Friday, February 19, 2021

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Friday, February 19, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

THE TOP BANANA
TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES

Teachers and Their Unions Are Demanding Truly Safe Schools Reopening — Not “Ignoring Science” - https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/teachers-unions-schools-covid-reopening#new_tab

Audio: Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness Hinges On 2 Numbers: $10,000 Vs. $50,000 | 89.3 KPCC - https://www.scpr.org/news/2021/02/18/96701/debate-over-student-loan-forgiveness-hinges-on-2-n/

Philadelphia teacher supports immigrants with African-centered lessons - Chalkbeat Philadelphia - https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/17/22288530/teacher-bridges-global-divide-for-philadelphia-students-with-african-centered-curriculum on chalkbeat

Education Research Report: Preschoolers with higher cardiorespiratory fitness do better on cognitive tests - http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=115692 on @Larryferlazzo

Answer Sheet: The Deeply Distorted Debate About Reopening Schools | National Education Policy Center - https://nepc.colorado.edu/node/10780 on @NEPCtweet

Transforming Policing in Los Angeles Schools https://www.laprogressive.com/transforming-policing-in-los-angeles-schools/

Educators Forced Inside Despite Slow Vaccine Rollout https://www.laprogressive.com/educators-forced-to-work/

What The Science Says About How To Reopen Schools | WBFO - https://news.wbfo.org/node/111576

New poll shows America’s teachers want to return to classrooms amid growing confidence in safety guardrails - The Highland County Press - https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/In-The-News/Education/Article/New-poll-shows-America-s-teachers-want-to-return-to-classrooms-amid-growing-confidence-in-safety-guardrails/2/75/65675

Andrew Yang says he doesn't support prioritizing secular education over faith-based https://nypost.com/2021/02/18/andrew-yang-doesnt-support-prioritizing-secular-education-over-faith-based/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons via @nypmetro

Teachers, daycare staff eligible for vaccine beginning Monday https://thelensnola.org/2021/02/18/teachers-daycare-staff-eligible-for-vaccine-beginning-monday/

NOLA Public Schools reopen campuses Monday; teachers to be added to vaccine eligibility list https://thelensnola.org/2021/02/18/nola-public-schools-reopen-campuses-monday-teachers-await-vaccination-eligibility/

As admissions season descends, warning signs appear for low-income applicants https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-admissions-wealth-gap-covid/2021/02/18/8c606766-712d-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html

D.C. schools announces spending plan for academic intervention targeting students who have fallen behind during pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-students-tutoring-help/2021/02/18/c5061df2-71f7-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_local-education

Governor’s budget shorts education and pensions again. And you can’t blame the pandemic. – Fred Klonsky - https://wp.me/p4C3g-q9T via @fklonsky

Outdoor preschools grow in popularity but most serve middle class white kids https://hechingerreport.org/outdoor-preschools-grow-in-popularity-but-most-serve-middle-class-white-kids/

The ‘invisible’ front line workers of education https://hechingerreport.org/the-invisible-front-line-workers-of-education/

Gov. Gavin Newsom, legislators at odds over $6.6-billion plan to open California elementary schools in April http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/Zlz73Nq1GbY/gavin-newsom-sidelines-legislature-covid-19-school-plan

CDC's New Guidance For Reopening Schools May Not Be Effective https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969351662/cdcs-new-guidance-for-reopening-schools-may-not-be-effective

New Zealand Will Offer Free Sanitary Products At Schools To Fight Period Poverty https://www.npr.org/2021/02/18/969129496/new-zealand-will-offer-free-sanitary-products-at-schools-to-fight-period-poverty

NYC Education Dept. officials, City Council members rip plan to hire nearly 500 new school safety agents https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-school-safety-new-agents-hiring-freeze-20210218-kllcqouaynfupi6uqusc52xt5a-story.html#ed=rss_www.nydailynews.com/arcio/rss/category/new-york/education/

'They want their babysitters back': California school tensions boil over https://politi.co/3dpKwTb

Education Research Report: Highest rates of bullying occur between friends and friends-of-friends -http://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/

Jeff Bryant on The Attitude: “Betsy Devos Is the Tip of the Iceberg in the School Privatization Agenda” | Ed Politics - https://edpolitics.org/?p=329

Georgia: Civil Rights Groups Oppose Voucher Legislation | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-tzd via @dianeravitch

