Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Day Of National Blogging For Real Education Reform: HuffPost Bloggers Join The Conversation

Day Of National Blogging For Real Education Reform: HuffPost Bloggers Join The Conversation

Day Of National Blogging For Real Education Reform: HuffPost Bloggers Join The Conversation

First Posted: 11-22-10 09:53 PM | Updated: 11-22-10 09:53 PM

1
6views

The education blogosphere lit up on Monday in response to the Day of National Blogging for Real Education Reform, promoted by the American Association of School Administrators andAssociation for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Across the country, education reform has been a hotly debated topic in recent months, particularly following the introduction of Obama's "Race to the Top" policies. Some tactics of reform, including charter schools and teacher evaluations based on student test scores, remain divisive issues among parents, educators, politicians and unions.

Pre-K through 12th-grade educators were encouraged to blog, tweet and post their thoughts on Facebook about education reform successes and thoughts on change throughout the day.

Up for discussion between education professionals:

The University and the Ruins of the Present (via occupy california)(via wearethecrisis) « Guerrilla Think

The University and the Ruins of the Present (via occupy california)(via wearethecrisis) « Guerrilla Think

The University and the Ruins of the Present (via occupy california)(via wearethecrisis)

from WeAreTheCrisis: Our $800 fee hike is the direct result of an unstable global financial system. As of the Regent’s meeting vote on November 18th, UC tuition has gone up over $800. A year at UCLA, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Davis and Irvine now costs over $11,000 when in 2000 it cost $3,429. That means if you make $10 an hour, you’ll have to work 80 more hours next year, or if you’re a Freshman, take out $2,400 more in debt before you graduate. The … Read More

More than 60% of NYC parents with children in public schools disapprove of Cathie Black: poll

More than 60% of NYC parents with children in public schools disapprove of Cathie Black: poll

More than 60% of NYC parents with children in public schools disapprove of Cathie Black: poll

Tuesday, November 23rd 2010, 7:25 AM

A new poll finds 47% of city voters disapprove of Cathie Black running the schools, and the number shoots up to 62% for parents with children in public schools.
Seth Wenig
A new poll finds 47% of city voters disapprove of Cathie Black running the schools, and the number shoots up to 62% for parents with children in public schools.

New Yorkers aren't buying Mayor Bloomberg's pick for their next schools chancellor.

A new Quinnipiac University poll finds 47% of city voters disapprove of Cathie Black running the schools, and the number shoots up to 62% for parents with children in public schools.

Another 29% of voters approve of her pick, and 25% have no opinion.

Despite Bloomberg's touting Black's long management experience in the media world as good training to run the Education Department, 51% of those surveyed say she doesn't have the right experience for the job - and among parents of public school kids, that goes up to 63%.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/11/23/2010-11-23_more_than_60_of_nyc_parents_with_children_in_public_schools_disapprove_of_cathie.html#ixzz166xQPZFK

Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: Charter network building soccer academy; revelations in NYC chancellor pick

Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: Charter network building soccer academy; revelations in NYC chancellor pick
Catalyst Notebook Blog
Catalyst writers and editors share their perspectives, analyses and the news behind the news on improving Chicago area public schools. Our on-the-ground reports will tell you what’s happening in schools and education circles here and elsewhere. Our views will tell you what to make of it.

In the News: Charter network building soccer academy; revelations in NYC chancellor pickOne of the largest charter school networks in Chicago is beginning construction on a massive, multi-million dollar campus located in the Southwest Side neighborhood of Gage Park. The United Neighborhood Organization, or UNO, is using part of a $98 million state grant to build a soccer academy that includes a charter elementary school, a high school, and a soccer stadium. (WBEZ)

Continue Reading In the News: Charter network building soccer academy; revelations in NYC chancellor pick »
Early childhood programs dispute low ratings on teacher prep

The National Council on Teacher Quality recently issued a report evaluating teacher education programs in Illinois. The vast majority received poor rankings. But nowhere were the ratings more abysmal than among the six early-childhood education programs listed in the report.


Continue Reading Early childhood programs dispute low ratings on teacher prep »

The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010 | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010 | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010

I’ve post many, many “The Best… lists this year, and I thought it might be useful to highlight a few of the ones I think are particularly useful for English Language Learners.

Here are my choices for The Best “The Best…” Lists For English Language Learners — 2010 (apart from various other “The Best…” of 2010 lists):

How will the UFT advise Steiner? « JD2718

How will the UFT advise Steiner? « JD2718

How will the UFT advise Steiner?

Secretly, or not at all (as of today).

At last Wednesday’s Delegate Assembly the question on many delegates minds was: “will the UFT advise Steiner to reject Cathie Black’s waiver?”

That question was not answered by the delegates. In fact, it never really came up.

