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Monday, July 18, 2011

Big Education Ape: 7-18-11 AM The Controversy of IMPACT EDition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Big Education Ape: Ed News Now
Published by Coopmike48 – 6 contributors today

The Washington Teacher: The Controversy of IMPACT

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - The Washington Teacher: The Controversy of IMPACTThe Controversy of IMPACTby Candi PetersonWritten by Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice PresidentDC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued “Y...

coopmike48

Schools Matter: What school is all about

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: What school is all aboutWhat school is all aboutby skrashenSent to the Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2011In addition to influencing the medical literature (LA Times, July 16), J.K. Ro...

coopmike48

Rupert Murdoch Says Obama Will Win

huffingtonpost.com - Carlsbad, CA -- Tonight at the "All Things Digital" conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch -- Chairman of News Corp, new WSJ owner, and longtime torchbearer for conservativ...

DianeRavitch

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coopmike48 Monday Churn: Update on budget cuts | EdNewsColorado -http://goo.gl/76GNk17 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Report: Colleges should educate students on private loans | California Watch - http://goo.gl/aN6Zn16 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Amazon: Muscling California | California Progress Report -http://goo.gl/oNwa315 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

Why I’m Marching Forward [It's The Only Direction]

thejosevilson.com - You’ve got to be wondering what a teacher like me is doing marching against the “reform” trends. For those of you unfamiliar with my background, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from S...

fklonsky

Cracking a System Where Cheating Was Rampant

nytimes.com - ATLANTA — There had long been suspicions that cheating on state tests was widespread in the Atlanta public schools, but the superintendent, Beverly L. Hall, was feared by teachers and principals, a...

DianeRavitch

PoliticsSee all

Can school reformer Joel Klein reform News Corp?

reuters.com - By Joseph Ax and Noeleen Walder NEW YORK | Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:12pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Joel Klein stepped down from running New York City's schools last year to head the education divisio...

leoniehaimson

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Troubles That Money Can’t Dispel

nytimes.com - “Bury your mistakes,” Rupert Murdoch is fond of saying. But some mistakes don’t stay buried, no matter how much money you throw at them. Time and again in the United States and elsewher...

DianeRavitch

Cash Tempts the Ivory Tower’s Guardians

nytimes.com - LONDON — As a textbook example of how not to manage the relationship between private industry and the academy, Deutsche Bank’s agreement with two leading German universities to sponsor their joint ...

coopmike48

Today only 2 CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS Yeah!

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALSAbramson Science and Technology Charter School *"Records show glaring faults at school with ties to Turkish charter network.”* Times-Picayune (LA) 7/15/2011 Inci Akpinar, the...

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StoriesSee all

Articles in the Blog Category

zhaolearning.com - A Bold Education Experiment: What We Should Learn From China World’s longest high-speed rail networks, fastest trains, fastest computer, second largest economy, and #1 standing in international tes...

leoniehaimson

Great Bee Count aids scientists

sfgate.com - For exactly 15 minutes Saturday morning, Fred Bové stared at sunflowers, watching, waiting and hoping an industrious little bee would land on the bright yellow flowers. A couple of honey bees whizz...

coopmike48

LivingSee all

200 Out US Servicemembers March in San Diego Pride Parade

my.firedoglake.com - Making history, 200 LGBT servicemembers — reserve, active duty, and veterans alike — marched openly in the San Diego Pride Parade yesterday. This marks the first time in America a contingent of ser...

coopmike48

#eduRead this paperSee all

Daily Kos: July 17, 1954

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Daily Kos: July 17, 1954July 17, 1954by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)Is a date that all baseball fans should know, but probably don't.Let me help you.Pitcher Don NewcombeCatcher Roy Campanel...

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    Daily Kos: Go easy on the Bankers

    Daily Kos: Go easy on the Bankers

    Go easy on the Bankers

    by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)
    Ever since the current economic crisis began, it has seemed that five words sum up the central principle of United States financial policy: go easy on the bankers.

    Those are the opening words of Go Easy on the Bankers, the powerful column in today'sNew York Times by Paul Krugman.

    He pulls no punches.

    He says things a lot of people have perhaps been thinking.

    He applies it to the closing months of the Bush administration

    when a huge lifeline for the banks was made available with few strings attached.
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    Does The New York City Dept. Of Ed Have Any Clue What They’re Doing In Parent Engagement? | Engaging Parents In School...

