Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-9-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2




James Baldwin said it best: 

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP



Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 13 minutes ago
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15 by Melissa Westbrook Very busy week. *Monday, December 10th* Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m. Agenda Some interesting issues but there is not enough detail to know what they are specifically going to cover. Work Session on Weighted Staffing Standards from 6-7:30 p.m. Agenda *Tuesday, December 11th * Work Session on Creative Approach Schools from 5-6:30 p.m. Agenda Special Ed Advocacy & Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m., R...more »

Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson: Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure by Jose Michael Jackson asks Manny Pacquiao If He’s OK A few notes: - I’ll be writing lots on the Future of Teaching blog. Here’s my first offering of the week, a congratulatory note for Dr. John Holland. [Future of Teaching] - We need you to take action. If you’re against the continuing proliferation of testing, please sign. Thank you! [AFT] - What does it mean to be an authentic leader? This also works for anyone looking for authenticity in their

Missouri Education Watchdog: The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Missouri Education Watchdog: The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool?: The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool? by stlgretchen Preparing Kids: Creating an International Child instead of an American Citizen. Get them while they're young. I picked up the comment below from another thread. This is a good tie-in with our post from yesterday. The agenda for education is unmistakable. We just didn't pay attention before and there was no mechanism (nat... more »

How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Teamster Nation: How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers: How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers by Teamster Power Actually, the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers aren't the only un-American billionaires to buy radical Republicans in Michigan. Ponzi scheme Amway heir Dick DeVos spent big to get himself the right to lower workers' wages by $1,500 a year. Let's be clear: Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republicans railroading the right-to-work-for-less bill through the Legislature know it's bad for workers. They know it will lower wages and increase poverty. And they know most people know th... more »

Diane in the Evening 12-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: When Sabrina Stevens Crashed the ALEC Meeting by dianerav Sabrina Stevens wanted to tell the ALEC education task force what she thought of their plans to privatize American education and destroy unions. At first, she planned to protest. Instead, she walked right in, sat quietly, fumed, and then spoke out. * ** ** ** ** ** **LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog* coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Letting the Cat Out of the Bag by dianerav With each new ex... more »

Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia: Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia by Danny Weil Remember when the mortgage industry and the banks touted home ownership and the “ownership society” as a ticket to the American Dream? It turned out to be a one way ticket to the American Scheme. The mafia banksters who run the student loan financialization scheme are no different. Now Obama is touting his 20/20 educational program. If you have not heard of it do not be surprised. You won’t find it on MSNBC where the Nation magazine seems to have found a home for its rising s... more »

10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year « Cooperative Catalyst

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year « Cooperative Catalyst: 10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year by John T. Spencer I am having a difficult year. It’s hard for me to admit that, because I don’t want to be “that teacher” who complains about the kids and who blames the administration and who acts as if the universe owes him a unicorn and a mountain of peppermint fudge. I worry that in admitting just how hard it is, it will come across as blaming the students. However, for a variety of reasons, it has been hard. I yelled at my class a few times this week. I got impatient with them often. Par... more »

The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky: The Sunday Mail. by Fred Klonsky [image: 155455_4955560814757_1556775098_n] *No snow yet. Chicago has never gone snowless this late in the season.* *An art student at Cooper Union uses the people’s mic*. Repeat this out loud and have the person next to you repeat what you said. And so on. You know the drill. *Are teachers and public schools a threat to national security?* Diane Ravitch responds to the absurd claims of Joel Klein and Condi Rice. *Phil Kadner explains* why it is the working class suburbs that will get screwed by Madigan’s pension oblig... more »

Engaging Parents In School… » This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Engaging Parents In School… » This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days: This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days by Larry Ferlazzo Guest Post by Joe Mazza You may have heard the news that 5 states have approved adding 300 hours to school days in an effort to close achievement gaps and re-imagine the school day. Below is a video from @CNNschools which Sam Chaltain ( @SamChaltain) talks about impacts on both sides from these changes to the school day. This week, Melissa Taylor (@MelissaWrites) from Parenting Magazine ( @Parenting) will join us to dig deeper on this topic. Melissa is an... more »

Louisiana Educator: Cyber School Waste

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Louisiana Educator: Cyber School Waste: Cyber School Waste by Michael Deshotels Pennsylvania auditors are waking up to the fact that cyber charter schools are spending millions of taxpayer dollars on advertising just to attract students to their inferior on-line courses. The auditors point out that such schools are receiving much too generous state funding. The same is true in Louisiana where our two virtual charters receive 90% of regular MFP funding. It costs much less to operate cyber schools than brick and mortar schools because the provider avoids building construction, maint... more »

