John Milewski: Is Waiting for 'Superman' Kryptonite for Real Education Reform?

John Milewski: Is Waiting for 'Superman' Kryptonite for Real Education Reform?

John Milewski

Host of "Dialogue" (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars)

Posted: October 29, 2010 11:16 AM

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Is Waiting for 'Superman'Kryptonite for Real Education Reform?

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Read More: Bright Idea , Charter Schools , Diane Ravitch , Education , Education Reform , Geoffrey Canada ,Hugh Osborn , KIPP Charter Schools , Margaret Gayle , Public Education , Waiting For Superman , Education News

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For weeks now the ad banner for the film, Waiting for "Superman" has been very prominent on The Huffington Post. The film has generated rave reviews (91% positive on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer). More importantly, it has stimulated robust conversation and debate around the subject of education reform. But will the film's ideas, fueled by its pop culture success, lead us down the wrong path?

Most films about education, dramas and documentaries alike, are drawn to the heroic model for fixing problems. If Clark Kent would just give up the newspaper job (before he's downsized?), and move his "S" to an inner city school, he could transform it into a super-powered charter school that could leap test scores in a single bound as

Portland State University's Homeless Problem: Insensitive Students | End Homelessness | Change.org

Portland State University's Homeless Problem: Insensitive Students | End Homelessness | Change.org

Portland State University's Homeless Problem: Insensitive Students

by David Henderson

Portland State University has a homeless problem. A recent opinion piece in the student newspaper, the Vanguard, laments the intrusion of so-called "transients" into the university's libraries and other buildings. The author of the piece, Janieve Schnabel, fears that "as the weather gets colder and the rains come, the problem is only going to get worse."

Indeed, Portland State has a homeless problem. It seems their student newspaper is grossly insensitive toward the homeless. Tell Portland State's newspaper to retract these stereotypes of the homeless!

Schnabel tries to excuse her bigotry by writing, "Don't get me wrong — this is not about inherent prejudice

Portland School Board subcommittee reviews two charter school applications, expresses concern over one for elementary | OregonLive.com

Portland School Board subcommittee reviews two charter school applications, expresses concern over one for elementary | OregonLive.com

Portland School Board subcommittee reviews two charter school applications, expresses concern over one for elementary

Published: Friday, October 29, 2010, 9:00 AM

Molly Hottle, The Oregonian
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Several Portland School Board members puzzled over a proposed charter school's application Tuesday, expressing concern that the submission was missing fundamental elements.

A proposed location and curriculum plan were notably absent from the proposal for the Global Learning Charter School, an elementary geared toward disadvantaged students, said Kristen Miles, charter schools manager for Portland Public Schools. A charter schools subcommittee, made up of three school board members, conducted a review of the application at a meeting with other district staff members.

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"These are just basic things that don't make sense," said school board and subcommittee member Trudy Sargent.

The meeting allowed district staff to share with the subcommittee the review of two charter applications -- Global Learning and another for Golden Leaf Charter High School. Golden Leaf had eight organizers at the meeting, but no one from Global Learning attended.

Oregon has allowed charter schools to be formed since 1999; nine

The Answer Sheet - Waiting for sanity in education reform

The Answer Sheet - Waiting for sanity in education reform

Waiting for sanity in education reform

My guest is George Wood, principal of Federal Hocking High School in Stewart, Ohio, and executive director of the non-profit Forum for Education and Democracy, a collaboration of educators from around the country. By George Wood This fall brought not only the start of another school year but plenty of noise about schools as well. A movie, a manifesto, and a mayoral election in Washington D.C. all amplified the ongoing debate about who the real education reformers are. Noise and more noise. Thank goodness for the sane voices that arose in the midst of all this. There is Diane Ravitch with her continued campaign that brings us back to what is really at stake when filmmakers try to bend public opinion. And Mike Rose, always close to the ground, reminding us of what school reform really involves. Now comes the news that, in light of whatever is going to happen

Towards an Organic Learning Community (ARTICLE) | Democratic Education

Towards an Organic Learning Community (ARTICLE) | Democratic Education

Towards an Organic Learning Community (ARTICLE)

2010 OCTOBER 28

tags: Community Education, community-based education,Democratic Education, Manish Jain, organic education, organic learning, Shikshantar, Shilpa Jain, udaipur

by Democratic Education

The Shikshantar team building a meeting space beneath the trees.

