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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Kent State
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Kent State: Kent State by Mike Klonsky Troops roll through Kent St. May 4, 197042 years ago today, following Nixon's invasion of Cambodia, National Guard troops fired on peaceful student anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine. We had become, as the Presidential Commission on Campus Unrest put it, “a nation driven to use the weapons of war upon its youth.” Today, as survivors of the Kent State massacre call for a new investigation into the shootings, the drums of war are beating again with Chicago the focus of an... more »
Pearson Defends Use of Pineapple Story on State Test – SchoolBook
Pearson Defends Use of Pineapple Story on State Test – SchoolBook: Pearson Defends Use of Pineapple Story on State Test by Yasmeen Khan Pearson, the testing company, says it stands behind the math and reading tests the company developed for New York State this year and, in a letter to the state Education Department, defended its decision to include anow-notorious passage about a pineapple and a hare on the eighth grade English language-arts exam. Pearson has not spoken publicly about the controversy over the reading passage, or about other test errors. But Time.com obtained the lett... more »
Remarks by the President on College Affordability | The White House
Remarks by the President on College Affordability | The White House: Remarks by the President on College Affordability by The White House Remarks by the President on College Affordability Washington-Lee High School Arlington, Virginia 11:53 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Generals! (Applause.) Hello, Virginia! (Applause.) Well, let me first of all say, following Amirah is kind of tough. (Laughter.) She is really good. Give her a big round of applause for the great introduction. (Applause.) There are a couple of other people I want to introduce who are here today. First o... more »
Ed Roundup for 5-4-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)
Ed Roundup for 5-4-12 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education): Education Roundup for Week Ending May 4, 2012 SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today issued this week's Education Roundup of education-related announcements of public interest. California Students Named Delegates to Prestigious Science Camp The CDE selected two California students as delegates, and another two as alternates to attend the prestigious National Youth Science Camp - Initiatives & Programs (NYSC). The delegates are: Nhi Ho of Los Angeles, a student at Santa Monica High School; and Virup Gub... more »
Pinterest: ED News Worth Reading MAY 2012 #soschat #edreform #p2
ED News Worth Reading MAY 2012: * * *ED News Worth Reading MAY 2012* * * * *
Secretary Duncan and Department Staff to Engage with Teachers During Week-long Celebration of the Teaching Profession | U.S. Department of Education
Secretary Duncan and Department Staff to Engage with Teachers During Week-long Celebration of the Teaching Profession | U.S. Department of Education: Secretary Duncan and Department Staff to Engage with Teachers During Week-long Celebration of the Teaching Profession MAY 4, 2012 *Contact: * Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Department staff will celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week with an array of events and outreach. “Teacher Appreciation Week is an opportunity to share the praise and appreciation that teachers deserve ever... more »
Why L.A. Teachers Are Boycotting the L.A. Times « Diane Ravitch's blog
Why L.A. Teachers Are Boycotting the L.A. Times « Diane Ravitch's blog: Why L.A. Teachers Are Boycotting the L.A. Times by dianerav A reader wrote to tell me that public school teachers in Los Angeles are continuing a boycott of the Los Angeles Times. This boycott stems from the Times decisions to create value-added evaluations for thousands of LA teachers and to publish them online in 2010. The accuracy of the evaluations were hotly contested by teachers and disputed by scholars who disagreed with the methodology; the reporters at the Times defended their findings and their meth... more »
Schools Matter: Pearson Tests Designed to Make the Brightest Child Feel Stupid
Schools Matter: Pearson Tests Designed to Make the Brightest Child Feel Stupid: Pearson Tests Designed to Make the Brightest Child Feel Stupid by Jim Horn From Valerie Strauss at WaPo: By Valerie Strauss A New York school principal is urging the state’s education commissioner to review the standardized math assessments recently given to students in grades 3-5 because of a host of serious problems with their design. In a powerful letter, she also told him to take the tests to see the problems for himself. New York has already had one embarrassing moment during this spring standard... more »
Rheespawnding: Toxic Michelle Rhee-group adds two more lobbyists as push continues for anti-teacher laws