    Does The New York City Dept. Of Ed Have Any Clue What They’re Doing In Parent Engagement? | Engaging Parents In School...
    Does The New York City Dept. Of Ed Have Any Clue What They’re Doing In Parent Engagement? Two months after completely bungling elections for Parent Councils (and that election was a “do-over” because they had completely bungled it the first time), they have announced spending $2 million dollars for a survey to parents. I have voiced my ...
    More Info On Approval Of Parent Trigger Regs Here are two more articles providing more information about yesterday’s approval of California parent trigger regulations b the State Board of Education: New parent trigger regs approved is from Thoughts on Public Education. Regulations approved for ...
    “Calif board OKs rules giving parents school power” Calif board OKs rules giving parents school power is the headline of an ABC News article describing the California State Board of Education’s approval of regulations to govern use of the parent trigger law. As I’ve written many times before, it’s a ...
    “Why parents love a lower-rated school” Why parents love a lower-rated school is an interesting post from Jay Mathews. It’s about a school that is presently mixed between lower and middle income families. The District now wants to move many of the middle income families to a different ...
    Final California Parent Trigger Rules Proposed Even though I think it’s a pretty safe bet that the idea of a “parent trigger” law is rapidly dying, it looks like the California State Board of Education may soon approve final regulations governing the process. You can read about it at Final ...
    “Legislative Momentum Stalls for ‘Parent Trigger’ Proposals” Legislative Momentum Stalls for ‘Parent Trigger’ Proposals is the headline in an article today at Education Week. Here’s an excerpt: *The momentum behind “parent-trigger” proposals, one of the hottest ideas for overhauling struggling schools, has ...
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    Diminished Pell Grants will hurt the neediest

    Diminished Pell Grants will hurt the neediest

    Diminished Pell Grants will hurt the neediest

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    In the days-long struggle over how to avert an unprecedented federal government default, discussions have focused on preserving low taxes, while avoiding the effect spending reductions would have on real Americans. Thus it is disturbing to note that in the debt ceiling debate, funding for Pell Grants remains a bargaining chip rather than a commitment to our aspiring but low-income youth.

    Pell Grants, which help needy kids go to college, are on the chopping block, facing proposals to reduce grant amounts and change eligibility requirements.

    This comes as tuition is rising significantly at the California State University System (up



    Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/15/ED2G1KB4IH.DTL#ixzz1SSRlWkNZ
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    July’s Best Tweets — Part One | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

    July’s Best Tweets — Part One | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
    The Best Funny Videos Showing The Importance Of Being Bilingual — Part One A couple of days I ago I asked readers to help me out by suggesting video clips from movies and television that would demonstrate the importance of being bilingual. I’m creating a lesson plan (which I’ll share in this blog sometime in the future) ...
    More Posts & Articles About Atlanta Scandal Here are the latest additions to The Best Posts & Articles About The Atlanta Testing Scandal: Yong Zhao has written: Ditch Testing (Part 4): Test Security Measures in China Ditch Testing (Part 5): Testing Has Not Improved Education Despite all the ...
    July’s Best Tweets — Part One Every month I make a short list highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. Now and then, in order to make it a bit easier for me, I may try ...
    Inspector Kloo 5 Inspector Kloo 5 is a fun online video game that offers a great opportunity for English language learning. You can find its walkthrough (instructions on how to win) here. I’ve explained how I use these kinds of games with my students at Pointing and ...
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    Cutting teachers’ learning curve | Thoughts on Public Education

    Cutting teachers’ learning curve | Thoughts on Public Education

    Cutting teachers’ learning curve

    Aspire's program offers master's and mastery

    Posted on 7/17/11 • Categorized as Teacher Development

    By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

    A bipartisan bill before Congress that’s drawing considerable attention would provide federal funding to states that establish academies and residency programs to train the next generation of high-striving teachers and principals in low-achieving districts. A residency program launched last year by Oakland-based Aspire Public Schools illustrates the type of program the legislation is intended to support.