Drop in kindergarten enrollment amid pandemic leads to growing concern about widening achievement gap https://www.ktvu.com/news/low-kindergarten-enrollment-amid-pandemic-leads-to-growing-concern-about-widening-achievement-gap

Experts call for more mental health for teachers and child care workers https://hechingerreport.org/the-invisible-front-line-workers-of-education/

Investment – Tennessee Education Report - http://tnedreport.com/?p=5167 via @TNEdReport

Meaningless – Tennessee Education Report - http://tnedreport.com/?p=5165 via @TNEdReport

If Schools Follow CDC Guidance, Biden's Reopening Goals Could Be Hard To Reach https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969467560/if-schools-follow-cdc-guidance-bidens-reopening-goals-could-be-hard-to-reach

School Board Candidate Blasts District, Superintendent, & Board In Explosive Public Comment | Exceptional Delaware - https://wp.me/p4JboV-5Ox via @ExcptlDelaware

California will earmark 10% of weekly COVID-19 vaccine supply for teachers to get more schools open http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/o_hrdjTJUtI/gavin-newsom-10-percent-covid-19-vaccines-educators-california-schools-open

Bill would let Utah schools spend special education funds on students without special needs - https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2021/02/18/bill-would-let-schools/#new_tab by https://www.facebook.com/saltlaketribune on @sltrib

Holding back students because of COVID? Boston officials consider options. | Boston.com - https://www.boston.com/?p=21384315 by christopher-gavin

WV House passes bill that would give parents public money for home-, private-schooling; bill now heads to Senate | Legislative Session | wvgazettemail.com - https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/wv-house-passes-sweeping-bill-that-would-give-parents-public-dollars-for-home--private/article_49b82a7d-e985-5a0f-91e3-9c37063c3c1a.html#new_tab on @wvgazettemail

APS students, parents react to remote learning for rest of school year | KRQE News 13 - https://www.krqe.com/?p=819665

S.F. city attorney to school district: Vaccination demands for reopening will be challenged in court - https://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/S-F-city-attorney-to-teachers-union-Demands-for-15961763.php#new_tab on @sfchronicle

As other school districts open, Seattle remains split on returning to classrooms | The Seattle Times - https://www.seattletimes.com/?p=13591800 by @dahliabazzaz on @seattletimes

Gov. Spencer Cox says he won’t sign transgender sports bill as now written https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/2/18/22289536/gov-spencer-cox-wont-sign-transgender-sports-bill-as-now-written-utah-legislature-2021-lgbt?utm_campaign=deseret&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter via @DeseretNews

With More N.H. Students Absent During Pandemic, Some Schools Turn to Child Protection Services | New Hampshire Public Radio - https://www.nhpr.org/node/166945

Chicago’s teacher pact already showing cracks - Chalkbeat Chicago - https://chicago.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/18/22289769/chicago-has-a-deal-with-teachers-how-long-can-the-peace-last#new_tab on chalkbeat

California lawmakers, governor at odds on school reopening - https://apnews.com/article/public-health-sacramento-gavin-newsom-california-coronavirus-pandemic-76967d19ccfab0a1c4e01b19392132d6#new_tab

CCS teachers say it's time to stop charter and private school transportation | WSYX - https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/ccs-teachers-time-stop-charter-private-school-transportation-2-18-2021#new_tab on http://twitter.com/wsyx6

Amid attacks, school principals concerned over Asian Americans' return to class - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/amid-attacks-principals-concerned-over-asian-americans-returning-class-n1258302#new_tab by NBCNews on @NBCNews

Washington could tie school district COVID-19 relief to campus return plan | king5.com - https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/washington-school-covid-19-relief-inslee-remote/281-4d8c2235-8d90-4986-b9d3-c04e5eaf3d52#new_tab on KING5Seattle

LAUSD parents plan Zoom blackout to protest school closures as other school districts open - ABC7 Los Angeles - https://abc7.com/lausd-when-will-reopen-los-angeles-unified-school-district-zoom-blackout/10352147/#new_tab via @abc7

Tim Scott: Why I'm voting against Biden's nominee for Education secretary | Commentary | postandcourier.com - https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/tim-scott-why-im-voting-against-bidens-nominee-for-education-secretary/article_81cbdf72-711b-11eb-8922-bfc6f399677e.html#new_tab on @postandcourier