The Turner Report: Michelle Rhee-group adds two more lobbyists as push continues for anti-teacher laws: Michelle Rhee-group adds two more lobbyists as push continues for anti-teacher laws StudentsFirst, the ironically (and misleadingly) named Michele Rhee-led organization that is pushing anti-teacher legislation has increased its lobbying contingent in Missouri to nine, according to Missouri Ethics Commission documents. The organization added two lobbyists, Ximena Hartsock and Adam Childers, to its roster Monday. StudentsFirst suffered a setback Wednesday when it failed to receiv... more »
The in box. IEA finally responds to the ABC Big Lie. « Fred Klonsky
The in box. IEA finally responds to the ABC Big Lie. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. IEA finally responds to the ABC Big Lie. by Fred Klonsky 48 hours after the ABC Big Lie story, repeating the talking points of the anti-union Illinois Policy Institute, the IEA finally responds. *Colleagues:* *We wanted to provide information about a particularly bad pension story aired by the top TV news operation in Chicago this week.* *On Wednesday night, in what was claimed to be an “investigative report,” WLS-TV/Channel 7 broadcast the lie that has been peddled for months by the “Illinois Policy... more »
The Educated Reporter: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: `Cheating' Series' Methodology is Valid
The Educated Reporter: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: `Cheating' Series' Methodology is Valid: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: `Cheating' Series' Methodology is Valid by Emily Richmond I received the following statement from the Atlanta *Journal-Constitution*, in response to Thursday's Educated Reporter blog about criticism of the newspaper's "Cheating Our Children" series: * "The criticisms that have emerged about our methodology are similar to those we heard from Atlanta when we first began writing about cheating in 2008 and 2009. They are similar to what the Dallas Morning N... more »
Shanker Blog » Higher Education: Soaring Rhetoric, Skyrocketing Costs
Shanker Blog » Higher Education: Soaring Rhetoric, Skyrocketing Costs: Higher Education: Soaring Rhetoric, Skyrocketing Costs by Randall Garton Over the past several years, the mantra of “college for all” has become ubiquitous, with Americans told that a college education is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, for any individual who aspires to a middle-class life in the 21st century economy. And indeed, many studies tend to confirm that persons with a post-secondary education enjoy lower unemployment rates and higher wages over time Simultaneously – sometimes in the same article... more »
FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Education Headlines *Friday, May 4, 2012* Ocean View district, teachers enter fact-finding stage of impasseHealth insurance benefits continue to be the sticking point between the Ocean View School District and its teachers as the contract dispute reaches the fact-finding stage. Palm Desert High School crisis offers harsh portrait of social mediaSeveral Palm Desert High School students faced discipline for bullying and insensitive Facebook and Twitter comments posted Wednesday while a fellow student climbed up a two-story building ...more »
Brooklyn students hold mass walkout, protest education system - New York Amsterdam News: Education
Brooklyn students hold mass walkout, protest education system - New York Amsterdam News: Education: Brooklyn students hold mass walkout, protest education system - Story - Comments ShareShare PrintCreate a hardcopy of this pageFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font size [image: Brooklyn Students hold mass walk-out, then rally and teach-ins at Fort Green Park] Amity Paye photo Brooklyn Students hold mass walk-out, then rally and teach-ins at Fort Green Park Brooklyn Students hold mass walk-out, then rally and teach-ins at Fort Green Park Posted: Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:45 ... more »
Superintendent John White to hold 'virtual' town hall meetings with teachers | NOLA.com
Superintendent John White to hold 'virtual' town hall meetings with teachers | NOLA.com: [image: nola.com] Superintendent John White to hold 'virtual' town hall meetings with teachersPublished: Thursday, May 03, 2012, 10:05 AM Updated: Thursday, May 03, 2012, 10:07 AM [image: Andrew Vanacore, The Times-Picayune] By *Andrew Vanacore, The Times-Picayune * Louisiana's top education official, *Superintendent John White*, is scheduling extra town hall meetings with educators around the state to discuss his plans for implementing a series of school-related reforms that cleared the st... more »
Rheeport Update: Reader Calls Carpetbagging StudentsFirst Request Asking Missouri Citizens to "Pick up the Phone...Hooey"--Part II
Missouri Education Watchdog: Reader Calls Carpetbagging StudentsFirst Request Asking Missouri Citizens to "Pick up the Phone...Hooey"--Part II: Reader Calls Carpetbagging StudentsFirst Request Asking Missouri Citizens to "Pick up the Phone...Hooey"--Part II by stlgretchen Educational reform in Missouri? The carpetbagging organization StudentsFirst is pleased with the passage of HB1526 which is now advancing to the Senate. This bill states teacher performance, not seniority, should govern teacher layoffs. From the St. Louis Post Dispatch: *JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House... more »
