Friday, January 29, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, January 29, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

The Impact of Teacher Deaths https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/us/the-impact-of-teacher-deaths.html

Video: “Dr. Fauci joins AFT and NEA for vaccine discussion” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=115203 on @Larryferlazzo

ALERT! Red State Governors Push DeVos Privatization Agenda As They Celebrate “School Choice Week” | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tlI via @dianeravitch

‘We should not rush this’: Students demand a voice in Philadelphia’s reopening plans - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/28/22254955/we-should-not-rush-this-students-demand-a-voice-in-philadelphias-reopening-plans on chalkbeat

Schools Must Resist Destructive Anti-racist Demands - The Atlantic - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/when-antiracist-manifestos-become-antiracist-wrecking-balls/617841/

The Hierarchy Of The Teachers Union In Delaware | Exceptional Delaware - https://wp.me/p4JboV-5Mb via @ExcptlDelaware

Newsom: California schools won't reopen 'if we wait for the perfect' https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/01/28/newsom-california-schools-wont-reopen-if-we-wait-for-the-perfect-1360877

San Jose hospital executive disciplined after teachers allowed to get coronavirus vaccine http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/jBl6YnXMHgI/san-jose-hospital-executive-disciplined-after-teachers-allowed-to-get-coronavirus-vaccine

American Psychiatric Association issues apology for structural racism https://www.njspotlight.com/video/american-psychiatric-association-issues-apology-for-structural-racism/

Teacher vaccinations remain a key reopening factor for some NJ schools https://www.njspotlight.com/video/teacher-vaccinations-remain-a-key-reopening-factor-for-some-nj-schools/

Biden Signs Most Far-Reaching Federal Protections For LGBTQ People Yet https://www.npr.org/2021/01/28/961722392/biden-signs-most-far-reaching-federal-protections-for-lgbtq-people-yet

San Francisco School Name Debate Pits Liberals https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/us/san-francisco-school-name-debate.html

D.C. and teachers union meet with arbiter to determine if reopening agreement was breached https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-schools-teachers-union-reopening/2021/01/28/fff130a4-616d-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html?tid=ss_tw

Cloaking Inequity: Using Data and Research to Unlearn Chait’s False Opinion About Charter Schools | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10732 on @NEPCtweet

Safe return or no return: Strikes loom for public schools - https://therealnews.com/?p=267724 via @therealnews

Chicago teachers struggle at a crossroads https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/29/chic-j29.html

State Board of Education approves update to revoking teacher certifications https://nondoc.com/2021/01/28/state-board-of-education-approves-update-to-revoking-teacher-certifications/ via @nondocmedia

NEPC Interviews Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire About Their New Book “A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door” | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tji via @dianeravitch

Newsom's $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles - https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/Newsom-s-2-billion-plan-to-reopen-California-15906799.php on @sfchronicle

Closing schools, laying off 150 will push more kids to N.J. city charter schools, union says https://www.nj.com/education/2021/01/closing-schools-laying-off-150-will-push-more-kids-to-nj-city-charter-schools-union-says.html

San Diego Unified's federal lobbying efforts come under scrutiny by parent group - The San Diego Union-Tribune - https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2021-01-29/sdusd-lobbying#new_tab by @Kristen_Taketa on @sdut

Parents of Remote Learners Less Likely to Work Full Time - https://news.gallup.com/poll/328760/parents-remote-learners-less-likely-work-full-time.aspx#new_tab on @Gallup

CPS leader insisting on return to in-person class, despite no deal with the teachers union. Teachers say they will teach remotely until they get a deal. https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-public-schools-moving-ahead-with-monday-reopening/8bf874d6-d775-4b94-a103-f37c3a42c045

Should Schools Be Able to Discipline Students for What They Say on Social Media? - The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/learning/should-schools-be-able-to-discipline-students-for-what-they-say-on-social-media.html#new_tab

Fauci says Biden's push to reopen schools in 100 days 'may not happen' https://nypost.com/2021/01/29/fauci-joe-bidens-push-to-reopen-schools-may-not-happen/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons via @nypost

Big Education Ape: More states seek federal waivers from standardized tests as Biden extends deadline for requests - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/more-states-seek-federal-waivers-from.html

Big Education Ape: ASD Light – Tennessee Education Report - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/asd-light-tennessee-education-report.html

