Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Damn Good Education Daily, #blog4reform

Damn Good Education Daily

#blog4reform

schoolsmatter.info - [iii] An AFT report (2008) found that charter schools in the forty states that have charter laws pay teachers, on average, 20 percent less public schools. This is a rarely acknowledged reason that...

cajacobson

Blogging for Reform: First, let’s fire all the teachers…

mizmercer.edublogs.org - I’m going to start this post as I will end it, referring to my recent adventures observing Larry Ferlazzo’s Theory of Knowledge Class, this week. Why bring up the particular in this discussion of...

alicemercer

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: #Blog4Reform-Slow Down And Take A Step Back...

web20classroom.blogspot.com -

EDPressSec

Who Starting Linking Violence To Schools? - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Who Starting Linking Violence To Schools?

by Alexander Russo

Eric Zorn says it was Vallas who first started talking about CPS kids getting shot or killed regardless of whether it happened in school (Counting murdered students unfairly tars public schools) and that may be so, but it was Duncan and Daley who really pushed it as I remember -

AM News: Chico Promises Resources For Schools

by Alexander Russo

A Laptop in Every Pot: ChicagoMag: Later on Thursday, Chico called another press conference and credited Daley for doing a "tremendous job" for Chicago... Restorative Justice Comes -- And Goes Catalyst: As a result, the initiative has so far led to sustained restorative justice programs, targeted toward students, at just two schools: Duprey and Hay, where peer juries have taken hold. (See sidebar.)... United Neighborhood Organization begins work on soccer academy WBEZ: 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... Atlanta Schools Chief Stepping Down AP: The superintendent of Atlanta's public schools, who was credited for improving student performance but faced calls for her ouster over a test cheating scandal, said Saturday that she will leave her job in June... NJ Lawmakers Approve Nation's Toughest Law To Fight School Bullying AP: The bill would require anti-bullying programs in public schools and language in college codes of conduct to address bullying. Schools would have to form teams to shape policies and review how bullying is handled.

This Week In Education: Recollections: Almost Chancellor

Recollections: Almost Chancellor

Remembering the man who was -- almost -- Chancellor of the New York City public school system, and -- with apologies for the self-indulgence -- my brief and deeply unproductive foray into working at the old Board of Education.

A small but vocal group is trying block the proposed appointment of media executive Cathie Black as head of the New York City school system, most immediately by convincing a group appointed by the state education commissioner to deny Black the legal waiver she needs in order to make up for her lack of formal training in education. It's a post-“Waiting For Superman,” pre-holiday referendum on Mayor Bloomberg's influence and the current state of education reform all wrapped into one.

As of this moment, nobody knows for sure whether Black will make it through this last hurdle, or how she'll do on the job. But if she ends up not getting the job it won’t be the first time. You’ve probably already heard about the state’s refused to give Robert F. Wagner a waiver after Mayor Koch nominated him in 1983. But there's another example that's worth remembering: a local guy named Dan Domenech got- and lost - the job in a 24 hour period in late September 1995. The day Domenech was supposed to become NYC schools chancellor I was there in the building, a special assistant to

Poll: New Yorkers aren’t ready for Chancellor Cathie Black | GothamSchools

Poll: New Yorkers aren’t ready for Chancellor Cathie Black

by Anna Phillips

A Quinnipiac University poll released this morning found that most New Yorkers do not think publishing executive Cathie Black is qualified to run the city’s school system. Her approval rating dropped further when voters with children in the public schools were polled.

Sixty-two percent of parents with children in the public school system disapprove of Mayor Bloomberg’s choice for the next chancellor and 63 percent say Black isn’t qualified. Fifty-one percent of voters in general think she’s not fit for the job.

A majority of voters, 64 percent, think that experience in education is important for whoever manages the city’s school system.

“Do New Yorkers approve of the Black appointment? Does she have the right experience? No and no, voters say,” said Quinnipiac pollster Mickey Carroll in a statement.

