Friday, August 12, 2011

The Real Score on the 2011 Test Scores « EdVox

The Real Score on the 2011 Test Scores

by edvoxny

Will the PEP Confront the Numbers?

By Zakiyah Ansari

Next, Wednesday, August 17th is the next Panel for Education Policy (PEP) meeting at Murry Bergtraum High School, and on the agenda are contracts and the budget. Does anyone besides me notice a glaring omission from the agenda? What about the educational crisis surrounding the recently released test scores?

As a parent, I am frustrated and angered by the lack of accountability of the Department of Education and, ultimately, the Mayor. This is all too familiar! It was the same time last year when New York State re-calibrated the test scores, and there was no mention of scores on the August PEP agenda. If the Department of Education doesn’t acknowledge that our schools are in an educational crisis and open a public dialogue about it, how will

Arrests highlight education busing issues - CNN.com

Arrests highlight education busing issues

By Liane Membis, Special to CNN

July 21, 2010 2:30 p.m. EDT

Police arrest protesters at a school board meeting Tuesday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Activists arrested protesting new education policy in North Carolina
Wake County School Board recently voted to end busing
Busing had been used to promote diversity in North Carolina schools
The newly elected school board is in favor of community-based schools

(CNN) -- The arrest of 19 protesters at a rancorous school board meeting Tuesday brings the issue of busing and diversity in education into the national spotlight.

The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and local African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches held a mass mobilization march Tuesday in Raleigh, North Carolina, to protest the recent decision by the Wake County Board of Education to end a 10-year-old socioeconomic diversity plan for public schools. The school board voted 5-4 on March 23 to end "forced busing," a method initiated in the 1970s to promote diversity in public schools.

Nearly 1000 people, including members of local church, community and advocacy groups, gathered at the Raleigh Convention Center and marched to the state capitol, according to local police and othe

Michelle Rhee's Cheating Scandal: Diane Ravitch Blasts Education Reform Star - The Daily Beast

Shame on Michelle Rhee

A new report shows student testing irregularities in D.C. under the leadership of star education reform advocate Michelle Rhee. Education expert Diane Ravitch blasts Rhee's misguided approach. Plus, Dana Goldstein says the report is no surprise.

Mar 29, 2011 5:04 AM EDT

The corporate education reform movement has had no more visible star than Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. After she left office last fall, she formed a new political organization to raise $1 billion to advocate for the changes she believes in. She has been advising some of the nation's most conservative governors to fight the teachers' unions and rely on standardized tests to fire or reward teachers.

Her credibility was her alleged success in lifting up test scores in the low-performing public schools of the nation's capitol during her nearly four years in

Perseid Meteor Shower Light Show Peaks Tonight | Perseid Meteors & Full Moons | Meteor Shower Skywatching Tips | Space.com

Perseid Meteor Shower Light Show Peaks Tonight

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

Date: 12 August 2011 Time: 07:00 AM ET

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This year's Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of Friday, Aug. 12 and into the early morning of Saturday, Aug 13.
CREDIT: Michael Menefee

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In a double weekend treat, one of the most well-known and reliable meteor showers — the Perseid meteor shower — will reach its peak overnight Friday (Aug. 12) as the International Space Station flies across the sky above many U.S. cities.

The annual Perseid meteor shower returns this week, but is expected to hit its peak activity in the overnight hours of Friday and Saturday (Aug. 13). While the full moon of August may interfere with th

A feel-good deception: Rhee and the Willow Creek Church

by admin

Written by karoli for Crooks and Liars. Read the entire article here.
“If one were to paint a picture of StudentsFirst founder, Michelle Rhee, based upon her associations, what would emerge wouldn’t look much like anyone claiming to be a “liberal,” or a Democrat. After all, she’s cozied up with Florida governor Rick Scott to help destroy Florida public schools. Then did the same with Tennessee’s legislators to wreck theirs. She’s also an avowed enemy of organized labor, stepping out with Scott Walker to be honored by Betsy DeVos. Plus, her good buddy Joel Klein is Rupert Murdoch’s BFF.

Here’s a new contour to flesh out the picture: Rhee is slated to appear at Willow Creek Community Church’sGlobal Leadership Summit this week. And here’s something you need to know about Willow Creek Community Church. Willow Creek, while officially non-denominational, has theological roots reaching deeply into the Southern Baptist tradition. Because that might put off someone otherwise interested in attending their church,

Revising Science Curricula Yet Again (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Revising Science Curricula Yet Again (Part 2)

by larrycuban

The recent publication of a new science Framework and the slow motion birth of national standards in the U.S.–44 states have already adopted Common Core Standards in English and Math–announces to the world yet another version of what science knowledge is important for students to learn. Not too many policymakers (and wannabe reformers), fearful of India and China awash in engineers, scientists, and mathematicians, know about previous “new” science frameworks.

Because advancing science (and technology) carries so much policy talk and political symbolism with it in the U.S., knowing about earlier cycles of re-making science curricula–especially in secondary schools–become important in raising questions about why repeated revisions appear decade after decade. Here is the story.