Big Education Ape: Dr. Fauci has conversation with teachers' union about reopening schools in President Joe Biden's first 100 days - ABC7 San Francisco - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/dr-fauci-has-conversation-with-teachers.html

Big Education Ape: NYC Public School Parents: Last night's historic vote of the Panel for Educational Policy to reject the Pearson contract for assessing "giftedness" - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/nyc-public-school-parents-last-nights.html

Big Education Ape: Dr. Cardona, Please Cancel the Tests - Network For Public Education - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/dr-cardona-please-cancel-tests-network.html

Big Education Ape: NEA’s top priorities in Congress - Education Votes - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/01/neas-top-priorities-in-congress.html

Teacher Tom: Disarming

Big Education Ape / 21min

Disarming There was once a time when I felt I always had to don my armor to go out into the world. You know what I'm talking about it, of course: everything from the clothing to the attitude that I wear when I leave the safety of home. It's the way we protect ourselves from a world that we fear will harm us if it sees who we really are. The hostility of the world is real. Black people better pro

Andrea Gabor: What the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Taught Us | Diane Ravitch's blog

Big Education Ape / 21min

Andrea Gabor: What the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Taught Us Andrea Gabor has written recently about the importance of civics education. She has reminded us that the obsession with standardized testing has robbed students of the joy of learning and consumed time that could be better spent in other ways. The 22-year-old Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, who spoke so beautifully at the inauguration of

Ohio Senate Killed New School Funding Plan: Now We Hear That Money Doesn’t Matter | janresseger

Big Education Ape / 21min

Ohio Senate Killed New School Funding Plan: Now We Hear That Money Doesn’t Matter Ohio Auditor Keith Faber explained on Tuesday that, “The Auditor of State’s Office recently completed a performance audit for the Ohio Department of Education.” Faber says that the purpose is to make recommendations about “economy, efficiency, and/or effectiveness in the areas reviewed…” One of the subjects of the

NYC Educator: NY Times Continues Its Battle on Common Sense

Big Education Ape / 21min

NY Times Continues Its Battle on Common Sense I've been amazed for years as the NY Times, with some notable exceptions, offered the worst education reporting in Fun City. This is a revered name, with generations of history, and yet you always feel they hate union as much as the tabloids. Of course, the Times has had to deal with union and likely would have made more money if all those who worked

Teacher Comments on Being Tech Skeptics | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Big Education Ape / 21min

Teacher Comments on Being Tech Skeptics I am fortunate to have many readers who are classroom teachers. I have published posts over the past few years about my research on exemplary teachers who integrated technology into their lessons. Some of those posts triggered responses from teachers. Here are a few of their comments. Louise Kowitch, retired Connecticut social studies teacher: ….The impact

Capital Union President Lied To Every Single Teacher In Capital School District | Exceptional Delaware

Big Education Ape / 21min

Capital Union President Lied To Every Single Teacher In Capital School District For the past several months, teachers at Dover High School have been grappling with Covid, remote learning, hybrid learning and the district itself. But it appears their greatest enemy might just be their own union that is supposed to protect teachers. This past Monday, WDEL had an explosive article about teachers at

NYC Public School Parents: Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM

Big Education Ape / 21min

Reimagine our City Schools: alternatives to Mayoral control on Sunday at 8 PM The deep flaws and persistent problems with Mayoral control are even more evident to many people, given the de Blasio’s push to have the Pearson contract for the gifted test approved, and when it failed last night at the PEP , even among many of his own appointees, his insistence to continue this controversial program

CURMUDGUCATION: Selling Roboscoring: How's That Going, Anyway?

Big Education Ape / 21min

Selling Roboscoring: How's That Going, Anyway? The quest continues--how to best market the notion of having student essays scored by software instead of actual humans. It's a big, bold dream, a dream of world in which test manufacturers don't have to hire pesky, expensive meat widgets and the fuzzy unscientific world of writing can be reduced to hard numbers--numbers that we know are objective a

For Data Privacy Day — take our Survey: online apps used by districts and their privacy provisions | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Big Education Ape / 2h

FOR DATA PRIVACY DAY — TAKE OUR SURVEY: ONLINE APPS USED BY DISTRICTS AND THEIR PRIVACY PROVISIONS Today, January 28th is Data Privacy Day, the international annual day of action and awareness to promote the privacy of our personal data. The Parent Coalition for Student Privacy is researching which ed tech apps schools are asking students to use and whether they are sufficiently protective of ch

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, January 28, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #COVIDVACCINE

Big Education Ape / 19h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Analysis | Republicans assign QAnon supporter to House education committee — and top Democrats blast the move

Big Education Ape

More states seek federal waivers from standardized tests as Biden extends deadline for requests - The Washington Post

More states seek federal waivers from standardized tests as Biden’s Education Department extends deadline for requests

The Biden administration is giving states extra time to seek a waiver from annual standardized tests mandated by federal law as New York and Michigan announced they don’t want to subject students to the exams this year during the covid-19 pandemic.