Black Studies Hitpiece Leads to Chronicle of Higher Ed Twitter Trainwreck « Student Activism
Black Studies Hitpiece Leads to Chronicle of Higher Ed Twitter Trainwreck « Student Activism: Black Studies Hitpiece Leads to Chronicle of Higher Ed Twitter Trainwreck by Angus Johnston The Chronicle of Higher Education has taken a lot of heat this week for a fatuous, obnoxious takedown of the discipline of Black Studies posted by Chronicle blogger Naomi Schaefer Riley. Riffing off the sidebar to a separate Chronicle piece, Riley attacked in-process dissertations by young Black Studies scholars as axe-grinding, politicized, and irrelevant even as she admitted she hadn’t read a sing... more »
The Velderman, Olson, IPI, Chuck Goudie connection. And where is the IEA on the Big Lie? « Fred Klonsky
The Velderman, Olson, IPI, Chuck Goudie connection. And where is the IEA on the Big Lie? « Fred Klonsky: The Velderman, Olson, IPI, Chuck Goudie connection. And where is the IEA on the Big Lie? by Fred Klonsky *Ben Velderman and Chuck Goudie. Separated at birth?* As I read the phony expose by ABC’s Chuck Goudie’s *I-Team* (“I-Team” apparently standing for the “I’ in Illinois Policiy Institute) on teacher pensions, I kept thinking I’d heard this all before. And I had. Back in February of 2011. Kyle Olson did a blog post about how Wisconsin teachers didn’t pay into their pension. He...more »
Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip | 89.3 KPCC
Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip | 89.3 KPCC: [image: Miramonte teachers march] Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago As the crowd dissipated today after an emotional march and press conference, one Miramonte Elementary School teacher stood along 60th Street in South L.A. and spoke nervously about what it was like to not only be removed from the classroom but to receive a preliminary pink slip during that time. The teacher, who instructed a fifth grade intervention class, has ta... more »
They’re kids, not Olympians « Red Pen Warrior
They’re kids, not Olympians « Red Pen Warrior: They’re kids, not Olympians by Laura We work hard all year, writing and reading and analyzing and discussing and reading and writing some more. And then, all of our hard work and learning are evaluated and assessed in two days of state exams. Multiple-choice exams, mind you, no writing necessary. So we also work hard to create a testing environment that supports our students. We keep our daily routine the same. We schedule the tests so that students take them in the same classroom, with the same teacher, where they have learned the... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Feigning Interest in Community Input
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Feigning Interest in Community Input: Feigning Interest in Community Input by Charlie Mas Seattle Public Schools is planning to radically revise transportation plans and school start and end times for the 2012-2013 school year after the Open Enrollment. They have told the Board that their plans are set and little, if any, variation is possible at this late date. This "late date" is four months before school begins. Despite their total unwillingness to make any changes in their plans, the District regrets their complete refusal to offer any kind of ... more »
MIRAMONTE TEACHERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST LAUSD TREATMENT- UTLA DOES NOTHING (VIDEO) - Perdaily.com
MIRAMONTE TEACHERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST LAUSD TREATMENT- UTLA DOES NOTHING (VIDEO) - Perdaily.com: MIRAMONTE TEACHERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST LAUSD TREATMENT- UTLA DOES NOTHING (VIDEO) by Leonard Isenberg [image: McMartin Pre-School.jpg] *(Mensaje se repite en Español) (For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post) SEE VIDEO OF THE EVENT Yesterday at the new and as of yet unopened Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Augustus Hawkins High School on 60th Street, the teachers of Miramonte Elementary School, who have spent the last 3 months incarcerate... more »
An Urban Teacher's Education: When It Rains, It Pours
An Urban Teacher's Education: When It Rains, It Pours: When It Rains, It Pours by James Boutin Having gone to school in a middle-class community, and having been placed in classes with similarly-motivated peers, my first year teaching in a low-income school caught me off-guard in lots of ways. That only three or four of my students would do the homework I assigned; that the consequences I assigned for coming late were generally greeted with apathy; that I only met three parents on open-house night....all of those things astonished me. I think we generally blow over the vast differ... more »
New York State: Release the tests! « JD2718
New York State: Release the tests! « JD2718: New York State: Release the tests! by jd2718 New York State contracted with Pearson to produce what now appear to be flawed tests. The problem starts before that: New York State, not a for-profit company, should be writing the tests (if we really need them at all), and the tests should be written for the students of NY State, not in order to make a fast buck. But now we all know about the pineapple race. And have heard that there were other problems. And today I have a new one. But I can’t share it with you. I don’t know exactly what it... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie
Jersey Jazzman: Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie: Something Is Very Wrong With Chris Christie by Duke'' March 19, 2012: "I’m scared to death to talk to you," the woman said. "Why?" the Gov. Chris Christie asked. "Because you scare me," she said, prompting laughter from the crowd. What a difference a week makes. At a town hall meeting in Roebling last week, a former Navy SEAL repeatedly interrupted the governor with a message he didn’t like: Students at Rutgers-Camden don’t want the campus taken over by Rowan University. The result was a defiant Christie calling Bill Brow... more »
What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question | TIME Ideas | TIME.com
What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question | TIME Ideas | TIME.com: What Everyone Missed on the Pineapple Question Much of the uproar about the reading comprehension test was based on bad information When the New York *Daily News* posted an article about an Aesop-inspired fable that appeared on the standardized test eighth graders in New York state had to take last month — about a pineapple challenging a hare to a foot race through the forest — all hell broke loose because the passage was so poorly written and the questions about it so incomprehensible. The fable described sev... more »
Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores « Diane Ravitch's blog
Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores « Diane Ravitch's blog: Please Take the Tests & Publish Your Scores by dianerav We have a plethora of governors, legislators, and state commissioners of education who are gaga over standardized testing, They can’t imagine a child who is not taking a test today, tomorrow, and next week. They want to test everything: not only reading and math, but the arts, science, civics, history, foreign languages, physical education, you name it and they want to test it. When the test-lovers see low scores, they want to find the teacher swho did it and ... more »
LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools
LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools: LAO proposes even shorter year, fewer special-purpose funds, changes to teacher layoff deadline Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 10:28 pm in No Comments Given the financial stresses facing California school districts and the uncertain outcome of Gov. Jerry Brown’sNovember tax initiative, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office thinks state lawmakers should: 1. reduce the minimum school year from 175 to 170 days 2. remov... more »
Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward « Bill Ayers
Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward « Bill Ayers: Kent State and Jackson State: Looking Back/Leaning Forward by billayers Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers *May 4, 2012* Again and again we learn that war and empire abroad will find a way home. On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon announced the US invasion of Cambodia, a sovereign nation the US had been secretly bombing for several months. It was a saturation campaign involving 120 strikes a day by B-52s carrying up to 60,000 pounds of bombs each. But in the common doublespeak of war, the president claimed: “This is no... more »
Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters « School Finance 101
Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters « School Finance 101: Follow up on why Publicness/Privateness of Charter Schools Matters by schoolfinance101 My post the other day was intended to shed light on the various complexities of classifying charter schools as public or private. Some have argued that the distinctions I make are a distraction from the bigger policy issues. The point was not to address those issues, but rather to dispose of the misinformed rhetoric that charter schools are necessarily public in every way that traditional public schools are.... more »
The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies. « Fred Klonsky
The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Teachers respond to ABC pension lies. by Fred Klonsky Among the responses I received responding to ABC’s lies about teachers not paying into our retirement system: *Hey Fred -* *This is what I wrote to abc7 “news” yesterday:* *Your story titled “Intelligence Report: Most Illinois teachers pay little or nothing toward retirement accounts” includes false information. All Illinois teachers in the TRS system pay 9.4% of their salary toward TRS retirement. Some districts negotiate some of this expense along wit... more »
Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post
Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: [image: Answer Sheet] Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams by Valerie Strauss A New York school principal is urging the state’s education commissioner to review the standardized math assessments recently given to students in grades 3-5 because of a host of serious problems with their design. In a powerful letter, she also told him to take the tests to see the problems for himself. Read full article >> *GO... more »
