this global crisis on students.”

Among the next steps State Superintendent Thurmond outlined today:

Develop Additional Strategies for Accelerating Academic Growth

As experts predict the current COVID-19 surge to continue to swell throughout the holiday season, and with most of California under stay at home orders, most school districts are pausing or pushing back their plans for phased, safe reopening in the new year. Growing evidence shows that the pandemic is exacerbating educational inequities and worsening access and opportunity gaps among students who have been historically underserved.

To build on its ongoing published guidance, professional learning, and assistance to date, the CDE is working with equity leaders, practitioners, and educational stakeholders on additional strategies for accelerating academic growth designed to provide educators and school systems research-based strategies—and identify new resources—for addressing, offsetting, and preventing learning gaps in multiple instructional models (distance learning, hybrid learning and in-person).

In the meantime, school leaders are encouraged to use the variety of local, school, and district-based diagnostic tools and resources provided to them this year to help measure where students are in their learning and to design interventions to support them during the pandemic. Resources can be found on the CDE Implementation Tool: Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments web page.

Prioritize Teachers and School Employees for Vaccines

The State Superintendent agrees with educators and families that the best place for students to learn is in the classroom. Unfortunately, multiple conditions have made it challenging for most schools to fully open, including:

• High community infection rates
• Staffing shortages at schools that have implemented hybrid learning
• Abrupt shifts back and forth between in-person and distance learning due to COVID-19 exposures, further disrupting student learning continuity

With many educators and school employees falling into high-risk categories—and the families of socioeconomically disadvantaged students disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus—the State Superintendent said he is grateful for the work of Governor Gavin Newsom and state health leaders on early vaccine distribution.

State Superintendent Thurmond urged state leaders to place teachers and school employees “at the front of the line” for vaccines to better prepare schools for a safe reopening.

Expand Frequent and Rapid COVID-19 Surveillance Testing

COVID-19 vaccines alone, however, may not be administered fast enough to enable the safe reopening of school campuses in the 2021 spring semester. While vaccines offer hope, California will need to greatly accelerate frequent and rapid coronavirus testing of asymptomatic school staff and students in order to help students return to in-person learning sooner.

The State Superintendent expressed gratitude to Governor Newsom and state health agencies for their continued collaboration to expand access to the state’s COVID-19 testing lab in Valencia to school districts across California. About 15 local educations agencies are currently utilizing the lab and more are preparing for onboarding.

In the meantime, the Legislative Analyst’s Office projects greater-than-expected one-time revenues for K–12 education, and the State Superintendent said he is committed to working with the Governor’s Office and lawmakers to explore using any available funds to secure greater COVID-19 testing capacity for schools.

Encourage Schools to Use $2.1 Billion in Remaining CARES Act Funds to Address Learning Gaps, Safety, and Mental Health

As part of the CARES Act relief package allocated to education, public schools in California have $2.1 billion remaining to spend in 2021. The State Superintendent is calling on school districts to prioritize these funds for addressing and offsetting learning gaps, implementing adequate safety precautions such as COVID-19 testing, and supporting students’ social emotional wellness.

More information can be found on the CDE’s CARES Act Funding web page.

Continue to Partner with Equity Leaders and Practitioners to Address Learning Gaps and Reconnect with Disengaged Students

To help schools prepare for the next phases of learning in 2021 and improve student outcomes, the State Superintendent is tapping the expertise of leading equity organizations and educational practitioners to design and scale successful strategies for improving student outcomes.

In January, the State Superintendent will convene school administrators and educators whose primary roles are to advance equity in their school systems for a roundtable summit to share and amplify existing, successful strategies in schools that can be replicated across the state.

Additionally, recent partnerships include two professional learning webinars this week —coordinated in collaboration with organizations such as Beyond Differences, the California Association of Bilingual Education, the California Teachers Association, the Education Trust-West, the Parent Institute for Quality Education, and the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California—that drew thousands of educators across California to discussions on social emotional learning strategies and best practices in distance learning.

The State Superintendent has also launched an equity-focused mini grant program funded by a $200,000 contribution from the Stuart Foundation. Under the program, the CDE will award grants of up to $20,000 each to schools, districts, and charter schools that can demonstrate how they will address equity and opportunity gaps by utilizing the funds to target educators’ or students’ needs in distance learning, in-person instruction, or hybrid models.