    The Aspire Teacher Residency Program trains and mentors teachers for placement in the charter network’s 34 schools in California. It offers a stipend to novice teachers the first year,

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    The Nation on ALEC, Consortium for Republican Right Wing Policy « Larry Miller's Blog

    The Nation on ALEC, Consortium for Republican Right Wing Policy « Larry Miller's Blog

    The Nation on ALEC, Consortium for Republican Right Wing Policy

    by millerlf

    The Conservatives’ ALEC Philosophy: Everything Related to Government Should Be Demonized, Starved or Privatized

    Any force in civil society that contests the right of business to grab all social surplus, and to treat people like roadkill and the earth like a sewer, should be crushed.
    This article is part of a Nation series exposing the American Legislative Exchange Council, in collaboration with the Center For Media and Democracy. John Nichols introduces the series. For more great content from the Nation, sign up for their e-mail newsletters here.
    In the world according to ALEC, competing firms in free markets are the only real source of social efficiency and wealth. Government contributes nothing but security. Outside of this function, it should be demonized, starved or
    Posted by at

    The real problem with IMPACT teacher evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

    The real problem with IMPACT teacher evaluation - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

    The real problem with IMPACT teacher evaluation

    by Valerie Strauss

    --

    John Thompson was a historian and a legislative lobbyist when crack and gangs hit his neighborhood, and he became an inner-city teacher. He blogs for Alexander Russo’s This Week in Education, the Huffington Post and other sites. After 18 years in the classroom, he is writing a book, “Getting Schooled: Battles Inside and Outside the Urban Classroom.”

    Read full article >>
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    Schools Matter: Pots, Kettles, and Ben Austin's Unconscionable Hypocrisy

    Schools Matter: Pots, Kettles, and Ben Austin's Unconscionable Hypocrisy

    Pots, Kettles, and Ben Austin's Unconscionable Hypocrisy

    by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene
    There's nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more COMPETITION couldn't cure. — Ann Coulter (racist reactionary right wing pundit)

    It would force the district to learn how to run great schools by forcing them to COMPETE. — Ben Austin(Executive Director LAPU/Parent Revolution)

    The foppish millionaire from Benedict Canyon, school privatization pusher and poverty pimp Ben Austin
    Few people are more despicable than Ben Austin, Executive Director of the so-called Parent Revolution (née Los Angeles Parents Union - LAPU) school privatization junta. After all, anyone mendacious enough to claim they're a parent with children enrolled in school when they have no school age children is lacking of any scruples. [1] Moreover, a man who can walk into impoverished neighborhoods like Boyle Heights or
    Posted by at

    Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's growing presence in U.S. charter schools

    Schooling in the Ownership Society: Murdoch's growing presence in U.S. charter schools

    Murdoch's growing presence in U.S. charter schools

    by Mike Klonsky
    Joel Klein left his job as Chancellor of New York City Schools, to take up positions as Executive Vice-President in the office of the chairman and CEO of News Corp’s Education Division, apparently to develop software and other educational tools that would lead to a “huge transformation in the field of education”, bringing the Murdoch empire at the forefront of using technology to deliver instruction. His critics claim that more teaching will be computer based and that teachers will become more and more redundant in this landscape. Although there is no evidence for this, other detractors wonder if this is beginning of Murdoch establishing a Chain of
    Posted by at

    Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

    Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

    WEEKEND QUOTABLES

    Photo N. Marroquin
    Students have no tolerance for Zero Tolerance
    "As a result of the current disciplinary policies, we don't feel any safer in our schools," said Gabriela Hernandez, 16, a junior at Kelvyn Park High School. -- Chicago Tribune.
    Yong Zhao
    "In well-to-do schools, teachers may doubt the value of the tests, but
    Posted by at

    Improvising is Good Teaching « InterACT

    Improvising is Good Teaching « InterACT

    Improvising is Good Teaching

    by David B. Cohen

    In Larry Cuban’s recent blog post Jazz, Basketball, and Teacher Decision-Making, he serves up two excellent analogies to help readers understand the complex nature of teaching. In the midst of a jazz improvisation or a sporting event, an individual makes one decision after another, each one a reaction to the moment. On one level, that might sound like a poor approach to teaching; improvising may suggest a lack of planning or uncertainty about how to move a lesson along. However, at our best, I think teachers create the conditions for improvisation – for students and for ourselves.

    trumpetA jazz composer provides the themes and structure, but the

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    National Curriculum and Use of Technology | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

    National Curriculum and Use of Technology | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

    National Curriculum and Use of Technology

    by larrycuban

    Who gave this recent speech on a national curriculum?

    “The nations of East Asia, large and small, are now in the position the Islamic world was a millennium ago or Europe enjoyed during the Renaissance. Individually, they now increasingly resemble the England of the eighteenth century, the Germany of the nineteenth or the USA in the twentieth.