Schools Matter: Reduction: No Other Truths

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago
Schools Matter: Reduction: No Other Truths: Reduction: No Other Truths by Storm 1. Words are provisional. Ideas, as expressed, are words and so provisional. Prometheanism fails; so does relativism. All control is illusion. 2. Still, we concretize our parochial thinking. The sand is stone to us on one side; stone is sand upon the other. 3. They are lying. Some of us are good. Some of us care about you. But some of us turn into they and vice versa. 4. One morning Josef K woke to discover someone had been telling lies about him. 5. Nationalism is a murdering identity. Som... more »

Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians | Scathing Purple Musings: Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians by Bob Sikes It’s rare that an elected public servant moves to the same position as an appointed one as former Indiana Superintendent of Public Education, Tony Bennett seeks to do in Florida. Bennett’s hasty, last-minute entry as a candidate for Florida Education Commissioner didn’t allow for proper vetting by state media. But Be... more »

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢: Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢ *Jordan has made big strides in academic performance. There is more to achieve, but its progress is plain to see.* [image: clip_image001] BY SANDY BANKS, LA TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/TSPAH3 [image: LOS ANGELES-CA-DECEMBER 7, 2012: Students Devin Perkins, left, and Esmeralda Diaz are photographed at Jordan High School in Los Angeles o... more »

USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches - Yahoo! News

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches - Yahoo! News: USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunchesBy By MARY CLARE JALONICK | Associated Press – 18 hrs ago - [image: FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2012, file photo, side salads await the students of Eastside Elementary School in Clinton, Miss. The Agriculture Department is responding to criticism over new school lunch rules by allowing kids to eat more grains and meat in the lunchroom. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a letter to members of Congress Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, that the department will... more »

Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of 'informational texts' | The Daily Caller

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of 'informational texts' | The Daily Caller: *Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of ‘informational texts* If you really want to hear about it, new educational standards now approved in 46 out of 50 states mandate that nonfiction books constitute at least 70 per cent of the texts high-school students read. As a result, The Telegraph reports, literature classics such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are about to be replaced by insulation manuals and ... more »

How do reformers “see the whole elephant?” « Cooperative Catalyst

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago
How do reformers “see the whole elephant?” « Cooperative Catalyst: How do reformers “see the whole elephant?” by onewheeljoe About 5 years ago, my school district brought in a reading expert. This was a *real* expert who had studied the reading process as her life’s work, some 40 years in schools and in a university laboratory setting. This expert has a list of book titles to her credit. Seeking help to design our Response To Intervention (RTI) processes for struggling readers, our district leadership contracted her to closely with teachers and instructional coaches. In her first... more »

Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific” | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago
Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific” | Scathing Purple Musings: Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific” by Bob Sikes *So What...It's only Money* Just 8 months ago, two retiring Florida superintendents of schools warned that the of SB 736 are “unworkable and may be the tipping point” in Florida’s education accountability system. Bill Vogel (Seminole) and Ron Blocker (Orange) spoke with *Orlando Sentinel *reporter Dave Weber. Florida’s runaway school accountability syste... more »

Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Plan to Degrade and Cheapen the Education Profession | Scathing Purple Musings

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago
Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Plan to Degrade and Cheapen the Education Profession | Scathing Purple Musings: Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Plan to Degrade and Cheapen the Education Profession by Bob Sikes In two days, recently ousted Indiana education boss Tony Bennett will sit down for an interview with members of the state board of education at the Tampa Airport Marriott. He’ll find kindred spirits on the board as with the exception of one, all were appointed by either former governor Jeb Bush or current governor Ricks Scott. The loan exception, ... more »

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Is CREDO really part of the charter in-crowd? You bet.