Miramonte teachers speak at rally - latimes.com
Miramonte teachers speak at rally - latimes.com: Miramonte teachers speak at rally [image: Miramonte teachers broke their silence at Thursday's rally] More than 200 parents, students and former Miramonte teachers gathered in South Los Angeles on Thursday to call for the immediate reinstatement of the school’s staff, which was removed in its entirety from the campus in early February, a week after the arrest of former teacher Mark Berndt on 23 counts of lewd conduct. Thursday’s rally marked the first time that the teachers spoke publicly. "We just really want to go back to our student... more »
School Tech Connect: The Waterbug
School Tech Connect: The Waterbug: The Waterbug by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) I heart Medea Benjamin from Code Pink. I'm going to flat-out steal and post a very short clip from *Democracy Now* where Medea Benjamin shows how it's done when you need to make an unpopular point. I've never done anything half as ballsy as what Media Benjamin does in this clip. Watch how she never loses her cool; she makes her point as clearly as if she were sitting in a tea-house. "I love the rule of law," she says as she's dragged away to prison. I especially admire the maneuver she does at the ... more »
Step Away From The Children | The Jose Vilson
Step Away From The Children | The Jose Vilson: Step Away From The Children by Jose Nope. I’m not going to let you get away with it. You think you’re slick with your off-kilter jargon and smooth delivery, but I see right through you. Before I continue, I need you to step away from the children. You’re passionate about your subject area, but not about the kids you’re teaching. You say you love teaching, but never actually want to talk to the kids before or after class. Actually, you don’t actually want to talk to the kids, but at them. You refuse to understand where they’re coming from... more »
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It: Dr. Enfield Wants You All to Know She Means It by Melissa Westbrook Dear Readers, As some of you may know, recently someone posted a comment using Dr. Enfield's name. (The comment was directed at me, though.) It had been posted after I had retired one evening and I found an e-mail the next morning from Lesley Rodgers in Communications asking me about it. Then, there was one from Dr. Enfield that said: *I expect the comment to be removed today.* I replied that I had seen it and removed it. I apol... more »
SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ? « Teachers Fight Back
SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ? « Teachers Fight Back: SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS, HAS ANYONE ASKED THE TEACHERS ? by alkleen Spurred by student and community groups demanding a less punitive student discipline system, a Chicago City Council Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Chicago Public Schools to reduce suspensions and expulsions by 40 percent. The groups pushing for a less punitive approach want CPS to increase the use of “restorative justice programs”, which include everything from peer juries to determine student punishment to ... more »
A Deafening Silence | Taking Note
A Deafening Silence | Taking Note: A Deafening Silence by JOHN MERROW on 04. MAY, 2012 in 2012 BLOGS “I want to be a veterinarian, and I want to go to Princeton University,” a smiling 15-year-old girl told us when we were filming at KIPP: Believe, a high-performing charter school in New Orleans. Tell us more, we said. “I want to finish college because I want to have that pride in myself that, to know that I finished something, that I went somewhere and I finished it,” Christine Marcelin added. Watching her speak, one senses that Christine has what it takes, and it’s easy to imag... more »
The results are in! There’s too much testing. « Rethinking Schools Blog
The results are in! There’s too much testing. « Rethinking Schools Blog: The results are in! There’s too much testing. May 3, 2012 by rethinkingschoolsblog ** * * * * *by Stan Karp* **Maybe we’re finally reaching the tipping point. After more than a decade of accelerating damage fueled by NCLB, the standardized testing regime that is the engine of corporate school reform is running into growing opposition from all directions. Last week Rethinking Schools joined nearly 200 other organizations and thousands of individuals who, in less than a week, signed on to this National Resolution ... more »
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Building a bridge between teachers and parents
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Building a bridge between teachers and parents: Building a bridge between teachers and parents by Mike Klonsky On last night's panel at DePaul were (right to left in photo) Monica Espinoza and Joanna Brown from Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Lynn Morton from Community Organizing and Family Issues, Julie Woestehoff from PURE, Wendy Kattan from Raise Your Hand, and Latrice Watkins, LSC chair of Piccolo Elementary, who led the Occupy Piccolo protest earlier this year (Cecile Carrol from Blocks Together arrived after this pic was taken).Catalyst ... more »
by the U.S. Department of Education.