“In light of the ongoing pandemic, we have determined that the Spring 2021 state assessments cannot be safely, equitably and fairly administered to students in schools across the state,” New York Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said in a statement announcing the state’s intention to seek a waiver.

This is the second straight year that states are asking for waivers. In 2020, Betsy DeVos, then the education secretary in the Trump administration, told all states they did not have to administer the tests after schools were abruptly closed when the pandemic hit. She said last year, however, that if she remained education secretary, she wouldn’t give the waivers again.

This week, the U.S. Education Department sent a letter to chief state school officers this week saying the Feb. 1 deadline for seeking a waiver was being extended though it didn’t set a new deadline. It promised states that it would soon provide details on submitting waiver requests as well as state assessment plans to comply with the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

It did not, however, promise to approve the waivers, and it is still unclear where Miguel Cardona, the state superintendent of education in Connecticut who Biden chose as his nominee to be education secretary, stands on the issue. Shortly before he was tapped by Biden to run the Education Department, he said he wanted students to take the exams this spring but didn’t want the results used as an assessment measure for individual teachers, schools and districts.

ESSA requires public schools to give most students standardized tests each year in math and English language arts and to use the results in accountability formulas. Districts evaluate teachers and states evaluate schools and districts — at least in part — on test scores. What’s more, districts and states have added other high-stakes standardized tests on students for purposes including graduation, grade promotion and teacher bonuses. CONTINUE READING: More states seek federal waivers from standardized tests as Biden extends deadline for requests - The Washington Post

ASD Light – Tennessee Education Report

ASD LIGHT

State Senator Ferrell Haile of Sumner County has filed SB 122, a bill creating a “School Turnaround Pilot Program.” Maybe Haile has never heard of the Achievement School District? It’s difficult to understand why someone who has served on the Senate Education Committee for some time now and should have at least a vague familiarity with education policy in our state would want to recreate one of the biggest public policy failures of the last decade.

Here’s a bit of text from his bill:

(a) The department shall create and develop a five-year school turnaround pilot program for district schools that are in need of intervention pursuant to § 49-6-3604.
(b) The department shall select twenty (20) schools in need of intervention that are diverse geographically, including rural and urban schools and schools in different regions of the state, and diverse in grade levels for the pilot program.
(c) From the twenty (20) schools in need of intervention selected for the pilot program, the department shall randomly select ten (10) schools to be a control group and ten (10) schools to participate in a school turnaround group.
(d) The department shall operate and administer the school turnaround pilot program for five (5) school years beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.

The basis for admission into this “turnaround group” is scores on Tennessee’s failed TNReady test.

Just in case Haile hasn’t been paying attention, here’s a bit of what’s been happening with the Achievement School District since its inception:

Gary Rubinstein refers to the ASD as the Edsel of school reform:

The Tennessee Achievement School District, or ASD, is the Edsel of school reform. Created with a Race To The Top Grant and developed by TFA alum Kevin Huffman, CONTINUE READING: ASD Light – Tennessee Education Report

Dr. Fauci has conversation with teachers' union about reopening schools in President Joe Biden's first 100 days - ABC7 San Francisco

Dr. Fauci has conversation with teachers' union about reopening schools in Biden's first 100 days

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Reopening most schools within President Biden's first 100 days is a big commitment. Many, including teacher unions, are questioning whether or not that is even possible.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had a livestream conversation with unions about this goal.

RELATED: In-person learning during pandemic is possible with right precautions, CDC says

Back in July, Dr. Anthony Fauci said we should try to get children back to school for their psychological welfare and for the good of working families but safety, he said, was paramount.

Today, six months later, the Biden administration is counting on Dr. Fauci's expertise to make sure the necessary school safety standards are in place.