Shelby County teachers union says hundreds could retire if forced to return to in-person teaching - https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2021/02/18/shelby-county-teachers-union-says-hundreds-could-retire-if-forced-return-in-person-teaching/#new_tab via @WMCActionNews5

Susan Johnson: Charter schools, vouchers will erode what unites us (Opinion) | Op-Ed Commentaries | wvgazettemail.com - https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/susan-johnson-charter-schools-vouchers-will-erode-what-unites-us-opinion/article_686136c2-9ebf-5789-ab1c-d434bc76bcab.html#new_tab on @wvgazettemail

School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST! | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 11min

School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST! The Education Law Center has developed an excellent presentation on the shortchanging of public education in the years since 20008. The great majority of states did not keep up with the costs of educating their children. Only a handful did: Wyoming, Alaska, Illinois, Connecticut. The rest saw a sharp drop in their effort to fund the education of thei

National Education Policy Center Criticizes RAND for Overstating Results of Study of Online Learning | Diane Ravitch's blog -

by Mike Simpson / 11min

School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST! The National Education Policy Center frequently engages researchers to review studies, reports, and evaluations. NEPC recently released a review of a RAND study that looks at online learning and whether it deserves federal funding. The title of the RAND report is “Remote Learning is Here to Stay,” but the body of the report does not support that conc

CURMUDGUCATION: Disaster Capitalism And The Abuse Of Youth

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Disaster Capitalism And The Abuse Of Youth In the rush to raise alarm over Terrible Educational Emergencies, folks need to pay closer attention to exactly who they're hurting. I'm not talking about teachers right now. Yes, teachers get blamed for anything and everything, and it stinks, and we're paying a regular price for it in the increasing difficulty in recruiting people to do the work. But t

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice” Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones (livestream) Black Lives Matter at School Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 6:00PM Pacific $5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under Event Description How can educators help destroy entrenched inequalities

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives Provide Excellent Cover To Do Nothing - Philly's 7th Ward

by Mike Simpson / 11min

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) INITIATIVES PROVIDE EXCELLENT COVER TO DO NOTHING After the protests… “The Battle for the Soul of the Nation” was the tagline of the Biden-Harris campaign. In many ways it was a battle between the status quo of structural inequality and the promise of a new beginning. As Michele Alexander eloquently writes, this summer was not a racial reckoning ; it simply

Education Scholars and Leaders Push Back Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Education Scholars and Leaders Push Back Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing Kevin Kumashiro writes: Dear Friends–I hope you’re well. I wanted to be sure that you’re aware of three initiatives in which hundreds of educational scholars and leaders are pushing back on high-stakes standardized testing of students and teachers: 1) Last week, the California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in

NYC Educator: Reflections on Apocalypse Teaching

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Reflections on Apocalypse Teaching I have an accommodation this year, so this picture describes me well. My classroom, since March, has been our dining room. We don't use it much, generally. Our little family can eat in the kitchen. So our dining room table becomes a storage area, except on the rare occasions when we have company. Since COVID hit, we haven't had more than one outside visitor at

Teacher Tom: In the End the Goal is Not Literacy, It's Understanding

by Mike Simpson / 11min

In the End the Goal is Not Literacy, It's Understanding I write every day, publishing here and in other forums like Medium, Edutopia, and other places, not to mention my two books. Yesterday, I wrote a post that might be considered a bit dismissive of writing , but please don't let that make you think that I don't value the written word. I'm a product of it, as are you, but it has its limitation

Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely | janresseger #openonlywhensafe

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely | janresseger Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely Right now, after nearly a year since life shut down for COVID-19, things feel like a chaotic mess. Children in lots of places are not in school but are instead learning remotely at home. Unemploy

LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

by Mike Simpson / 11min

LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION On February 18, 2021, Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, announced that as of Monday, February 22, 2021, teachers and all other K12 school staff, daycare workers, and others have the green light to receive COVID-19 vaccines: Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has a message that vaccine shipments have been del

CURMUDGUCATION: Khan Academy Makes Its Next Big Move

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Khan Academy Makes Its Next Big Move The Khan Academy (aka that library of instructional videos that come in varying degrees of accuracy) is finally ready to take its next step and morph into an on-line-ish micro-credential competency-based school-ish thing. What does that even mean? Let me try to explain the vision behind this, the people behind this, and--well, then we can just reflect on how