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Schooling in the Ownership Society: Is CREDO really part of the charter in-crowd? You bet.: Is CREDO really part of the charter in-crowd? You bet. by Mike Klonsky Chris Cerf claimed CREDO wasn't part of the charter bandwagon. He lied. The CREDO study in 2009 found that nationally only 17% of charter schools were outperforming their public counterparts. This, even though CREDO is a group connected with the right-wing, pro-charter Hoover Institute and funded by the likes of Walton and Pearson. Problem is that facts, as they say, are stubborn fellows. What followed the study was an ... more »

Response: Teaching Writing by Respecting Student Ideas - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo - Education Week Teacher

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Response: Teaching Writing by Respecting Student Ideas - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo - Education Week Teacher: Response: Teaching Writing by Respecting Student Ideas By Larry Ferlazzo on December 9, 2012 10:09 PM ** *(Note: This is the fifth and final post in a series on teaching writing. You can see Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here and Part Four here )* Katie Ciresi asked: *What advice can you give to help teachers be more effective in helping students become better writers?* This series is a companion to last year's five posts on Helping Our Students Become Bett... more »

Charter schools with failing grades still featured at quality schools fair

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Charter schools with failing grades still featured at quality schools fair: Charter schools with failing grades still featured at quality schools fairOne-third of schools featured at New Schools Expo 6.0, mostly charters, are low achievers. December 8, 2012 By: Linda Lutton (WBEZ/Linda Lutton) Teachers, principals and other staff plug charter schools at the New Schools Expo in 2010. This year, one-third of schools being featured at the expo have been rated "Performance Level 3" by the district, the lowest grade possible. A high-profile Chicago schools fair today is supposed to show ... more »

'Normalistas' fight changes in Mexican education

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
'Normalistas' fight changes in Mexican education: 'Normalistas' fight changes in Mexican education David Agren, Special for USA TODAYShare 0Comments The students have demonstrated against eliminating the practice of allowing retiring teachers to sell their jobs to the highest bidder. [image: Mexico protest] (Photo: David Agren, Special for USA TODAY) STORY HIGHLIGHTS - The students have protested the teaching of English and computer skills to rural children 8:11AM EST December 9. 2012 - MORELIA, Mexico — College student Eduardo Díaz considers his participation in protests t... more »

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Is It Possible to Drink Cereal Crumbs? by dianerav Veteran teacher Arthur Goldstein of New York City analyzes the age-old question: Is it possible to drink cereal crumbs? He offers a video demonstration and asks us to consider the meaning of this experiment: If it is possible, what are the implications for American education? If it is not, will anyone know? And who will take this idea and run with it? Mayor Bloomberg: Beware of Junk Science! by dianerav New York City’s Department of Education (meaning, Mayor ... more »

Remember the vote suppression billboards? Their funder is now suspected of "pay-to-play" with Scott Walker : blue cheddar

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Remember the vote suppression billboards? Their funder is now suspected of "pay-to-play" with Scott Walker : blue cheddar: Remember the vote suppression billboards? Their funder is now suspected of “pay-to-play” with Scott Walker by bluecheddar I read this, and I felt that the name “Einhorn” was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it: Conservative Milwaukee financier Stephen Einhorn and his wife, Nancy, donated $25,000 to Gov. Scott Walker a month before Einhorn’s firm won a contract to manage $1 million of taxpayer money, potentially triggering federal “pay-to-play” conflict of... more »

The in box. Who are you? « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
The in box. Who are you? « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Who are you? by Fred Klonsky *Mark Stefanik is veteran middle school Language Arts teacher. He is a member of the IEA and the Park Ridge Education Association.* *Who Are You?* * **I’m no lawyer…BUT…* *Why aren’t we pursuing criminal charges for politicians who voted for ‘payment holidays’? Even that source of toxic emission, Ty Fahner, has admitted that laws were broken. Why aren’t we giving the boys and girls in Springfield something to think about if they vote for this latest reform abomination? Forget votes; give them cri... more »

Ed Notes Online: Rockaway Update: Almost Normal - Let There Be Light

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: Rockaway Update: Almost Normal - Let There Be Light: Rockaway Update: Almost Normal - Let There Be Light by ed notes online One of the major lessons I've learned in recovering from the Sandy disaster is that to remain optimistic you have to make some progress, no matter how little, every day. Don't be impatient but look to gain at least an inch a day. And for the most part I can say that a day hasn't gone by without moving ahead. By the way, I can apply that same principle to organizing efforts in the UFT -- build it right a step at at time. (I know there are lot... more »

What real school reform looks like | CharlotteObserver.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
What real school reform looks like | CharlotteObserver.com: What real school reform looks like By P. L. Thomas Special to the Observer Posted: Sunday, Dec. 09, 2012 Michael Petrilli’s recent charge on the Observer’s Opinion page that the elections confirm “[t]eachers unions remain the Goliath to the school reformers’ David” is neither a brave claim to make in a paper serving a right-to-work area of the U.S., nor an accurate portrayal of the balance of power in education reform. First, a question: If teachers unions are the primary causes of public education failures, why do right-... more »