This is what he told the big teachers unions:
"The American Rescue Plan is something that hopefully will provide the resources for masking, for better ventilation, for whatever resources the schools might need to protect students and the teachers.""We need the CDC guidance, we need these rapid tests, we need to make sure we have the accommodations and the vaccine. I hear that a lot," expressed Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers.

Fauci then said his daughter is constantly reminding him of what teachers need to stay safe.

"As you know, I have a personal interest in this because my daughter is a teaching science in the 3rd CONTINUE READING: Dr. Fauci has conversation with teachers' union about reopening schools in President Joe Biden's first 100 days - ABC7 San Francisco

NYC Public School Parents: Last night's historic vote of the Panel for Educational Policy to reject the Pearson contract for assessing "giftedness"

Last night's historic vote of the Panel for Educational Policy to reject the Pearson contract for assessing "giftedness"

Last night was truly one for the history books, at least in the history of NYC public schools: the Panel for Educational Policy, composed of a majority of mayoral appointees, voted down a DOE contract.

After more than six hours of testimony by CEC members, elected officials, students and parents, most of whom opposed its renewal, eight panelists voted to reject the highly controversial Pearson contract to provide the "gifted" test, administered to kids as young as four years old; with only seven members voting yes. This is despite the fact that the Mayor appointed two new representatives in the last two weeks and personally lobbied his appointees to approve it. Stories here: NY1, Chalkbeat, NY Daily News and Gothamist.

It was the first time the PEP ever voted to reject a contract, since they were given this authority in 2009 -- which was meant to provide stronger oversight and a check on corruption. [As I testified in 2011, it didn't work and the panel has rubber-stamped many corrupt and wasteful contracts ever since.]

I wrote about this unsupportable Pearson contract for the Gotham Gazette last week, though I really didn't expect it would be rejected. I also discussed it on my "Talk out of School" podcast with Akil Bello of FairTest, who explained how the test had no validity or reliability, had clearly racially biased results, and to continue giving it especially during a pandemic was absurd.

Even the Chancellor last night admitted that "There is no research, there is no pedagogical reason why one test to four-year-olds should be a sole determinant" to entry to a gifted program, while tepidly urging the panel members to renew it for just one more year.

Of all the unprecedented events of last night, perhaps the most bizarre was that Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan was brought into the meeting to justify it. Fuleihan couldn't log on at first, so there were about seven minutes of empty time, but when he finally managed, he haplessly tried to explain that now, city officials were serious about changing the program and the screening method and would start planning this after this year. They would go on "listening tours", and ask PEP members for their input, yada yada yada.

This is after the DOE already had a full year to work on changing this process, which they promised they would do the last time they asked the PEP to renew the contract, sometime last year. Also see the leaked DOE memo from July - showing DOE had already been discussing how to proceed for many months.

Chalk this down to more indecision and inefficiency of Mayoral control -- depending on one, very fallible person to make all decisions for nearly a million public school students. The total ineptitude of the process recalls de Blasio's CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Last night's historic vote of the Panel for Educational Policy to reject the Pearson contract for assessing "giftedness"

Dr. Cardona, Please Cancel the Tests - Network For Public Education

Dr. Cardona, Please Cancel the Tests

Dear Dr. Cardona:

On December 14, 2019, President Joe Biden participated in the 2020 Public Education Forum held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Early childhood expert, Dr. Denisha Jones, explained the damage done by standardized testing and then asked, “If you are elected President, will you commit to the ending of standardized testing in public schools?”

Joe Biden’s response was immediate, direct, and clear. “Yes.” He continued, passionately declaring that “teaching to a test underestimates and discounts the things that are most important for students to know.” As you listen to his full remarks regarding why he is opposed to standardized testing, you will hear the authentic response of someone who is not only married to a teacher but who, growing up with a disability, may have felt the brunt of standardized testing himself.

We, the undersigned understand that the pandemic has inflicted enormous social, emotional, physical, and academic harm on America’s children. We also know that the consequences of the pandemic have not fallen equally on some children’s shoulders. Those who were disadvantaged prior to Covid-19 are . CONTINUE READING: Dr. Cardona, Please Cancel the Tests - Network For Public Education

NEA’s top priorities in Congress - Education Votes

NEA’s top priorities in Congress

By Barbara Moldauer and Amanda Menas

Educators have high hopes for improving racial and social justice within school communities under the Biden-Harris administration during the 117th Congress. NEA, which represents 3 million educators nationwide, is calling on Congress to ensure that the lives of all of our students–Black, White, Latino, Native, LGBTQ+, and newcomers–are valued, and that all students have access to high quality public education and protections against discrimination.