Education Matters: This week in Ron DeSantis, he blasts CDC guidelines, threatens to withhold vaccines and lies about the pandemic.

by Mike Simpson / 11min

This week in Ron DeSantis, he blasts CDC guidelines, threatens to withhold vaccines and lies about the pandemic. Ron DeSantis is a menace, before the pandemic is over he will be responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. From WCJB.com, DeSantis is calling it a “disgrace.” He says these new guidelines are not rooted in science. “We’ve been open the whole time, since August. We had kids doing ca

YONG ZHAO: New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19 - Education in the Age of Globalization

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19 New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19 Just published in Journal of Educational Change: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19 Yong Zhao and Jim Watterston Accepted: 28 January 2021 Download the PDF here Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both unpreceden

Choosing Democracy: Bretón Vs. the Sacramento Teachers

by Mike Simpson / 11min

Bretón Vs. the Sacramento Teachers Sacramento Bee opinionnaire Marcos Bretón offers up one of his frequent attacks on the Sacramento teachers’ union in today’s Bee https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article249152435.html . It is the usual anti union diatribe filled with paragraphs cut and pasted from prior columns. He purposes to deal with the issue of opening schools in Sacramento. If you ignore al

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

by Mike Simpson / 11min

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 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/2021/02/this-week-i

YESTERDAY

THE TOP BANANA: TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Thursday, February 18, 2021 #REDFORED #tbats #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #BLACKHISTORYMONTH #openonlywhensafe

by Mike Simpson / 18h

Big Education Ape THE TOP BANANA TODAY'S EDUCATION HEADLINES Teacher union leadership response to JB’s flat education funding? Too much understanding. – Fred Klonsky - https://wp.me/p4C3g-q9J via @fklonsky Teacher bridges global divide for Philadelphia students with African-centered curriculum https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/17/22288530/teacher-bridges-global-divide-for-philadelphia-stu

Anne Spencer, Black Educator Hall of Fame - Philly's 7th Ward

by Mike Simpson / 18h

ANNE SPENCER, BLACK EDUCATOR HALL OF FAME E’ry day this month, the Center for Black Educator Development , in partnership with Phillys7thWard.org , will highlight a Black Educator Hall of Famer . But, don’t

Big Education Ape

School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST! | Diane Ravitch's blog

School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST!

The Education Law Center has developed an excellent presentation on the shortchanging of public education in the years since 20008. The great majority of states did not keep up with the costs of educating their children. Only a handful did: Wyoming, Alaska, Illinois, Connecticut. The rest saw a sharp drop in their effort to fund the education of their children.

The two absolutely worst states, as judged by their failed effort to fund their schools, were Arizona and Florida, followed by Michigan. It is not coincidence that these are states that have put their efforts into choice, as a substitute for funding.

The report from ELC begins:

In the decade following the Great Recession, students across the U.S. lost nearly $600 billion from the states’ disinvestment in their public schools. Data from 2008-2018 show that, if states had simply maintained their fiscal effort in PK-12 education at pre-Recession levels, public schools would have had over half a trillion dollars CONTINUE READING: School Funding Since 2008: $600 Billion LOST! | Diane Ravitch's blog

National Education Policy Center Criticizes RAND for Overstating Results of Study of Online Learning | Diane Ravitch's blog

National Education Policy Center Criticizes RAND for Overstating Results of Study of Online Learning

National Education Policy Center Criticizes RAND for Overstating Results of Study of Online Learning

The National Education Policy Center frequently engages researchers to review studies, reports, and evaluations. NEPC recently released a review of a RAND study that looks at online learning and whether it deserves federal funding. The title of the RAND report is “Remote Learning is Here to Stay,” but the body of the report does not support that conclusion, according to reviewer David R. Garcia of Arizona State University.

Garcia summarizes his review:

The RAND Corporation recently released a report based on a national survey of school district superintendents and charter management organization (CMO) directors (or their designees) about their experiences navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey asks non-biased questions about how school districts and charter schools have responded to the pandemic and about their greatest educational needs. But some issues arise with the report’s reporting of results and with one of its two recommendations. The report is curiously titled, Remote Learning is Here to Stay, but that headline is surprisingly unsupported by the sur- vey responses. In fact, the CONTINUE READING: National Education Policy Center Criticizes RAND for Overstating Results of Study of Online Learning

CURMUDGUCATION: Disaster Capitalism And The Abuse Of Youth

Disaster Capitalism And The Abuse Of Youth

In the rush to raise alarm over Terrible Educational Emergencies, folks need to pay closer attention to exactly who they're hurting.