Instead, a resolution from the Exec Board laid out the case for opposing Black, and drew the wrong conclusion: that we trust Steiner’s panel and process

RESOLVED that the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) support the process established by State Education Commissioner David Steiner as a credible and fair procedure for deciding on the request for a waiver from the qualifications for chancellor of New York City public schools

So how do we do right? - Ed Thoughts

So how do we do right? - Ed Thoughts

Education Reform Tragedy, and Catharsis « InterACT

Education Reform Tragedy, and Catharsis « InterACT

Education Reform Tragedy, and Catharsis

From Cooperation Catalyst:

“November 22, 2010 has been declared the National Day of Blogging for Real Education Reform, promoted by AASA and ASCD. ASCD has gathered 10 articles, in advance of Monday’s Day of National Blogging, in The New Faces of Ed Reform that discuss reforming education with teachers as leaders and partners in meaningful, lasting change.”

With some luck, and more self-editing than usual, I just might post this entry before midnight (PST) and make my contribution to the National Day of Blogging for Real Education Reform. And while I’d like to offer my positive vision for education reform, at the moment, I’m too pessimistic about our short term prospects.

Greek chorus

Lately I’ve been feeling like a member of the Chorus in a Greek tragedy, watching the tragedy unfold and calling out warning, after warning, after warning, in a fruitless effort to advise the tragic hero that it’s not too late to change course.

Nominees for the tragic hero can be found up and down the political landscape. These education reformers

Monday, November 22, 2010

Cathleen Black’s Reviewers for Schools Job Cause Own Stir - NYTimes.com

Cathleen Black’s Reviewers for Schools Job Cause Own Stir - NYTimes.com

State Didn’t Vet Advisers on Chancellor Pick for Conflicts

As new revelations surfaced about extensive ties between MayorMichael R. Bloomberg and members of the panel evaluating his choice for school’s chancellor, state officials acknowledged on Monday that they did not screen the panel members for conflicts of interest or connections to the Bloomberg administration before appointing them.

Andrew Burton for The New York Times

David Dobosz, a parent of a New York City public school student, signed a petition Monday opposing a waiver for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's choice to be schools chancellor.

The panel has been asked to consider whether Mr. Bloomberg’s selection,Cathleen P. Black, a publishing executive, should be exempted from a state law that requires experience in the education field. The New York Times reported last week that three of the eight panelists previously worked inside the city’s Education Department during Mr. Bloomberg’s tenure.

But a fourth, Louise Mirrer, the head of the New-York Historical Society, has lobbied Mr. Bloomberg’s office on behalf of the museum, and is chairwoman of an academy for which the mayor has helped raise millions of dollars. He has personally donated $475,000 to the historical society

NYC Public School Parents: Steiner's Stacking of Waiver Panel is Unethical

NYC Public School Parents: Steiner's Stacking of Waiver Panel is Unethical

Steiner's Stacking of Waiver Panel is Unethical


There was wide coverage this weekend and today of the unethical stacking of Commissioner David Steiner's waiver advisory panel with people deeply connected to Mayor Bloomberg. The panel was convened by Steiner to determine if job requirements should be waived for chancellor candidate Cathie Black.

Beyond the three individuals who formerly held senior posts in Bloomberg's DOE, the Times revealed deeply troubling and undisclosed conflicts of interest held by Louise Mirrer:

School Tech Connect: The Altar of Data

School Tech Connect: The Altar of Data

The Altar of Data

Worship, commoners!

Private schools wisely ixnay all of this data collection. Excessive testing breaks the ties that bind teachers to students and these schools know it. Schools like the one where Arne Duncan spent his entire education, or

To Pretend Perfection, Sinful; To Aspire Towards It, Divine — The Jose Vilson

To Pretend Perfection, Sinful; To Aspire Towards It, Divine — The Jose Vilson

To Pretend Perfection, Sinful; To Aspire Towards It, Divine



Banksy Art, "Wall Art Swept Under The Rug"

Today, I sat with some fellow math teachers across the district to further investigate the new Common Core Standards. We’re looking through the new standards, creating questions and analyzing tasks (while I intermittently joke about my CoCoLoCo theory). We’re churning up great ideas while the moderator’s doing his best to moderate a bunch of rowdy NYC math teachers and coaches. At some point during lunch, the people at my table invited one of the people who is developing high performing tasks that may make it into the body of

School Tech Connect: In Which I Give Bill Gates What For

School Tech Connect: In Which I Give Bill Gates What For

In Which I Give Bill Gates What For

Hello, yeah, it's been a while. Not much-- how 'bout you?

(Name that tune.)

Listen, I hate to go all Bea Arthur every time Bill Gates chimes in with his latest inanity about public education, but let's face it:



I apologize. Name-calling is beneath the dignity of this blog. But you have to admit, her delivery was flawless.

The puppetteer, as Mike Klonsky aptly refers to him, needs to be resoundingly ignored by sensible people when he sells his money-for-test-scores bullshit. His basic theme is that we need to spend less on education by