We’re Launching Our Parent Leadership Academy In May! « New York City Parents Union

We’re Launching Our Parent Leadership Academy In May! « New York City Parents Union:

We’re Launching Our Parent Leadership Academy In May!

by admin

The New York City Parents Union (the “Parents Union”) is pleased to announce the launch of its Parent Academy — a program to educate and empower public school parents through increased parental involvement and engagement in matters of education management.

The Parents Union, in collaboration with the United Federation of Teachers, is sponsoring a five-week leadership training program starting on Saturday, May 5, 2012.  The Parent Academy will include sessions covering parent rights, the Schools Governance Law, Special Education Law, Community Education Councils and School Leadership Teams, Title 1, public speaking and advocacy.

PISA: What can parents do to help their children succeed in school?

PISA:

What PISA Is

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an international study which began in the year 2000. It aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating countries/economies. Since the year 2000 over 70 countries and economies have participated in PISA.

What's new

PISA: What can parents do to help their children succeed in school? 08-Nov-2011 'PISA in Focus N°10' looks at the impact of parents' participation in their children's learning.

PISA: School autonomy and accountability: Are they related to student performance? 20-Oct-2011 'PISA in Focus N°9' looks at the relationship between student performance and the way schools are run.

Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountability | Seattle Education

Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountability | Seattle Education:

Pencils Down: Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink High-Stakes Assessment and Accountability

by seattleducation2011

Rethinking Schools has just come out with its latest publication Pencils Down edited by Wayne Au and Melissa Bollow Tempel.
To follow is the introduction to the book.

In 2000, Rethinking Schools published Failing Our Kids: Why the Testing Craze Won’t Fix Our Schools. In that volume, editors Kathy Williams (then Swope) and Barbara Miner pulled together a groundbreaking collection of essays, letters, articles, and analyses that challenged the juggernaut of high-stakes testing and accountability in public education policy.
And we thought things were bad then…
We now live in a world after the bipartisan passage of NCLB. The tsunami of high-stakes testing and accountability has crashed on our educational shores with full force-threatening the foundations of teaching and learning, as well as the democratic aspirations of public education.
Those of us who held even the slimmest hope that changes in presidential administrations might stem or 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unions

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unions:

Geoffrey Canada declares war on teacher unions

by Mike Klonsky

Rhee & Canada lead the war on teacher unions.

“Folks are genuinely looking for opportunities to make peace and not war,” Mr. Canada said. “And I think that’s terrific. But someone has to make war.” -- Geoffrey Canada        

Canada's war declaration comes at the end of a Times story announcing the formation of a well-financed and politically connected alliance aimed at nothing less than smashing teacher unions. The new Officers in the anti-teacher army include (as you might expect) Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee. Klein left his post as NYC schools chancellor to pimp for international criminal and tabloid publishing giant Rupert Murdoch. Rhee is building her own billion-dollar lobbying company, Children First, and advising Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott on his own union-busting initiatives. The new group, called StudentsFirstNY, is an arm of Rhee's lobbying group, Children First. Others include, Micah Lasher, who is leaving his job next week as the director of state legislative affairs for Mayor Bloomberg, Eva Moskowitz, the former councilwoman who now runs a chain of  charter schools, former 

Schools Matter: Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes Testing

Schools Matter: Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes Testing:

Over 230 Texas School Systems Pass Resolution to Rein In High Stakes Testing

It's only fitting that the most sustained and widespread effort to stop the abusive testing frenzy would come from Texas, which is, after all, the birthplace of testing on steroids and the home of the only former American president who cannot travel abroad for fear of being arrested as a war criminal. 

The post below is by TASA's Jenny LaCoste-Caputo:

Testing resolution continues to gain steam

In her blog for Education Week Diane Ravitch once again focuses on the revolution that's caught fire in Texas and resonated with so many school leaders, teachers, parents and students.

Ravitch posted a blog post Tuesday titled "Stalking the Vampire in Texas" where she not only talks 

Daily Kos: on religion, belief, political participation and more

Daily Kos: on religion, belief, political participation and more
on religion, belief, political participation and more

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in light of the dueling diaries on the rec list on the subject of belief versus atheism etc., I thought it might be relevant for me to repost this, written almost 7 years ago on April 16, 2005.  It might be worthwhile noting that progressives of faith were very much a part of the early days of this site, and we had worship services at the very first Yearly Kos in Las Vegas.
The only changes to the original form of this diary are to update the information about my age
A statement for Pastor Dan
My name is Kenneth Bernstein.  On various electronic fora I am known as teacherken.  Much of my life has been an inchoate search for meaning.   During my almost 66 years of life I spent time in a variety of religions.  While I am now officially a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), I have at various times attended