I'm not talking about teachers right now. Yes, teachers get blamed for anything and everything, and it stinks, and we're paying a regular price for it in the increasing difficulty in recruiting people to do the work.

But the other part of chicken littling about education is the constant declaration that Kids These Days suck. They can't read or write. They aren't ready to hold down a job. And like many other negative trends in education, this has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Now it's not just that Kids These Days can't read and write and math--numerous companies are telling anyone who will listen about the terrible threat of learning loss, and how all of America's children are slowly backsliding, the "days of learning" dribbling out of their ears like meltwater sluicing off a snow-covered roof. They're getting stupider and stupider by the day. They are a lost generation.

Some of the worst moments in my teaching career came in parent-school conferences, sitting in a room with other staff, the student, and the parental units, watching the parents express in not-at-al-subtle ways their low opinion of their child. It is gut-wrenching to see a parent tell their own child everything just short of (and in a couple of memorable instances, not just short of) "I don't CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Disaster Capitalism And The Abuse Of Youth

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”

Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones (livestream)

Black Lives Matter at School

Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 6:00PM Pacific

Image result for buy ticket botton — $5.00 / Free for youth 22 and under

Event Description

How can educators help destroy entrenched inequalities and enact the values of Black Lives Matter in their classrooms, schools, and communities?

Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones, both educators and members of the Black Lives Matter at School movement, join us via livestream to discuss this question. They believe that the United States is in the midst of an urgent moral and legal crisis over the safety, liberty, and well-being of Black young people. In an edited collection, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, they have gathered essential essays, interviews, poems, resolutions, and more from educators, students, and activists who have been building the Black Lives Matter Movement across the country. Hagopian and Jones lay bare the institutional racism inherent in our educational system, and present a critical call to radically reshape learning environments to make them safe, supportive, and transformative for all students.

Jesse Hagopian is a member of the Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and teaches Ethnic Studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. Hagopian is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, the co-editor of the book Teaching for Black Lives, and the editor of the book More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. Hagopian serves as the Director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award.

Denisha Jones is a member of the national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee and Director of the Art of Teaching, graduate teacher education program, at Sarah Lawrence College. Denisha is an education justice advocate and activist. She serves as Co-Director for Defending the Early Years, Inc, and is the Assistant Executive Director for the Badass Teachers Association. Currently, her research focuses on utilizing the BLM at School curriculum as cultural citizenship and documenting the value of play as a tool for liberation with an emphasis on global approaches to play.

Seattle Town Hall Presents: “#BlackLivesMatterAtSchool: An Uprising for Educational Justice”–Black History Month Online Book Event with Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian – I AM AN EDUCATOR

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives Provide Excellent Cover To Do Nothing - Philly's 7th Ward

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) INITIATIVES PROVIDE EXCELLENT COVER TO DO NOTHING

After the protests…

“The Battle for the Soul of the Nation” was the tagline of the Biden-Harris campaign. In many ways it was a battle between the status quo of structural inequality and the promise of a new beginning. As Michele Alexander eloquently writes, this summer was not a racial reckoning; it simply unequivocally revealed the need for one.

While Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has been in fashion for some time, there was a noticeable spike in announcements and postings at the end of the summer. Universities purportedly in dire straits as a result of loss of tuition and room & board dollars, announced a plethora of chiefs and officers focused on diversity, equity, and/or inclusion. Corporations issued statements (and reissued for Black History Month), and my LinkedIn feed has been full of Black men being promoted to positions they should have held in the first place.

The speed at which the announcements about DEI officers, pipeline initiatives, and Black History Month collaborations happened demonstrates that the means and the need always existed, but the will did not. HBCUs have announced their largest donations in 150 years; how is that possible when bastions of privilege regularly rake in tens of millions of dollars annually CONTINUE READING: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives Provide Excellent Cover To Do Nothing - Philly's 7th Ward

Education Scholars and Leaders Push Back Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Scholars and Leaders Push Back Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing

Kevin Kumashiro writes:

Dear Friends–I hope you’re well. I wanted to be sure that you’re aware of three initiatives in which hundreds of educational scholars and leaders are pushing back on high-stakes standardized testing of students and teachers:

