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Friday, October 29, 2010

Negotiate student achievement goals into teachers’ contracts | Thoughts on Public Education

Negotiate student achievement goals into teachers’ contracts | Thoughts on Public Education
States all over the map on defining proficiency - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess California is often praised for its “world-class” content standards, which define what students should be taught at every grade level. But when it comes to actual performance standards, defining what knowledge students must demonstrate to prove they’re ...
Negotiate student achievement goals into teachers’ contracts - by Charles Taylor Kerchner Collective bargaining lends itself to lots of different conversations, but it’s hard to talk about what matters most: how spending money will or won’t make education better. An illustration: Jacob Adams, a Claremont Graduate University colleague, has ...
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Arkansas school board member to resign over anti-gay post - CNN.com

Arkansas school board member to resign over anti-gay post - CNN.com

Arkansas school board member to resign over anti-gay post

See show times »
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 29, 2010 4:06 a.m. EDT
Click to play
School leader: 'I went too far'
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Clint McCance says his wife and children have left state over safety concerns
  • Clint McCance apologies for remarks, calls them "ignorant"
  • "I would never support suicide for any kids," he says after advocating suicide for homosexuals

(CNN) -- A school board district member in Arkansas who came under fire for an anti-gay post on a social networking site regrets the comments and will resign his seat, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday.

"I'm sorry I've hurt people with my comments," Clint McCance, vice-president of the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas said. "I'm sorry I made those ignorant comments and hurt people on a broad spectrum."

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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sick 'em, Cujo

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Sick 'em, Cujo

Sick 'em, Cujo

by Mike Klonsky
Joel Klein's hired attack dog, Natalie Ravitz has once again been sicked on Diane Ravitch. But it's a mismatch. The dog has rubber teeth. She claims Ravitch wants bad education because she doesn't believe "all kids can learn." Who does she expect to buy that argumen,t besides her boss? Her defense of value-added (it was invented by some Ivy League profs) falls
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The Answer Sheet - And now, a tragicomic conversation on 'differentiation'

The Answer Sheet - And now, a tragicomic conversation on 'differentiation'

And now, a tragicomic conversation on 'differentiation'

Reaction to a video I posted this week showing two figures in a nonsensical conversation about “collaborative planning” and teaching was strong and sad. A reader, Wyrm1, echoed a number of comments and emails I received from teachers, saying: “Sadly, the video is funny because it is all too true in many school districts.” If you didn't see it, take a look (it is below). My favorite dialogue from that video:
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More NCLB madness

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: More NCLB madness

More NCLB madness

by Mike Klonsky
New Trier High School failed to make AYP. Will they close the school? Charter-ize it? Fire all the teachers, Central Falls style? Post their names in the papers? Wait for Superman? What?

Nine of 10 Illinois high schools — 609 of 665 in the state — missed the mark on math and reading tests and risk federal sanctions, according to information released Wednesday by the Illinois State Board of Education.

According to the Tribune:
The sweeping designation muddies the issue for parents trying to make sense of it all, and
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Queens Teacher: Duncan Answers Teachers' Concerns

Queens Teacher: Duncan Answers Teachers' Concerns

Duncan Answers Teachers' Concerns

by Queens Teacher
Popout

Hey Arne, who are you kidding?
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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Michelle Rhee outspoken to the end of her tenure as D.C. schools chancellor

Michelle Rhee outspoken to the end of her tenure as D.C. schools chancellor

Michelle Rhee outspoken to the end of her tenure as D.C. schools chancellor

GALLERY
Michelle Rhee: D.C. schools chancellor for 1 more day
In one of her last public appearances as D.C. schools chancellor, Michelle A. Rhee took part in a College Board conference at the Washington Hilton.
» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

FULL COVERAGE

education

Education



By Bill Turque
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 9:01 PM
She is D.C. schools chancellor for just one more day, but that didn't stop Michelle A. Rhee from issuing one last warning Thursday, this one to ineffective teachers and the undergraduate education programs that granted them degrees.
"Now we have a new teacher evaluation system where we know who's ineffective, minimally effective and highly effective," she told a hotel ballroom filled with educators attending a College Board forum. "We're going to back-map where they came from, which schools produced these people. And if you are producing ineffective or minimally effective teachers, we're going to send them back to you."
Rhee is exiting the District much as she entered it a more than three years ago: outspoken, impatient, apparently indifferent to the kind of tension and pushback that most in her line of work labor to avoid. What she did here, and how she did it, will be debated for years. But her signature contribution, many supporters and detractors say, was a change in the conversation.
Rhee added a new urgency and righteous anger to the
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NYC Public School #Parents: Richard Barr on the 47 proposed school closings

NYC Public School Parents: Richard Barr on the 47 proposed school closings

Richard Barr on the 47 proposed school closings

by Leonie Haimson
It is appalling to look at the list of 47 schools targeted for possible closure, as well as to think of those already closed in the last few years by this regime.