Take the Day Off for Teachbad’s Anniversary!! | Mr. Teachbad

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
Take the Day Off for Teachbad’s Anniversary!! | Mr. Teachbad: Take the Day Off for Teachbad’s Anniversary!! by teachbad [image: teaching_sucks_mug] Before we get into today’s post about days off work, I’d like to point out that today, Decem­ber 9, 2012, is the three-year anniver­sary of *Mr. Teachbad’s Blog of Teacher Dis­gruntle­ment: Where Teach­ers Laugh and Com­plain*; short­ened now mostly to the more com­pact and effi­cient * Teach­bad*. As a spe­cial treat, there is a 72-hour *20% off sale* in the Strictly Home-Use Teacher Gift Store. This extends to pre­ex­ist­ing quan­tity ... more »

solidaridad: Robert D. Skeels' Talk at Association of Raza Educators on December 6, 2012

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago
solidaridad: Robert D. Skeels' Talk at Association of Raza Educators on December 6, 2012: Robert D. Skeels' Talk at Association of Raza Educators on December 6, 2012 LAUSD District 2 candidate Robert D. Skeels speaking, and the following roundtable discussion at the December 6, 2012 meeting of theAssociation of Raza Educators Los Angeles. The topic was 'Reclaiming Education is a Human Right during this era of Neoliberalism.' The talk was in preparation for the anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, celebrated on the December 10 of each year. [image: Robert D. Ske... more »

Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC « Classroom Struggle

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC « Classroom Struggle: Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC by ClassroomStruggle The recent Oakland school board elections, where close to 200,000 private sector dollars were dumped into the Great Oakland Public School’s (GOPS) campaign coffers for three candidates, are a perfect example of what this courageous teacher is addressing to the American Legislative Exchange Council. (ALEC is an extremely right-wing organization composed of legislators, bu... more »

Ed Notes Online: Juan Gonzalez Moderates: Brian Jones, Pedro Noguera, Shael Polakow-Suransky, Diane Zavala: Dec. 10, 6PM

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Ed Notes Online: Juan Gonzalez Moderates: Brian Jones, Pedro Noguera, Shael Polakow-Suransky, Diane Zavala: Dec. 10, 6PM: Juan Gonzalez Moderates: Brian Jones, Pedro Noguera, Shael Polakow-Suransky, Diane Zavala: Dec. 10, 6PM by ed notes online *Change the Stakes Sponsors: High Stakes Testing: Helping or Hurting Education?* You know that Change the Stakes, which began life as the testing committee of GEM, is my favorite of all the groups I currently work with, partly because of how productive the people involved in it are. This should be one exciting event. MORE's Brian Jones a... more »

Mother Crusader: For Laura Waters, Newark Charters Have A Certain... Special... Something...

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Mother Crusader: For Laura Waters, Newark Charters Have A Certain... Special... Something...: For Laura Waters, Newark Charters Have A Certain... Special... Something... by darciecima Once again, Laura Waters demonstrates that facts, or even common sense, mean very little in the world of reform. I've written a couple of posts already about the CREDO study. I've written about the questionable conclusions drawn by the authors of the study, and how their ties to the reform world may explain how they came to such conclusions. Bruce Baker has dissected the Newark Effect demonstrate... more »

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 12 2012

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Week 12 2012: Week 12 2012 by alicemercer [image: Clock number 12] Hmm, where to start? How about with writing! I’ve been doing a bit with that getting ready for an all day training on Monday on Common Core (more on that later). Here are some things that I’ve been doing lately: - Having students work with questions they themselves have generated; - Having students work on single paragraph writing around an organizational pattern to guide their analysis; - Having students return to the same topics, and same text to dig in deepe... more »

Bill Moyers: United States of Alec | www.kochwatch.org

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 17 hours ago
Bill Moyers: United States of Alec | www.kochwatch.org: Bill Moyers: United States of Alec by CD Popout Moyers & Company presents "United States of ALEC," a report on the most influential corporate-funded political force most of America has never heard of -- ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense wi... more »