“The only positive sign for her is that about one quarter of voters don’t know enough to say whether they approve or disapprove of her appointment,” he said.

Review of Competitive Grant Programs Underway at Ed. Dept. - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Review of Competitive Grant Programs Underway at Ed. Dept.

by Alyson Klein

Posted by guest blogger Sean Cavanagh

After a busy season managing high-profile federal competitions—including Race to the Top—U.S. Department of Education officials say they're going to be reviewing all of the competitive grant programs they administer, to see how they can be improved.

As we've reported, programs like Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation (i3) fund have won praise from some policymakers and advocates for driving changes in school policy at the state and local level. But the department has also absorbed criticism for its final choice of winners in those contests, from those who questioned the scoring criteria used, how individual applicants were ranked, and other factors.

Department officials say the review, which they expect to finish early next year, is not meant to answer their detractors but to improve a process that they regard as sucessful—and which they plan to use again, for different programs.

The review, department officials tell Education Week, will extend beyond Race to the Top and i3 to examine

Shanker Blog » A Call For Democracy And Human Rights In The Arab States

A Call For Democracy And Human Rights In The Arab States

by Randall Garton

On Oct. 22-23, a group of Arab intellectuals, politicians, and civil society advocates convened a Conference on the Future of Democracy and Human Rights in the Arab World in Casablanca. Citing the “dramatic and alarming backsliding of political reforms in the Arab world,” they issued a remarkable, frank and courageous appeal to the Arab nations. The “Casablanca Call for Democracy and Human Rights” represents a powerful consensus among disparate political groups that democracy must be the foundation for social and political justice in the region. As such, it represents a signal event for Arab democrats and for friends of democracy around the world.

Among the group’s key appeals was for the right to organize free and independent trade unions. The call underscores both the courage of the signatories and the dismal situation for labor. The Middle East region has the worst trade union rights record in the world, according to a recent Freedom House report, which found that unions in the area are controlled by the government, severely repressed, or banned outright.

The group also demanded that women (and youth) be empowered to act as equal partners in the development of

12th Grade NAEP Scores Are Meaningless - Bridging Differences - Education Week

12th Grade NAEP Scores Are Meaningless

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

The reading and math scores for 12th grade students on the National Assessment of Education (NAEP) were just released, and they are unimpressive. Scores are no better than they were in the early 1990s. The achievement gap is unchanged.

I can hear the gnashing of teeth, the cries for more accountability, more charters, more this or more that. But not to worry. In fact, the 12th grade scores don't mean much. They probably mean nothing at all.

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which oversees NAEP, has known for years that 12th graders don't try to do well on the tests. The students know that the tests don't count, that there are no individual scores, that no one will ever know if they did well or poorly, and they are not motivated to do their best.

WABE: Candidates For Next Superintendent Already Swirling:Michelle Rhee (2010-11-22)

Candidates For Next Superintendent Already Swirling:Michelle Rhee

Rose Scott (2010-11-22)

Listen Now:

Michelle Rhee is the former Washington D.C school chancellor.

ATLANTA, GA (WABE) -
Who will be the next superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools?
Now that Dr. Beverly Hall will not return for the 2011 school year, reports are already swirling about top candidates.
As WABE's Rose Scott reports, one local advocacy leader thinks former Washington D.C school chancellor Michelle Rhee should be considered:

John Sherman says the Atlanta Board of Education should conduct a national search.
But he also believes Michelle Rhee should be in the pool of candidates:
((she had a plan in her mind and she was not afraid of the Washington establishment to affect the plan))
Sherman is the executive director of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation.
Rhee's plan or strategy in turning around the D.C school system included ending teacher tenure and implementing a merit pay system.

Education Week: N.J.'s Christie Takes Combative Tack on Education

N.J.'s Christie Takes Combative Tack on Education

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talks about the need for salary caps for school superintendents during a town meeting earlier this month in Toms River, N.J.

—Mel Evans/AP

By Stephen Sawchuk

Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.