For over a century, there have been continuous efforts to alter both the content and classroom practice of

This Week In Education: Thompson: Duncan Cares About Data More Than Due Process

Thompson: Duncan Cares About Data More Than Due Process

by john thompson

The successful Tennessee Race to the Top application was reportedly based on "deep buy-in" by teachers. But the new Tennessee governor repudiated those principles with an all-out assault on due process and by imposing a new evaluation system over the protests of teachers. Secretary Duncan has remained silent while Tennessee as well as Rhode Island and Florida have violated the collaborative spirit which RttT was supposed to foster but, as EdWeek's Michele McNeil reports, come down hard on California for cutting data systems rather than people during a recession. McNeil says it is understandable that Duncan would draw the line on that issue because it

NO ROOM FOR DISAPPOINTMENT IN “HAPPY LAND” « Teachers Fight Back

NO ROOM FOR DISAPPOINTMENT IN “HAPPY LAND”

by alkleen

Latest trend - students who try out for sports teams in high school and don’t make it, must be consoled and comforted by the coaches. The days of coaches posting a list on the wall showing who made the team are OVER! There is no place for disappointment in “Happy Happy School” (my name for schools today that must ensure every student’s happiness). It’s too traumatic for a student to read a list and find that their name is not among those who have made a team. This practice has been going on for at least a hundred years, but no more, our modern students are too fragile to be treated in such an impersonal manner.

Coaches are now told they must talk with each student individually if they have not made a sports team. This can be quite a lengthy process since sometimes there are a hundred students who try out for a team, and only a few can make it. Coaches must now spend hours explaining to students exactly why they didn’t make the team, and must be sure to comfort the traumatized student.

This is another example of how teachers have taken over the job of parenting. Parents used to prepare their

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Update on TFA/Apple Partnership

Update on TFA/Apple Partnership

As I previously reported, I called Apple and TFA about this iPad partnership. Apple was very nice but said they knew nothing about it and to ask TFA. TFA didn't return either of my phone calls or my e-mail. I can't find any other info via Google, either.

They want people to donate but they don't want people, even those donating the iPad, to know where it will go. What is a big question is if TFA is giving the iPad to a school where a TFA recruit is assigned or to the TFA recruit?

Because thenwhat happens when the TFA recruit leaves

Jersey Jazzman: Shared Sacrifice?

Shared Sacrifice?

by Duke

So I keep thinking about Chris Christie's call last year for "shared sacrifice" from New Jersey's teachers. And I keep thinking about how NJ public worker pension and benefits contributions are going to skyrocket over the next few years. And I keep thinking about how Derrell Bradford's B4K is calling for a radical restructuring of teacher pay; presumably, taking money from some teachers and giving it to others under a wildly unreliable testing regime.

But I'm also thinking about how Derrell got the money to wage his war on teachers unions: hedge fund manager David Tepper, one of the richest people in the US. And I'm wondering what sort of "sacrifice" Tepper is making

More Thoughs on Whitney Tilson and My Essay on Brill's "Class Warfare" - Dana Goldstein

More Thoughs on Whitney Tilson and My Essay on Brill's "Class Warfare"

by Dana Goldstein

No piece of journalism is ever perfectly-crafted or argued, and I think Matt Yglesias' defense of charter school donor/advocate Whitney Tilson, who I criticize in my essay on Class Warfare, is generally fair.

Yes, Tilson is a Democrat who has donated to many politicians who support progressive taxation and better social services for the poor. I admire Tilson for being one of the "Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength," signing a letter in support of raising taxes on wealthy folks like himself. And I'm a commited reader of Tilson's invaluable, though sometimes overheated, school reform newsletter.

The point I tried to make in my essay, however, was not, as Matt writes, that "the focus on schooling is kind of a mask for people who want to avoid grappling with other inequities." I agree with Tilson, and with Matt, that school reform is a productive lever for social change--if I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be devoting my professional life to

Anti-Union and Anti-Women | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Anti-Union and Anti-Women

By Charlotte Williams on August 12, 2011

A recent Salon article by Natasha Lennard discusses the central role of women’s issues in the current Wisconsin political saga, including this week’s recall elections. For six months, since Governor Scott Walker sought to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights—among other measures curbing public worker benefits and reducing the state’s expenditures, workers and their advocates have voiced vehement protest, culminating in the recall elections for some of the representatives who supported Walker’s policies. Women’s rights have been central to the debate over teachers’ unions in Wisconsin since the beginning, since Walker targeted teachers and nurses—professions in which the vast majority of workers are women. He exempted the male-dominated (and Republican-leaning) fields of firefighters and police. It’s unclear whether Walker was consciously trying to target

NYC Public School Parents: Five reasons to say NO! to the DOE's $120 million contract with Verizon

Five reasons to say NO! to the DOE's $120 million contract with Verizon

by Leonie Haimson

On Wednesday, August 17, the Department of Education's Panel for Education Policy will vote on a $120 million two year contract with telecom giant Verizon to wire our schools. There are at least five good reasons to oppose this contract ( see below.)