Shilpa Jain and Manish Jain

In 1998, a few friends got tired of hearing that they were “too idealistic”. Every time they raised critical questions about the dominant thinking on education and development, they were either asked for the magical all-encompassing Solution (to be given in thirty seconds or less) or pushed aside with comments like, “That’s all true, but how will we financially survive without the System?” They came from different contexts—UNESCO, a very large NGO in India and a major private school in Pakistan. Yet, each felt the global system of factory-schooling they were being asked to promote was causing far more harm than good, both to individuals and to local communities. This model of

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The 100 schools with the most "posh"

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The 100 schools with the most "posh"

The 100 schools with the most "posh"

The Sun-Times headline reads, "Posh Schools Make Grade." They aren't kidding. Of the 100 top elementary schools in Illinois, not one has 50% or more, low-income kids.

Among the 100 top high schools and elementary schools, there's not a single charter school and all 100 have unionized teachers.

As usual, standardized test scores are the only criteria used in determining "top schools." If you take them seriously, students seem to be getting dumber as them move from elementary to high school.

Meanwhile, state Schools Supt. Christopher Koch noted the increasing "disconnect'' between the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, which 80.9 percent of all third- through

Vote -- All the Cool Kids Are Doing It | California Progress Report

Vote -- All the Cool Kids Are Doing It | California Progress Report

Vote -- All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

by christine

By Rebecca Greenberg
California Labor Federation

We come from all walks of life. Some of us are students, some are workers, and some are jobless. Some of us are laden with student debt. Some of us work to support our children, some work to support our parents. Some of us have had to postpone starting a family, and some of us have had to move back in with our parents just to make ends meet. But we all have one thing in common -- we are the young voters of California. And it’s time for us to flex our muscle at the polls, take control of California’s future and fight off the right wing’s attempt at a hostile corporate takeover of our state.

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Field Poll: Latino Voters Give Brown Solid Lead Against Whitman

by christine

By Ngoc Nguyen

In the final week before the midterm elections, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown now has a commanding 10-point lead over GOP contender Meg Whitman, 49 percent to 39 percent, according to the latest Field Poll.

The new poll, released Thursday in collaboration with New America Media, found that Brown is edging ahead among women, Latinos, independents and voters in all-important Los Angeles County.

A year ago, about 50 percent of voters said they favored Brown, but that number had been trending downward in recent months, reaching its lowest point (41 percent) this past September. A year ago, Whitman began with about 29 percent of voter support, pulling even with her Democratic opponent (41 percent) by September. Since then, however, a number of key factors have swung the race back toward Brown.

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No IEA RA at the Hyatt Regency. � Fred Klonsky's blog

No IEA RA at the Hyatt Regency. � Fred Klonsky's blog

No IEA RA at the Hyatt Regency.

by Fred Klonsky

Hyatt owner Penny Pritzker.

I posted yesterday that the union representing the workers at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare was asking for a boycott. I’m running as a delegate, but will not attend if the meeting is held at that hotel.

Unite Here:

Union contracts covering Hyatt O’Hare workers and approximately 8,000 other Chicago-area hotel workers expired on August 31, 2009. On July 29, 2010,

The Playground That Explains the Costs of Schools' Labor Pact - voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog

The Playground That Explains the Costs of Schools' Labor Pact - voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog

The Playground That Explains the Costs of Schools' Labor Pact

Related Stories

• Related:San Diego Explained: Project Labor Agreements

Posted: Thursday, October 28, 2010 4:40 pm | Updated: 4:57 pm, Thu Oct 28, 2010.