NEA is dedicated to rebuilding public schools with an emphasis on equity, returning to the classroom safely, protecting vulnerable students, and helping educators navigate their rights and responsibilities during the pandemic.

“We will get into good trouble every day, in every state, in every community all across this nation to keep our students and educators safe and center our schools in equity and excellence during the COVID-19 crisis,” NEA President Becky Pringle has promised.

To ensure all students and educators are safe from discrimination, educators want Congress to pass the Equality Act. This bill would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Because all students deserve communities where they can live without fear, Congress should enact meaningful law enforcement reforms, for example by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Another priority is comprehensive immigration reform that provides legal status and pathways to citizenship for Dreamers–people brought to the United States as minors who know no other CONTINUE READING: NEA’s top priorities in Congress - Education Votes

Teacher Tom: Disarming

Disarming

There was once a time when I felt I always had to don my armor to go out into the world. You know what I'm talking about it, of course: everything from the clothing to the attitude that I wear when I leave the safety of home. It's the way we protect ourselves from a world that we fear will harm us if it sees who we really are.

The hostility of the world is real. Black people better protect themselves in America. Gay people too. Difference, or otherness, be it based on skin color, sexuality, ethnicity, gender, ability, neurotype, or whatever other arbitrary dividing line, makes one an especially likely target. One might think that old, straight white men would have the least need for armor in our world, yet it seems that ours also weighs heavily on our shoulders.

The problem with armor, of course, is that it means we're all walking around as armed people, protective, defensive. Some go so far as to arm themselves with offensive weapons, say the aggressive trappings of toxic masculinity, but most of us CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Disarming

Andrea Gabor: What the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Taught Us | Diane Ravitch's blog

Andrea Gabor: What the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Taught Us

Andrea Gabor has written recently about the importance of civics education. She has reminded us that the obsession with standardized testing has robbed students of the joy of learning and consumed time that could be better spent in other ways.

The 22-year-old Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, who spoke so beautifully at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, reminded her that we have lost the study of poetry in our mad Race to Leave No Child Behind and to force testing on every student and teacher.

I heartily agree with Gabor. I have always loved poetry. I edited two collections that included many iconic poems: The American Reader and The English Reader (with my son Michael). During a time when I was grieving the loss of a child, I read poetry and found solace in a poem by Ben Jonson. When my children were young, we read poetry together, and they learned the fun of wordplay.

Gabor writes in her article about the need to allot more CONTINUE READING: Andrea Gabor: What the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Taught Us | Diane Ravitch's blog

Ohio Senate Killed New School Funding Plan: Now We Hear That Money Doesn’t Matter | janresseger

Ohio Senate Killed New School Funding Plan: Now We Hear That Money Doesn’t Matter

Ohio Auditor Keith Faber explained on Tuesday that, “The Auditor of State’s Office recently completed a performance audit for the Ohio Department of Education.” Faber says that the purpose is to make recommendations about “economy, efficiency, and/or effectiveness in the areas reviewed…”

One of the subjects of the new report from the Ohio Auditor’s office is the correlation of school districts’ expenditure per pupil with their school performance as measured by standardized tests. Here, from the Performance Audit Summary, is what the Auditor discovered: “Conclusion: Expenditure per pupil has a loose association with Achievement in Ohio, particularly at the high performing districts. As total district spending increases, there is no single expenditure category driving this increase.” Later in the body of the report, the Auditor states: “The analyses in this section indicate that it is not necessary for districts to spend more to get better results. The data show that lower spending districts can achieve at the same level as higher spending districts, a point which parents and taxpayers should take into consideration in their personal decision-making surrounding financial and performance issues in their district. ODE and LEAs should consider if there is a point of diminishing returns in spending, where additional district revenue and expenditures will not necessarily increase student success.”

The Plain Dealer‘s Emily Bamforth digs deeper, explaining to readers that one purpose of the Audit was to discover which practices in high spending school districts are most essential for CONTINUE READING: Ohio Senate Killed New School Funding Plan: Now We Hear That Money Doesn’t Matter | janresseger

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Friday, January 29, 2021