Take Police Officers Off the School Discipline Beat - NYTimes.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Take Police Officers Off the School Discipline Beat - NYTimes.com: Opinion: Take Police Officers Off the School Discipline Beat by By DONNA LIEBERMAN Do police in city schools create more problems than they solve? KENNETH screwed up. The 11th grader made a crude joke about the police officers in his Bronx high school — and an officer overheard. Enlarge This Image Sam Kalda “What did you say?” the officer demanded. “Say it again and I’m going to punch you in the [expletive] mouth.” “You can’t [expletive] touch me,” said Kenneth, who has Asperger syndrome. And so it began ... The office... more »

Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 22 hours ago
Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats. « Fred Klonsky: Guest blog. Cost shift is the acid test of independence for Southland Democrats. by Fred Klonsky [image: 68147_1502068072028_2875202_n] *The following commentary is from the Southland Star. It is written by my good friend and colleague, Jerry Mulvihill, a 5th grade teacher in my old school district. Jerry lives in Alsip, is a former school board member, public school and union activist and father of two students in Southland public schools. * *Legislators have reconvened in Springfield ... more »

How To Recover From A Classroom Train Wreck…. | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 23 hours ago
How To Recover From A Classroom Train Wreck…. | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: How To Recover From A Classroom Train Wreck…. by Larry Ferlazzo [image: Leipzig Train Station] [image: Creative Commons License] Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff via Compfight I wouldn’t want to teach at any other school than where I’m teaching now, and I think the same goes for the vast majority of our faculty. And I think the same percentage of our students wouldn’t want to be attending any other school either. Since we’re in Program Improvement, every year we need to provide forms to our students w... more »

15+ family members and employees of a New York tug boat towing and ferry boat company give to Malloy PAC - Wait, What?

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
15+ family members and employees of a New York tug boat towing and ferry boat company give to Malloy PAC - Wait, What?: 15+ family members and employees of a New York tug boat towing and ferry boat company give to Malloy PAC by jonpelto At least 15 family members and employees of a company that financially benefits from Connecticut public policy is one of the biggest donors to Malloy’s Political Action Committee, according to an article written by investigative reporter Jon Lender, and that will run in tomorrow (Sunday’s) Hartford Courant. Wait, What? readers are already familiar... more »

Boys and Girls HS vs DOE - Report from Public Meeting 12/4/12 6 Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública: *Boys and Girls HS vs DOE - * *Report from Public Meeting 12/4/12 6* * Principal Gassaway with Boys & Girls Students* Approximately 450 parents, students, educators and community leaders attended the December 4 meeting at Boys and Girls High School in Bedford Stuyvesant to respond to the DOE’s “Report to the Community on the Performance of Boys and Girls High School” and its proposal concerning the future of the school. Brooklyn HS Superintendent Karen Watt...more »

The in box. Getting the word out about Springfield rally. « Fred Klonsky

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
The in box. Getting the word out about Springfield rally. « Fred Klonsky: The in box. Getting the word out about Springfield rally. by Fred Klonsky All IEA Retired Members served by the IEA Skokie Office will be receiving postcards early next week – please see attached. Please call the Skokie Office (847-329-7756) to reserve a spot on the bus, and invite family, friends, former colleagues, etc. IEA membership is not required – the bus, donuts/coffee, and lunch are donated by the IEA for all attendees. Also attached is information from Fred Klonsky’s Blog < http://preaprez.wordpre... more »

The Happy Good Time Emotion Response Place and School Part V: The Playroom Edition.southbronxschool.com

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Happy Good Time Emotion Response Place and School Part V: The Playroom Edition by noreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher) Oh, there is fun to be had every day at The Happy Good Time Emotion Response Place and School, but only if you seek it. The Happy Good Time Emotion Response Place and School has turned into nothing more than a playroom. A place where students, those students that disrupt their classes, throw chairs, run through the halls, punch and kick teachers are punished by being able to finger paint play with dolls, and have ice cream parti... more »

NYC Public School Parents: Grover Whitehurst's big pay day, testifying class size doesn't matter

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago
NYC Public School Parents: Grover Whitehurst's big pay day, testifying class size doesn't matter: Grover Whitehurst's big pay day, testifying class size doesn't matter by Leonie Haimson The State of Texas is being sued for inadequate school funding; with over $5 billion cut from school budgets last year alone, leading to unprecedented increases in class sizes. About two-thirds of the school districts in Texas— serving three-quarters of the state’s public school students — are plaintiffs. What’s particularly tragic is that Texas was the first state in the country to systematical... more »









Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-8-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-7-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-6-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-5-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-4-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-3-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-2-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 12-1-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-30-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-29-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-28-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-27-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-26-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-25-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-24-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-23-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-22-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-21-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-20-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-19-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-18-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-17-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-16-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2Big Education Ape Nite Cap 11-15-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2



 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15:


Seattle Schools Week of December 10-15

Very busy week.