When you attend a closing "hearing" for one of them as I did for my alma mater, Christopher Columbus H.S., or if you attended the P.E.P. "hearing" at Brooklyn Tech. for 19 at once, and you see every person who works at one of these schools, or attends one, or sends their kid or kids to one, get up and say "don't close this school" and you see the bureaucrats who have unfortunately been given power over this public school system remain unmoved, unpersuaded, acting like they could care less about what the people they are supposed to be serving, or managing, want, or say, or think, it can turn your stomach and break your heart.

When you think of people who have been made temporary custodians of an enormous public school system which is, I believe, in its third century, acting like they have the right to just do away with so many of that system's pillars, with no obligation to maintaining them, it makes your blood boil. People who said "put us in
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Your denial of the importance of true diversity to maintain the status quo doesn’t fool me � EducationCEO's Blog

Your denial of the importance of true diversity to maintain the status quo doesn’t fool me � EducationCEO's Blog

Your denial of the importance of true diversity to maintain the status quo doesn’t fool me

by educationceo
Part of my (late) morning (or even afternoon) ritual is to read the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) for stories related to education. My first stop is usually the GetSchooled blog by Maureen Downey, then on to education articles by Aileen Dodd, as they often write on some interesting topics. This morning there was an article written [...]
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Remainders: Mixed marks for Bloomberg on schools in new poll | GothamSchools

Remainders: Mixed marks for Bloomberg on schools in new poll | GothamSchools

Remainders: Mixed marks for Bloomberg on schools in new poll

by Maura Walz
  • Nearly 1,800 city students will get free tickets to a Broadway show on the Scottsboro Boys. (NYTimes)
  • P.S. 184 Shuang Wen is protesting a NY1 story on its after-school Mandarin program. (The Lo-Down)
  • Schools have one more day to fill 850 vacancies before schools lose money for them. (InsideSchools)
  • Buffalo teachers spent more than $9 million in public money on cosmetic surgery. (Buffalo News)
  • Voters like mayoral control but don’t think Bloomberg has improved schools, a new poll says. (WSJ)
  • A total of 41 states have now adopted common core standards. (Curriculum Matters)
  • A challenge to the idea that economic integration will always boost poor students. (Flypaper)
  • The Chamber of Commerce is backing candidates who favor scrapping USDOE. (Politics K-12)
  • Special education advocates recommended keeping local diplomas available for now. (InsideSchools)
  • Only a fifth of science teachers feel they have resources for hands-on experiments. (Answer Sheet)
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Montgomery officials question sale of high school property to private academy

Montgomery officials question sale of high school property to private academy

Montgomery officials question sale of high school property to private academy

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Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 7:51 PM

A proposal to sell a former Montgomery County high school to the private school that rents it has raised concern among some elected officials, who say the county should not be selling school buildings when enrollment is growing and many classrooms are overcrowded.

These critics also point to the gap between the proposed purchase price and the assessed value of the property.

Officials with the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy say they were performing a public service when they spent more than $8 million on renovating the former Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville in 1996 and that they did so with the understanding that they

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Insurance Companies are Buying Mike Villines. Are you?

davejonesinscomm2010 | October 27, 2010

Insurance companies have spent $5.7 million to elect Mike Villines, an anti-consumer, pro-insurance industry candidate for California Insurance Commissioner. They are laundering their contributions through the California Chamber of Commerce so voters don't know who is funding the attack ads against consumer champion Dave Jones.


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"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate - Ed Thoughts

by Sabrina
I'm a big fan of Allie Brosh's comic blog, Hyperbole and a Half. As I engage with different people working in the school reform arena, I often encounter people who disagree with me. That's OK. But I'm also, and often, blindsided by crazy statements that make me want to scream,

pleasestopscreaming.png
and have all of the nonsense just reverse course or melt away. Trying to improve schools and society is hard enough, without the additional burden of stupid rhetoric that clouds the real issues, confuses the public, and makes it difficult to advance comprehensive solutions.
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