Posted on October 28, 2010

• 

  by Emily Alpert

To understand the endless debate over project labor agreements, come with us to the Jefferson Elementary School playground.

There, an engineer estimated that expanding the playground would cost $3.1 million. San Diego Unified told construction companies bidding on it that it would cost somewhere between $1 million to $5 million. Ultimately, the lowest — and winning — bid came in at $2.7 million.

The school district cheers because the bid was 11 percent under the original estimate of $3.1 million. But opponents of the labor pacts jeer, saying that the playground cost 170 percent more. How? They used the lowest end of the bidders' price range, $1 million, as its baseline.

Those opponents, led by the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, used the numbers this week to point out that school construction projects like that playground have been more expensive and gotten fewer bidders since the district signed a labor pact on its $2.1 billion construction initiative.

But the school district uses different numbers to judge how it's doing. And while San Diego Unified agrees that costs have gone up, it disagrees with the coalition on whether the labor pact is to blame.

Under project labor agreements, employers must provide healthcare largely through union plans and use union hiring halls to find most of their workers. In exchange, unions promise not to strike or stall work. The school board signed a project labor agreement last year for most work on the construction bond.

The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction did its own analysis and concluded that 13 projects done under the labor agreement cost 32 percent more than the low end of the price

Danza PSA 10 29

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: OVER 10 MILLION STUDENTS NOW USE GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATION

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: OVER 10 MILLION STUDENTS NOW USE GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATION

OVER 10 MILLION STUDENTS NOW USE GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATION

BY FREDERIC LARDINOIS / READWRITEWEB.COM | HTTP://RWW.TO/BDW6PI

October 14, 2010 - Just about four years ago, Google launched Apps for Education - a version of Google's online productivity tools (including Gmail and Google Docs) that is geared towards K12 schools and colleges. Now, Google just announced, there are over 10 million students, staff, faculty and alumni that are actively using Apps for Education. With the beginning of the new school year, Google must have added about 2 million new users, as the company cited 8 million users until just a few weeks ago.

Some of the Schools that Switched to Google Apps this Year:

Gonzaga University, Barnard, Brown University, William and Mary, Villanova University, Georgetown School of Business, Case Western Reserve University, Hawai'i Pacific University, Brandeis University, more than half of the 23 campuses in the California State University system, Morehouse University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Texas A&M Alumni, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, 13 of the SUNY schools, Pace University and Wilfrid Laurier

Just a few weeks ago, our own Audrey Watters pointed out that the number of states and school districts that are thinking about moving to

Teachbad Differentiation Video

A teacher is skeptical about the powers of differentiation.

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:

Female voice: I have a challenge. My students are not understanding verse structure.

Male voice: How do you know that they don’t understand? Where is your test data?

Female voice: I haven’t given the test yet but i know they don’t

NCSE | National Center for Science Education - Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools.

NCSE | National Center for Science Education - Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools.

Dear Friends of NCSE,

The end of two lawsuits involving a teacher preaching creationism in
the classroom in Mount Vernon, Ohio, is on the horizon. Kudos for
Evolution vs. Creationism from the International Society for Science
and Religion. And news of a webcast on "Molecular Insights into
Classic Examples of Evolution."

SETTLEMENT IN FRESHWATER CASE IMMINENT

A settlement is in the works in Doe v. Mount Vernon Board of Education
et al., the case in which John Freshwater, a Mount Vernon, Ohio,
middle school science teacher, was accused of inappropriate religious
activity in the classroom -- including displaying posters with the Ten
Commandments and Bible verses, branding crosses on the arms of his
students with a high-voltage electrical device, and teaching
creationism. The Mount Vernon News (October 27, 2010) reports that the
parties have signed the agreement, which still must be approved by a
judge.