1) Last week, the California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education (CARE-ED) sent a letter, endorsed by over 200 educational scholars in CA, and provided oral testimony to the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing (at its 2/11 meeting) calling for an end — not merely a continuance of last year’s temporary suspension — of high-stakes standardized testing in teacher education. Attached and available here: https://www.care-ed.org/

2) This week, the national network, Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE) sent a letter (dated 2/15), endorsed by over 200 deans and leaders across the CONTINUE READING: Education Scholars and Leaders Push Back Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: Reflections on Apocalypse Teaching

Reflections on Apocalypse Teaching

I have an accommodation this year, so this picture describes me well. My classroom, since March, has been our dining room. We don't use it much, generally. Our little family can eat in the kitchen.

So our dining room table becomes a storage area, except on the rare occasions when we have company. Since COVID hit, we haven't had more than one outside visitor at a time.

When my students see me, they see a clean area with a painting hanging on the wall. What I see is a mountain of papers, books, and a few violins for good measure. I frequently have to hustle to find the materials on which we're working, as I misplace them religiously.

It's symbolic, though, of the times we're facing. Everything is fine, we tell or show the kids. But as they know, and as we all know, everything is a perpetual shitstorm. Were that not the case, we'd be in school seeing and talking to one another, as opposed to viewing one another over Zoom, or whatever platform we happen to be using.

I was extremely lucky this year, in that I was assigned to teach a level up from where I taught last year. This left me with a lot of students I already know well. I have gotten to know some of my new students well, particularly those who are extroverted, but they represent a distinct minority. Those who are shy, and a whole lot of newcomers are shy, take a long time to cross my radar.

There are a lot of people out there advocating for student privacy, and for them that includes the right to no CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Reflections on Apocalypse Teaching

Teacher Tom: In the End the Goal is Not Literacy, It's Understanding

In the End the Goal is Not Literacy, It's Understanding

I write every day, publishing here and in other forums like Medium, Edutopia, and other places, not to mention my two books. Yesterday, I wrote a post that might be considered a bit dismissive of writing, but please don't let that make you think that I don't value the written word. I'm a product of it, as are you, but it has its limitations, severe ones, in that one can never really say what one wants to say, only come as close as possible.

Like everyone who writes, which is most of us at one time or another, I sometimes write to convey information, persuade, entertain, or preserve something, but the primary reason I strive to put things into words is so that I can know what I think. This, of course, is the opposite of how we "teach" children to write. They are taught to start with a thesis, build their case, then end with a pre-determined conclusion. In other words, they are to think before they write, which, as the old woman quoted by E.M. Forester in his book Aspects of the Novel, "Good gracious! What rubbish! How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?"

For me, the process of writing is, in many ways, my process of thinking and that is what usually happens here on this blog. Sure, I try to go back and tidy things up a bit to make it presentable before hitting the "Publish" button, and I can't CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: In the End the Goal is Not Literacy, It's Understanding

Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely | janresseger #openonlywhensafe

Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely | janresseger

Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely

Right now, after nearly a year since life shut down for COVID-19, things feel like a chaotic mess. Children in lots of places are not in school but are instead learning remotely at home. Unemployment is endemic. Families face unimaginable financial pressures, and if parents are working, the pressures of managing children out of school have been overwhelming. Some parents have felt obligated to quit work to supervise children learning at home, or if parents themselves are working from home, they may be struggling to manage kids learning remotely while the parents try to do their jobs.

As far as reopening schools full-time, the new Biden administration seems confused. The Washington Post‘s Cleve Wootson and Laura Meckler report: “As the country approaches the one-year mark of the pandemic’s isolation and restrictions, the Biden administration is struggling to give precise, consistent answers to two key questions: when will the pandemic truly be behind us? And short of that, when can children safely return to school? Biden himself has blamed miscommunications for some of the inconsistency, but his administration… is also grappling with the fact that science and data don’t produce answers as tidy or linear as campaign promises… For months, Biden has raised expectations that children would soon return to school… and his press secretary, Jen Psaki, recently suggested that the White House considers schools to be open if students are in school at least one day a week. But at a CNN town hall meeting Tuesday evening in Milwaukee, he clarified that he wants students back in school five days a week—while also specifying that his priority is students in grades K-8… It was an attempt to add clarity to an increasingly murky issue at the intersection of safety, education and politics.”