To help reconnect students who have not checked in during distance learning, the CDE has built out a Family Engagement Unit that is working with districts to support attendance outreach.

Pass a Universal Broadband Measure

Through the State Superintendent’s Closing the Digital Divide Task Force, hundreds of thousands more students now have access to computing devices and internet connections. But gross inequities to high-speed internet access still exist, and the need for connectivity will not end after the pandemic.

The State Superintendent is encouraged by recent legislative proposals to create universal broadband access and will continue to work with state leaders to identify and implement solutions that close the digital divide once and for all.

The steps outlined today build on the CDE’s ongoing commitment and support to schools during the pandemic, including helping secure months’ worth of personal protective equipment (PPE); working with the Governor and the Legislature to allocate $5.3 billion in Learning Loss Mitigation Funds, expanding computing and internet access for hundreds of thousands of students, and identifying mental health and counseling resources for students in crisis.

Additionally, the CDE has provided continuous professional development and support for educators throughout the pandemic, including dozens of webinars (these can be found on the CDE Coronavirus Webinars web page, on the CDE Facebook page, and the CDE YouTube channel); published guidance; and the distribution of weekly resources to school districts.

An archived broadcast of Thursday’s full media check-in with the State Superintendent can be viewed on the CDE Facebook page.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

SSPI Outlines Actions to Address Pandemic's Impact - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

Another “School” of the Future | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Another “School” of the Future | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Another “School” of the Future

Steve Davis, a reader of the blog, told me of this Isaac Asimov story published in 1951 about teaching and learning in 2155. I thought readers who saw the previous post on “Schools of the Future” would enjoy this as much as I did.

Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2155, she wrote, Today Tommy found a real book!

It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

They turned the pages, which were yellow and crankily, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.

Gee, said Tommy, what a waste. When you’re though with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.

Same with mine, said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks CONTINUE READING: Another “School” of the Future | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Teacher Tom: A Profession in Crisis

Teacher Tom: A Profession in Crisis

A Profession in Crisis

The pandemic notwithstanding, if 25 percent of our nation's doctors were planning to quit the profession, it would constitute a national crisis. If my neighbor Amazon got word that one in four of their professional employees were going to walk away, it would be a disaster. Indeed, if any profession or employer had that much of their workforce ready to walk away, not for "better jobs," but because their current job was too dangerous, stressful, or demoralizing, it would be time to call in the calvary. 

According to a recent poll of public school K-12 teachers, a full 27 percent say they are considering leaving the profession due to the the pandemic. This is on top of pre-pandemic polling that found that half of all teachers were already considering a job change because of low pay, bad working conditions, lack of respect, and an ongoing degradation of learning conditions for students. This is not a new crisis, it's an old one on steroids.

In our state, there are, as far as I know, exactly zero plans to address this issue. The obvious answer of increasing play, bolstering psychological and mental health support, and providing more autonomy for educators to teach the way their students learn, is apparently not being seriously CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: A Profession in Crisis

Writing as an Academic and Scholar – radical eyes for equity

Writing as an Academic and Scholar – radical eyes for equity

Writing as an Academic and Scholar

My transition to being an academic and scholar occurred in the mid-1990s after I had been a public school English teacher for more than a decade and a writer for almost two decades.

Looking back, one of the most pivotal moments of that transition was when Craig Kridel, a leading scholar of educational biography who would become the anchor on my doctoral committee, stood at the first organizing meeting of new doctoral students and announced the importance of being able to write well. He introduced me to Joseph Williams’s Style and forever changed me as a writer and a teacher.

I was in my mid- to late 30s when I completed that doctoral program, and I chose the degree primarily because I had the opportunity to write an educational biography (a non-traditional dissertation form and an under-appreciated research type, qualitative) and work with Kridel. You see, I wanted to write a real book and not a formulaic doctoral dissertation.