According to the News, "The settlement involves a $300,000 payment by
Freshwater’s insurer to Stephen and Jenifer Dennis [the Does] to
compensate them 'for mental pain and other damages suffered.' The
insurer, Ohio Casualty, is the school district’s liability carrier,
and is involved because Freshwater was a school district employee at
the time the lawsuit was filed. A separate payment of $150,000, over
the course of the next 13 years, will be used to purchase an annuity
for their minor son, Zach Dennis, on whose behalf the lawsuit was
originally filed."

Shortly beforehand, on October 21, 2010, Freshwater filed a notice to
dismiss his own lawsuit against the Mount Vernon City School District
Board of Education, which he filed in June 2009 after he was dismissed
from employment with the district in June 2008. Freshwater claimed
that he had been offered a financial settlement, but Sarah Moore, a
lawyer representing the school district, denied it, telling the
Columbus Dispatch (October 23, 2010), "I can confirm there was no
settlement, and we're not expecting any."

Freshwater told the Associated Press (October 22, 2010) that he
abandoned his lawsuit against the board because "it would have
interfered with a public airing of his complaint in a different venue"
-- presumably the administrative hearing on the termination of his
employment, which was conducted intermittently from October 2008 to
June 2010. The referee presiding over the hearing has yet to release
his decision. (Richard B. Hoppe's detailed reports on the hearing as
well as the two lawsuits are available on The Panda's Thumb blog.)

For the story in the Mount Vernon News, visit:
http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/10/27/settlement-signed-by-both-parties-in-civil-lawsuit

For the story in the Columbus Dispatch, visit:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/23/science-teacher-didnt-get-settlement.html

For the Associated Press story (via NPR), visit:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130756286

For Hoppe's reports on The Panda's Thumb blog, visit:
http://pandasthumb.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.fcgi?blog_id=2&tag=Freshwater&limit=20

For NCSE's collections of documents from the cases and hearing, visit:
http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/doe-v-freshwater-mv
http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/freshwater-v-mount-vernon
http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/freshwater-termination-hearing

FURTHER KUDOS FOR EVOLUTION VS. CREATIONISM

Eugenie C. Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism (second edition:
Greenwood Press, 2008 and University of California Press, 2009) was
recommended by the International Society for Science and Religion as
one of 250 central texts in the field of science and religion. In his
essay introducing the book for ISSR, the historian Edward J. Larson
described it as "an invaluable resource for those seeking to
understand the American controversy over creationism and evolution
from the perspective of an eloquent and knowledgeable partisan,"
adding that it "offers an insightful overview of the American
controversy over teaching evolution along with a representative
sampling of short excerpts from both creationists and evolutionists.
By reading it, teachers, parents, students and the public can be
better prepared to answer creationist claims and defend the teaching
of evolution."

A November 20, 2007, press release from the ISSR explained, "The ISSR,
the world’s leading learned society in the field of science and
religion, will create a foundational library of central texts in the
field. This library will consist of approximately 250 books spanning
all important areas and disciplines as well as key international and
intercultural voices. Upon selection of constituent titles, Society
members will write critical essays on each book and these will be
collected into a new, stand-alone companion volume, The ISSR Companion
to Science and Religion, to be made available through a commercial
publisher. ... By the end of this three-year program a basic library
in science and religion will exist for the first time. A compact,
critical overview will be available in the form of the companion
volume, and hundreds of institutions worldwide will provide access for
their students, scholars and the general public."

Other books by NCSE members and Supporters in the list include
Francisco Ayala's Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion (introduced by
NCSE's Peter M. J. Hess), Sean B. Carroll's Endless Forms Most
Beautiful, Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell and Darwin's
Dangerous Idea, Taner Edis's An Illusion of Harmony, Ursula
Goodenough's The Sacred Depths of Nature, Stephen Jay Gould's Rocks of
Ages and Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle, John F. Haught's Deeper than
Darwin and Is Nature Enough?, Ernst Mayr's Toward a New Philosophy of
Biology, Kenneth R. Miller's Finding Darwin's God, Ronald L. Numbers's
The Creationists and his collection Galileo Goes to Jail, Robert T.
Pennock's Tower of Babel and his collection Intelligent Design
Creationism and its Critics, Michael Ruse's Can a Darwinian be a
Christian? and Monad to Man, and Elliott Sober's Unto Others
(coauthored with David Sloan Wilson).