Education policy and politics over the past two decades have outrageously but consistently blamed educators themselves for the so-called “failure” of American public education. No CONTINUE READING: Blaming Teachers Unions for Problems Reopening Schools Is Wrong: Reopening Must Be Done Safely | janresseger

LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION

On February 18, 2021, Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, announced that as of Monday, February 22, 2021, teachers and all other K12 school staff, daycare workers, and others have the green light to receive COVID-19 vaccines:

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has a message that vaccine shipments have been delayed by inclement winter weather:

Vaccine shipments are delayed.
Due to the continued cold weather that is being experienced statewide in Louisiana, this week’s shipments of COVID vaccines have been slowed and delayed. As we learn more information and have greater understanding of estimated times of arrival, we will share that information here.

And from LDH regarding receiving vaccinations: CONTINUE READING: LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATION | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

CURMUDGUCATION: Khan Academy Makes Its Next Big Move

Khan Academy Makes Its Next Big Move

The Khan Academy (aka that library of instructional videos that come in varying degrees of accuracy) is finally ready to take its next step and morph into an on-line-ish micro-credential competency-based school-ish thing. What does that even mean? Let me try to explain the vision behind this, the people behind this, and--well, then we can just reflect on how many kinds of bad ideas we're looking at here.

The Unbundled Micro-Credentialed Future

An idea beloved by one sector of the education privatizing world in micro-credentials. You've encountered this stuff if there's a newer-generation video game console in your home on which games offer a variety of badges to show your various accomplishments. In the ed world, they're called micro-credentials, and all the big guns are playing with them.

A few years ago I came across a fully realized portrait of the vision called The Ledger. It brings together Competency Based Education, data mining, personalized learning, the cradle to career pipeline, the gig economy, and the transformation into a master and servant class society. In this world, you wouldn't need "schools" or "teachers" (Knowledgeworks once made a whole big list of new jobs for them, all servile and dumb). You would get your education in bits and bites--a work experience here, a few sessions with a wise tutor there, each one earning you a new micro-credential, which in turn qualifies you to act as somebody else's wise tutor. It would all be recorded in a blockchain-type digital identity (yes, there are already people working on those, too) along with all pertinent data about you. The unbundling of education also CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Khan Academy Makes Its Next Big Move

Education Matters: This week in Ron DeSantis, he blasts CDC guidelines, threatens to withhold vaccines and lies about the pandemic.

This week in Ron DeSantis, he blasts CDC guidelines, threatens to withhold vaccines and lies about the pandemic.

Ron DeSantis is a menace, before the pandemic is over he will be responsible for tens of thousands of deaths.

From WCJB.com,

DeSantis is calling it a “disgrace.” He says these new guidelines are not rooted in science.

“We’ve been open the whole time, since August. We had kids doing camps and athletics and all that over the summer and we’ve been in-person as much as anybody in the country and yet, we are 34th out of 50 states and D.C. for COVID-19 cases on a per capita basis for children,” said the Florida governor during his press conference. “Thirty-three states have more cases per capita than Florida children and many of those don’t have a lot of in-person instruction in school.

https://www.wcjb.com/2021/02/16/we-are-not-turning-back-gov-desantis-calls-cdc-guidelines-to-opening-schools-a-disgrace/

You know we are in trouble when they start throwing out words like "per capita". The things is I am not sure Desantis understands science because he lies about it so often.

From NBC6,

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis travels the state promoting his performance fighting the coronavirus, he often points to a relatively low infection rate among children — even after his administration compelled school CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: This week in Ron DeSantis, he blasts CDC guidelines, threatens to withhold vaccines and lies about the pandemic.

YONG ZHAO: New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19 - Education in the Age of Globalization

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19

New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19

Just published in Journal of Educational Change: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19

Yong Zhao and Jim Watterston

Accepted: 28 January 2021

Download the PDF here

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both unprecedented disruptions and massive changes to education. However, as schools return, these changes may disappear. Moreover, not all of the changes are necessarily the changes we want in education. In this paper, we argue that the pandemic has created a unique opportunity for educational changes that have been proposed before COVID-19 but were never fully realized. We identify three big changes that education should make post COVID: curriculum that is developmental, personalized, and evolving; pedagogy that is student-centered, inquiry-based, authentic, and purposeful; and delivery of instruction that capitalizes on the strengths of both synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Download the PDF here

Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19

Friday, February 19, 2021