    They are growing rapidly industrially and technologically; integrating more and more of their people into the global economy; investing more and more in math and science; producing the engineers, technicians, scientists and inventors who will shape tomorrow’s world….

    At undergraduate level, over half of degrees in China, Singapore and Japan are awarded in science and engineering subjects – compared to around a third in the UK, EU and US. The number of science and

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    Sunday, July 17, 2011

    The Washington Teacher: The Controversy of IMPACT

    The Washington Teacher: The Controversy of IMPACT

    The Controversy of IMPACT

    by Candi Peterson

    Written by Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

    DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued “You’re fired letters" this past week to 206 DC teachers. Before DC teachers knew of their own fate, the mainstream media had received a lengthy DCPS press packet on Friday, July 15 from the Office of the Chancellor (OOC) lauding teacher terminations and celebrating highly effective teachers eligible for merit pay. Bill Turque, staff writer for the Washington Post reported on the details of the DCPS firings as early as July 15. Turquewrote: “Of the 206 fired, D.C. officials said, 65 were rated ineffective this year and 141 were judged minimally effective for the second consecutive year, triggering dismissal.” An additional twenty-one teachers who were effective and/or highly effective were also terminated byDCPS because they could not find a permanent placement.

    Friday's teacher firings are a continuation of Michelle Rhee's educational plan to terminate a significant share

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    Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: This is What is REALLY Wrong in Public Education

    Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: This is What is REALLY Wrong in Public Education

    This is What is REALLY Wrong in Public Education

    by Melissa Westbrook
    Below is a post from a teacher, "No Confidence," from another thread but I read it and said bingo! (Emphasis mine.)

    I think that the first change that could make some difference would be for teacher & administrators to understand the limits of their abilities to assess. At least the teacher could say, Sally is learning differently than many other kids I see and we don't know why. Johnny is refusing to do writing assignments and we don't know why.

    Next I think that PD should include training about learning & developmental differences, with case studies, to
    Posted by at

    Why I’m Marching Forward [It's The Only Direction] | The Jose Vilson

    Why I’m Marching Forward [It's The Only Direction] | The Jose Vilson

    Why I’m Marching Forward [It's The Only Direction]

    by Jose

    You’ve got to be wondering what a teacher like me is doing marching against the “reform” trends. For those of you unfamiliar with my background, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Syracuse University. A year later, after 6-8 months of unemployment and a stint as a data entry person at an educational database firm, I went into the NYC Teaching Fellows program, an offshoot of Michelle Rhee’s New Teacher Project. On the surface, I’m a perfect candidate to follow the corporatist thinking about education, and should be easily molded into the dominant thinking from elites who ostensibly believe they’re going into education for the common good. All it takes is the right amount of fear, the right amount of frustration, the right amount of ignorance, and the right amount of failure to tip people into the hands of those who wish to rotate our profession backwards.

    Fortunately for me, I lucked out. And if you’re reading this, I’m thinking the same goes for you.

    You see, I teach at a school that, somewhere along the line, decided to value veteran leadership and collaboration. They fostered a culture of discussion and unity that stems from decades of hardship from a neighborhood and administration standpoint. As leaders changed and gangs ran the block, teachers fortified the

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    4LAKids -: FLORIDA CHARTER SCHOOLS’ MANY F’s GIVE AMMUNITION TO CRITICS: Charters were seven times more likely to receive F's on state's report card

    4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: FLORIDA CHARTER SCHOOLS’ MANY F’s GIVE AMMUNITION TO CRITICS: Charters were seven times more likely than regular public schools to receive F's on state's report card
    4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit (2)
    OUR BROKEN ESCALATOR By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF. Op-Ed Columnist in the NY Times | http://nyti.ms/nm6gio July 17 , 2011 - YAMHILL, Ore. -- THE United States supports schools in Afghanistan because we know that education is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to build a ...
    FLORIDA CHARTER SCHOOLS’ MANY F’s GIVE AMMUNITION TO CRITICS: Charters were seven times more likely than regular public schools to receive F's on state's report card By Dave Weber, Orlando Sentinel | http://thesent.nl/qgYvwF 4:26 PM EDT, July 16, 2011 - Charter schools, which account for only a fraction of the state's public schools, received half of all the F's when the state handed out its annual letter grades two ...
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