For the ISSR's list of recommended books, visit:
http://www.issrlibrary.org/the-library/

For Larson's introduction to Evolution vs. Creationism, visit:
http://www.issrlibrary.org/introductory-essays/essay/?title=Evolution%20vs.%20Creationism:%20An%20Introduction&ref=essays

For the press release from ISSR, visit:
http://www.issrlibrary.org/media/

For Hess's introduction to Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion, visit:
http://www.issrlibrary.org/introductory-essays/essay/?title=Darwin%27s%20Gift%20to%20Science%20and%20Religion&ref=library

WEBCAST: MOLECULAR INSIGHTS INTO CLASSIC EXAMPLES OF EVOLUTION

The annual Evolution Symposium at the National Association of Biology
Teachers conference will be webcast live from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(Central) on November 5, 2010. Entitled "Molecular Insights into
Classic Examples of Evolution," the symposium features four exciting
speakers whose research in molecular evolution is revolutionizing our
understanding of familiar and compelling examples of evolution.

Edmund "Butch" D. Brodie III of the University of Virginia will speak
on "Time to change the channel: Predator-prey arms races and the
evolution of toxin resistance in snakes"; Allen G. Rodrigo of the
National Evolutionary Synthesis Center and Duke University will speak
on "Rapidly evolving viruses: Studying molecular evolution in real
time"; Hopi E. Hoekstra of Harvard University will speak on "From mice
to molecules: the genetics of color adaptation"; and NCSE Supporter
Sean Carroll of the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Howard Hughes
Medical Institutes will speak on "How bugs get their spots: Genetic
switches and the evolution of form."

Teachers and students are encouraged to tune in to all or part of the
free webcast for an opportunity to hear internationally renowned
researchers discuss their fascinating, cutting-edge work in molecular
evolutionary biology. Classrooms all over the world will even be able
to submit their questions online and have the speakers respond in real
time.

To view the webcast, visit http://dukeuniversity.acrobat.com/nabt2010
at 11 am Pacific/12 pm Mountain/1 pm Central/2 pm Eastern and log in
as a guest. (Note: It is suggested that groups do this in advance to
test the connection and make sure you can access the site without
problems. When you log in successfully you will see a
"Congratulations" message. If you have problems, please contact
eog@nescent.org.)

The Evolution Symposium, presented annually since 2004 at the NABT
conference, is cosponsored by the American Institute of Biological
Sciences and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. Videos of
previous symposia, and collections of relevant educational resources,
are available in CD form from NESCent and on-line from NESCent's
website.

For NESCent's press release about the symposium, visit:
https://www.nescent.org/media/NABTSymposium2010.php

For the webcast website, visit:
http://dukeuniversity.acrobat.com/nabt2010

For information about previous symposia, visit:
https://www.nescent.org/media/NABT.php

Thanks for reading! And don't forget to visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on
evolution education and threats to it.

--
Sincerely,

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.

Arkansas School Board Member Resigns Over Anti-Gay Comments | Gay Rights | Change.org

Arkansas School Board Member Resigns Over Anti-Gay Comments | Gay Rights | Change.org

Arkansas School Board Member Resigns Over Anti-Gay Comments

by Michael A. Jones

For the past three days, all eyes have been on the Midland School District in Arkansas, where one school board members, Clint McCance, posted hostile messages for LGBT students on his personal Facebook page. The aggressive messages — which were in response to the October 20 "Spirit Day, where students around the country wore purple to commemorate those who have been victims of anti-gay bullying — suggested that gay students should all commit suicide, and that all gay people should get AIDS and die.

These statements would have been inappropriate for anyone, let alone an educator who helps shape school policy in his district.