Of course, entering the doctoral program, I had yet to experience or fully understand just what writing a dissertation entailed—or what it would mean to CONTINUE READING: Writing as an Academic and Scholar – radical eyes for equity

Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake | Diane Ravitch's blog

Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake | Diane Ravitch's blog

Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake

Lorrie A. Shepard is one of the nation’s most eminent assessment experts. In this article in Education Week, she explains that it would be a mistake to resume testing this spring. She is University Distinguished Professor in the research and evaluation methodology program of the school of education at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

Shepard writes:

This past spring, the U.S. Department of Education gave states permission to cancel federally mandated state testing and accountability reporting because of pandemic-induced lockdowns. As the new testing season approaches, many advocacy groupsare urging the department to reinstate testing requirements.

As an assessment researcher who has studied both high-stakes statewide tests and very different classroom-assessment processes, I am alarmed when testing advocates claim that test data will automatically serve equity goals. Advocates do not acknowledge any potential harm from testing for the very students in communities of color most traumatized by COVID-19. If the downsides were factored in, I believe most, even all, CONTINUE READING: Lorrie A. Shepard: Testing Students This Spring Would Be a Mistake | Diane Ravitch's blog

Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020

This is an enjoyable read. Edutopia identified what it calls the ten most significant education studies of 2020.

Probably none of these studies made it into the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse.

Here are the first three:

1. TO TEACH VOCABULARY, LET KIDS BE THESPIANS

When students are learning a new language, ask them to act out vocabulary words. It’s fun to unleash a child’s inner thespian, of course, but a 2020 study concluded that it also nearly doubles their ability to remember the words months later.

Researchers asked 8-year-old students to listen to words in another language and then use their hands and bodies to mimic the words—spreading their arms and pretending to fly, for example, when learning the German word flugzeug, which means “airplane.” After two months, these young actors were a remarkable 73 percent more likely to remember the new words than students who had listened without accompanying gestures. Researchers discovered similar, if slightly less dramatic, results when students looked at pictures while listening to the corresponding vocabulary. 

It’s a simple reminder that if you want students to remember something, encourage them to learn it in a CONTINUE READING: Edutopia: The Ten Most Significant Education Studies of 2020 | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: Bad Admin and Crickets

NYC Educator: Bad Admin and Crickets

Bad Admin and Crickets

Do you feel like the kid in the picture sometimes? An awful lot of teachers do. It seems, particularly with an evaluation system that bares its teeth at us, that a lot of supervisors speak to us like that.

I began as an English teacher. I ended up as an ESL teacher by happy accident. For one thing, I could never find a permanent job as an English teacher. By the time I did, I was already enamored of teaching kids from other countries. I turned down an appointment, took a job playing guitar in the worst Irish wedding band on earth (it paid well), and waited until I actually had the credits to teach what I wanted.

Nonetheless, I'm a lifelong reader, and my preference is fiction. Fiction places you in a position to see and feel other viewpoints, but it's looked down upon by the geniuses in Albany, not to mention the Common Core architects. NY State has dropped the Common Core name, but fiction is still devalued. Instead we make kids read tedious tomes that interest them not at all. I'd argue it would be better to have them read comics, like the kid in the picture, and learn to love reading, rather than dread it. Of course, I'm only one voice.

Still, there are a lot of crazy administrators. Look, for one example, at the large number of them who insist on enrolling as teachers in Google Classroom. There is absolutely no viable rationale for that. Most of us now place all our grades online. Anyone can see them. All of the assignments we give are available to anyone registered as a CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Bad Admin and Crickets

How students should be protected from surveillance during remote learning | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

How students should be protected from surveillance during remote learning | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

HOW STUDENTS SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM SURVEILLANCE DURING REMOTE LEARNING

December 2020

Endorsed by Access Living, ACLU of Illinois, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Children’s Screen Time Action Network, Civitas ChildLaw Center, Hartlieb & Horste, LLC, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public EducationDownloadable as a Full document | or a one-page Summary

Many US public schools have been operating remotely since March, either full-time or part-time as a result of the Covid pandemic.  And with infection rates steeply increasing in the US, the timing of any return to fully in-person schooling remains uncertain.

The use of technology was widespread even before this spring. Now its use is nearly universal. But tech use should not impinge on students’ right to privacy and access to schooling.

In a recent national survey, 60% of educators said students would face negative consequences for having cameras off.   However, students should never be forced to choose between maintaining their privacy and receiving an education .  Moreover, surveillance does not equal safety.

Surveillance can be especially stressful for disadvantaged students, CONTINUE READING: How students should be protected from surveillance during remote learning | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy