Thursday, June 9, 2011

Big Education Ape: 6-9-11 AM For-profit 'charter' schools: It's about the Money Edition

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 contributors today

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For-profit 'charter' schools - phillyBurbs.com : The Intelligencer

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - For-profit 'charter' schools - phillyBurbs.com : The IntelligencerFor-profit 'charter' schoolsStoryCommentsShareSharePrintCreate a hardcopy of this pageFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizeSh...

coopmike48

Educator and author Diane Ravitch battles the system she helped to build

tampabay.com - By Tom Marshall, Times Staff Writer In Print: Thursday, June 9, 2011 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENTST. PETERSBURG — Diane Ravitch has never been one to mince words.Twenty years ago, she was an outspok...

DianeRavitch

Reformers, please listen to what parents want for schools

cnn.com - By Helen Gym, Special to CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTSHelen Gym: School reformers act as if schools can be measured numericallyShe says the real way to look at schools is seeing if they inspire studentsShe ...

leoniehaimson

An Interesting Few Days - Bridging Differences

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Deborah, I had planned to write about an important new report from the National Research Council that shows the risks and ineffectiveness of high-stakes testing, but I have to put that off unt...

leoniehaimson

Study: Poverty Stifles A Kid's Genetic Potential Before He's Two - Business

good.is - A new study finds family income plays a role in a child's cognitive development. Psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin gave a series of mental tests to 750 sets of young twins between ...

DianeRavitch

Jonathan Alter Kicks the Hornet's Nest - Living in Dialogue

blogs.edweek.org - It has happened again. An "education reformer" has used the pages of corporate media to go on the attack against a leading critic, Diane Ravitch. And lived to regret it. Jonathan Alter, an MSNBC co...

mikeklonsky

EducationSee all

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman resigns

charlotteobserver.com - By Ann Doss Helms and Eric Frazierahelms@charlotteobserver.com and efrazier@charlotteobserver.comPosted: Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011 Superintendent Peter Gorman, brought in five years ago to improve t...

mikeklonsky

Xenophobia Behind NYT Charter Schools Story?

scholasticadministrator.typepad.com - June 8, 2011 | Posted At: 12:09 PM | Author: Alexander Russo | Category: Media Watch Substitute "Canadian" for "Turkish" and "Christian" for "Islam" and.... no one would care. -- An email response ...

coopmike48

As Special Education Class Sizes Increase, Community Members and Advocates Grow Worried - Bed

bed-stuy.patch.com - The Panel on Education Policy recently agreed to a change in the Fair Student Funding formula that will increase New York City’s special education class sizes at the start of the 2011 school year. ...

leoniehaimson

PoliticsSee all

Raid Of California Man's Home Was Not Related To Defaulted Student Loans

huffingtonpost.com - WASHINGTON -- The Department of Education is disputing a local news report that it sent a S.W.A.T. team to knock down the door and search the house of an individual because he defaulted on student ...

mikeklonsky

One-Party Rule in 2 States Sends Them Off in Opposite Directions

nytimes.com - MADISON, Wis. — The gears of government tend to grind slowly. But in Wisconsin lately they are racing at turbocharged speed. In just the last few weeks, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican,...

fklonsky

Raid Of California Man's Home Was Not Related To Defaulted Student Loans

mikeklonsky

BusinessSee all

Higher [Hedge)ucation

schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com - Harvard and other major American universities are working through British hedge funds and European financial speculators to buy or lease vast areas of African farmland in deals, some of which may...

mikeklonsky

Angry Homeowners 'Foreclose' on Lenders

bucks.blogs.nytimes.com - Owners of a house in Florida have engineered a reverse foreclosure against a bank. That makes two so far this year. Just one more, and it’s officially a trend, right? Earlier this year, Patrick Rod...

fklonsky

Higher [Hedge)ucation

coopmike48

LivingSee all

Sikh man in US punched by man who called him "Osama's brother"

articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com - In a "bias" attack, a Sikh man in US lost 3 teeth after being punched by a man, who accused him of being related to slain al-Qaida chief.PTI, Jun 7, 2011, 04.40pm ISTNEW YORK: In a "bias" attack, a...

mikeklonsky

We are not a monolith…well…sort of..

beinglatino.wordpress.com - by Nancy Sepulveda Individualism (and its variations) are a part of the American fabric; the idea that YOU are unique, YOU are your own person, YOU control your destiny, is an integral part of the ...

coopmike48

Pending Alabama Immigration Law Violates Federal Law

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 2:09 am, June 9, 2011 Photo Credits: Alabama Immigration Law The Alabama legislature passed a bill last week that requires schools to collect citizenship information on students. The b...

coopmike48

Art & EntertainmentSee all

"he's chinese... he's got squinty eyes and yellow skin."

blog.angryasianman.com - Saw this one on Gawker... Oh, Australia. You've been giving us some of the best stuff lately. On a recent newscast, they were reporting on a Chinese lottery winner who showed up to collect his priz...

coopmike48

Dan Ariely On Pay For Performance | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Dan Ariely On Pay For Performance | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...Tweetolife Compares How Men & Women Use Words On Twitter Type in some words into Tweetolife and in return you’ll get a vis...

coopmike48

The Perennial Bogus “Is College Really Worth It” Trend Story

quickanded.com - There’s no swifter route to the top of the New York Times most-emailed list than a story that plays on the anxieties of college strivers, e.g. “Many With New College Degrees Find Job Market Humblin...

coopmike48

CrimeSee all

Dept. of Education SWAT Raid Update: Not for a Student Loan, DoE Says

reason.com - Just received an e-mail from Department of Education Deputy Press Secretary Daren Briscoe in regards to this morning's news that a SWAT team was sent to execute a warrant on the estranged husband o...

mikeklonsky

Questions surround feds' raid of Stockton home

news10.net - STOCKTON, CA - A federal education official Wednesday morning offered little information as to why federal agents raided a Stockton man's home Tuesday morning. The resident, Kenneth Wright, does no...

mikeklonsky

Arne's army kicking in doors of parents to collect on student loans

michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - Back in March of 2010, I responded to a WaPo story about Duncan's DOE purchase of 27 new military-order, Remington Model, 870 police 12/14P Mod GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: ...

mikeklonsky

#edu Read this paperSee all

Remarks by the First Lady at Let's Move! Child Care Announcement | The White House

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Remarks by the First Lady at Let's Move! Child Care Announcement | The White HouseRemarks by the First Lady at Let's Move! Child Care Announcementby The White HouseRelease Time: For Immediate Relea...

coopmike48

In Ackerman’s Hands « City School Stories

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Notes from the Field « City School StoriesIn Ackerman’s HandsSubmitted by Frank Murphy, June 8, 2011Last Thursday I published a post in which I requested that Arlene Ackerman listen to the voice of...

coopmike48

#satechSee all

Blog U.: #satechBOS Unconference - An #SAtech event - Student Affairs and Technology - Inside Higher Ed

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Blog U.: #satechBOS Unconference - An #SAtech event - Student Affairs and Technology - Inside Higher Ed#satechBOS Unconference - An #SAtech eventBy Eric Stoller June 7, 2011 7:15 pm EDTWhere do stu...

coopmike48

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NJ Spotlight | The Push to Privatize

The Push to Privatize
In theory, outsourcing public services should save the state millions, but some ill-considered initiatives have ended up costing that much

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By Colleen O'Dea, June 9 in More Issues |Post a Comment

Trenton's War Memorial theater is in the process of being privatized.

A year after announcing a major effort to privatize about 40 government services in order to save $210 million, the Christie administration is finishing up details on its two most significant deals to date: the transfer of operations of New Jersey Network (NJN) to outside management and the private leasing of the state’s two racetracks.

Neither deal is final. Negotiations with the track operators are ongoing, and the legislature must sign off on the NJN proposal. But once the details are hammered out, the move could net the state $30 million or more in savings and income.

The move to privatize services has met with mixed

What we lose when standardized testing becomes supreme - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

What we lose when standardized testing becomes supreme

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by Anne Geiger, who served on the Orange County School Board in Orlando, Fl., from 2004-2008. A native of Virginia, she lives in Arlington and blogs at www.publicpolicyblogger.com, where this appeared. This post examines the meaning of a story by John Merrow on the PBS Newshour, on which I wrote about yesterday.

Read full article >>

The foreign language dilemma: Sí or oui?

by Valerie Strauss

This was written by parent of two and freelance writer Lurdes Abruscato, who grew up in Montgomery County and now lives in Howard County with her family.

Read full article >>

New Campus Protest in California Yesterday « Student Activism

New Campus Protest in California Yesterday

by Angus Johnston

If you thought the end of the school year meant no more grass-roots student agitation until fall, you thought wrong. Not gonna happen. Not this year. Yesterday students in California and Wisconsin, two of the country’s most active states, held targeted protests, and there’s more on the horizon.

In California, students at UCLA staged a campus march and sit-in to protest plans to suspend free tutoring services at the university’s Covel Commons. The group, who had timed their action to get noisy only during

ISTE, Edubloggercon, and TIE | Dangerously Irrelevant | Big Think

ISTE, Edubloggercon, and TIE

by dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

Three upcoming events worth noting…

ISTE

The annual ISTE conference is right around the corner. Over 13,000 people attended last year, along with 456 vendors. The annual goal is to up educators’ proficiencies with learning technologies. The annual challenge is to move beyond the tools themselves to get at discussions regarding higher-level learning and teaching. Will we succeed?