Join us at the PEP meeting near City Hall to protest this immoral and possibly illegal contract. At the same time the PEP will be voting on a spending plan that will cut our school budgets - for the third year in a row - and lead to sharply larger classes.
Whether you can join us or not, please send the message below to the members of the PEP:

What: Picket and Protest

Where: Murry Bergtraum HS, 411 Pearl Street, Manhattan (4/5/6 or N/R to City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge)

Rick Scott Gives Lip Service to Teacher Pay | Scathing Purple Musings

Rick Scott Gives Lip Service to Teacher Pay

by Bob Sikes

From Peter Schorsch’s StPetersblog:

Gov. Rick Scott generally stuck to a familiar script while taking questions from callers and emailers during an appearance on C-Span Friday morning, mostly sidestepping the specifics of their questions to answer in broad generalizations that he’s talked about for months, reports the News Service of Florida. He did say, however, that he’s open to ideas on how to best determine how to pay teachers, in response to a question from a special education teacher from Tampa who said she agreed with ending tenure, but thought children are tested too much. “Any ideas that anybody has,” said Scott, who appeared receptive to her contention that some children are over-stressed by taking too many tests. “My life was changed by great teachers. I want to make sure

The Nation: Biased Slant Misses Point On Education : NPR

The Nation: Biased Slant Misses Point On Education

by DANA GOLDSTEIN

Dana Goldstein is a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at The Nation Institute and a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation.

Steven Brill, the journalist and media entrepreneur, has come a long way since he helicoptered onto the education beat in 2009.

That's when The New Yorker published Brill's expose of the New York City "rubber rooms," where the Department of Education parked the one-twentieth of 1 percent of the city's 80,000 public school teachers — about forty people — who had been accused of gross negligence and removed from the classroom. As they awaited the due process hearings guaranteed in their union contracts, rubber room teachers received full pay and benefits, sometimes for up to three years.

The article sparked outrage among readers, who were appalled that millions of tax dollars were spent annually paying the salaries and arbitrating the cases of teachers who came to work inebriated or practiced corporal punishment. Despite the fact that the Department of Education

OTL Campaign Blog: Ohio judge takes steps hold Ohio charter operator accountable for actions

Ohio judge takes steps hold Ohio charter operator accountable for actions

by otlcampaign

Our friends at the Public Education Network highlighted this news article that’s a reminder about the lack of accountability of charter schools.

With White Hats like these...

An Ohio judge has ordered charter-school operator David L. Brennan to turn over a detailed accounting of how his for-profit management company White Hat spends the millions of tax dollars it receives each year, The Columbus Dispatch reports. The state’s law “clearly and unambiguously requires operators of community schools to provide their governing authorities with a detailed accounting of how public funds are spent,” Judge

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: No Child Left Behind "Waivers": A View from the Classroom

No Child Left Behind "Waivers": A View from the Classroom

Good piece at Gapers Block by SOSer Adam Heenan, a public school teacher in Chicago.

When Duncan announced that he will allow states to "waive" their No Child Left Behind requirements, I held my breath for the ball to drop. Could it be? The end of high-stakes testing? The end of labeling our

Solidarity Forever in Honor of the Wisconsin 14

Arne Duncan, Suuuuuuuuuper Geeeeeeenius! « Jay P. Greene's Blog

Arne Duncan, Suuuuuuuuuper Geeeeeeenius!

by Greg Forster

(Guest post by Greg Forster)

Before he goes ahead with the plan to set himself up as America’s first one-man legislature, Arne Duncan might want to read this detailed, devastating takedown by Rick Hess.

This is pretty much what I was trying to get at in the comments earlier this week, except a whole lot better both on substance and humor value. I couldn’t stop laughing, and I also couldn’t stop crying.

(Although I do think I should get points for working in an Iron Chefs reference.)

If Duncan doesn’t pick up the clue Rick is putting out on the table for him, here’s how his tenure might be

A Punishing Educational Curriculum | Dissident Voice

A Punishing Educational Curriculum

by Walter Brasch

With the nation’s unemployment rate hovering about 10 percent, recent high school graduates are escaping reality by going to college, and college grads are avoiding reality by entering grad school. The result is that it now takes a M.A. to become a shift manager at a fast food restaurant.

Colleges have stayed ahead of the Recession by becoming business models, where students are “inventory units,” and success is based upon escalating profit. Increasing the number of incoming units, class size, and tuition, while not increasing teaching and support staff, leads some colleges to believe they are solvent in a leaking economy. Budgets for academics are decreasing; budgets for dorms are increasing. Enrollment in degree-granting institutions is expected to be about 19.1 million in 2012, an increase of about 25 percent from 2000, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Desperate to destroy their image as places of scholarship, colleges are using the 98.6 admissions criteria—admit almost anyone with a body temperature. Colleges may claim they admit only students with at least a 3.0

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