I’m facilitating a panel session this year (on June 27): What does it mean to be a tech-savvy principal? Many of you will recognize the panelists from CASTLE’s Connected Principals blog: George Couros, Lyn Hilt, Patrick Larkin, Brian Nichols, and Eric Sheninger. There is an ISTE Conference Ning page for the session, which

Dan Ariely On Pay For Performance | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Tweetolife Compares How Men & Women Use Words On Twitter Type in some words into Tweetolife and in return you’ll get a visualization comparing how men and women use them on Twitter. I’m adding it to The Best Third-Party Twitter Apps That Don’t Require Your Password. Thanks to Flowing Data for the tip.

Dan Ariely On Pay For Performance Dan Ariely has done a lot of research on motivation. Here’s a short video of him talking about pay for performance. I was particularly struck by something he says near the end. He asks if we were going in for surgery, would we want to tell the ...

More On The Volcano In Chile Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Puyehue Volcano Eruption in Chile: In pictures: Chile volcano spews ash is from the BBC. Volcano Erupts In Chile is a Wall Street Journal slideshow. Volcano Erupts In Chile is ...

Another Special Edition Of “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” (NOTE: I usually publish this kind of post once-a-week. However, even more links than usual have accumulated during our annual field trip where we take one hundred students to San Francisco, and then during my subsequent recovery time. So, here’s a ...

If You Want To Teach The Difference Between Correlation & Causation, This Could Be The Video For You….. It could be, that is, if you don’t mind using a beer commercial: Showing amazing stuff to the beer is supposed to make it amazing [image: :)] I think it might work for my International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge class…maybe You can also ...

Sept. tax vote no help to schools | Thoughts on Public Education

Sept. tax vote no help to schools - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

With a June 15 deadline looming, Gov. Jerry Brown remain at odds with Republican legislators over continuing temporary state taxes for a few months and then letting voters decide in September or November whether to extend them for four or five more years. But for K-12 schools and community colleges, it’s a frustrating distinction without [...]

Go after preschool Race to the Top, but not with one hand tied behind our back - by Carl Guardino

by Carl Guardino

Here are 500 million reasons why business supports early education in California. Late last month, the federal government announced that it will be making $500 million available to the states for spending on early education programs. Perhaps it would be better to say that the federal government is putting $500 million up for grabs. It’s an important [...]

Seeking state-local balance on evaluations | EdNewsColorado

Seeking state-local balance on evaluations

by Todd Engdahl

A central issue in Colorado’s year-old educator effectiveness law – the amount of flexibility school districts should have in evaluating teachers – was at the forefront Wednesday as the State Board of Education discussed rules for implementing the law.

In other action

The board got its first formal look at the 30 pages of draft regulations for implementation of Senate Bill 10-191, the educator effectiveness law that requires annual evaluations of principals and teachers, basing 50 percent of evaluations on student growth and removing teachers from non-probationary status if they receive two ineffective evaluations.

“This is an exciting day, an historic day,” noted Deputy Commissioner Diana Sirko.

A key issue in the draft regulations is whether districts should opt in or opt out of the model system to be

Hancock renews promise of DPS focus

by Charlie Brennan

Denver Mayor-elect Michael Hancock Wednesday reaffirmed he’ll be paying close attention to the relationship between city hall and Denver Public Schools.

And, a prominent Hancock supporter hinted where the new mayor’s sympathies might lie in the November DPS board elections, viewed by many as pivotal to the district’s future.

Denver Mayor-elect Michael Hancock

Hancock, who said during his campaign that he would name a special liaison to DPS, elaborated on his plans during a post-election news conference at Civic Center Park.

Referring to the city’s Office for Education and Children, Hancock said, “We’re going to modify it to manager of children’s affairs, and that individual is going to work with me to create more of a comprehensive approach to

NYC Educator: January Sounds Far Away, But...

January Sounds Far Away, But...

by Miss Eyre

...it's not far from the mind of high school teachers and principals, who are asking the state to reconsider the discontinuance of January Regents exams. New York State requires that students pass a minimum of five Regents exams to graduate from high school, and in the past, they have been offered three times a year: January, June, and August. With January's administration out the window, New York students will only have 2 shots a year at the exams.

Understandably, this makes high school teachers and principals upset and nervous, which is to say nothing of the kids. With schools set to be judged even more by test scores for the upcoming school year, losing 1 of 3 chances to boost their numbers will hurt. And it's a blow to the kids who struggle with the tests as well; I personally know kids who have tried to pass certain exams 3 and 4 times before

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The Push to PrivatizeIn theory, outsourcing public services should save the state millions, but some ill-considered initiatives have ended up costing that much

The Push to Privatize
In theory, outsourcing public services should save the state millions, but some ill-considered initiatives have ended up costing that much