Monday, December 10th
Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda
Some interesting issues but there is not enough detail to know what they are specifically going to cover.

Work Session on Weighted Staffing Standards from 6-7:30 p.m.  Agenda 

Tuesday, December 11th 
Work Session on Creative Approach Schools from 5-6:30 p.m.  Agenda

Special Ed Advocacy & Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m., Room 2700 (2nd floor), JSCEE

Community Meeting on Capacity and BEX IV from 7-8:30 p.m. pm at JSCEE.

Wednesday, December 12th
Executive Committee Meeting from 8-10 am.  No agenda available.

School Board meeting at 4:30 p.m.  Agenda
Of note:
Native American Education update
election of new President, Vice-President and Member-at-Large for the Board (nominations to be posted on Monday).  I suspect the president will either be Smith-Blum, Martin-Morris, Carr or Patu as they have the longest experience on the Board.  I suspect that many might like to be president but the time constraints are great for those with a full-time job.
- The district is getting two infusions of money - one from a settlement over the carpet issue at South Shore for $900K and the other from the district's insurance company against claims over the Silas Potter issue for $275K 

Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson

Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure | The Jose Vilson:


Short Notes: We Are Powerful Beyond Measure


Michael Jackson asks Manny Pacquiao If He’s OK
A few notes:

Missouri Education Watchdog: The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool?

Missouri Education Watchdog: The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool?:


The International Child Defined in 1973. Is This the Reason for the Increased Push for Universal Preschool?

Preparing Kids: Creating an International Child instead of an American Citizen.  Get them while they're young.



I picked up the comment below from another thread.  This is a good tie-in with our post from yesterday.

The agenda for education is unmistakable.  We just didn't pay attention before and there was no mechanism (national curriculum/standards/assessments) to deliver the agenda.

Current educational theory is provided through public school curriculum via Common Core standards.  It focuses heavily on becoming a worker in the global economy and being an international citizen as 

How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers

Teamster Nation: How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers:


How the Kochs bought Michigan lawmakers


Actually, the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers aren't the only un-American billionaires to buy radical Republicans in Michigan. Ponzi scheme Amway heir Dick DeVos spent big to get himself the right to lower workers' wages by $1,500 a year.

Let's be clear: Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republicans railroading the right-to-work-for-less bill through the Legislature know it's bad for workers. They know it will lower wages and increase poverty. And they know most people know that. That's why they spent two years lying about their intentions.  They were too spineless to tell the voters what they intended to do.

The spines of these cowardly Republicans were stiffened by the largesse of the Kochs, DeVos and other politically active billionaires. The plutocrats spent $18 million over the past four years to create protective cover 

Diane in the Evening 12-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:






Texas State Board Member: Too Much Testing!

Thomas Ratliff was elected to the Texas State Board of Education in 2010. A Republican, he has emerged as one of the most eloquent and powerful voices for public education in the state. In this article, explains; Testing in Texas is out of control.
But wait: here is Sandy Kress, architect of the reviled NCLB, insisting that every child in Texas has the right to be tested with super frequency. Testing is the very foundation, it seems, of the state’s economy. without it, where would Texas be? Kress is now a lobbyist for Pearson, which won a five-year contract for almost $500 


NPR: School District Owes $1 Billion on $100 Million Loan

Something is terribly wrong when banks and other financial institutions make obscene profits by making loans to build schools.
Can’t government figure out a way to pay to build schools without enriching investors and bankrupting school districts? How do other nations do it?



When Sabrina Stevens Crashed the ALEC Meeting

Sabrina Stevens wanted to tell the ALEC education task force what she thought of their plans to privatize American education and destroy unions. At first, she planned to protest. Instead, she walked right in, sat quietly, fumed, and then spoke out.








LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Letting the Cat Out of the Bag by dianerav With each new expansion of charters, the public is assured that “charters are public schools,” and “competition will be good for everyone,” and “everyone should have choice.” But as this article explains, there is another agenda at work. The author, a former executive director of the Georgia Republican Party, explains the agenda. The current public school system will turn into the equivalent of “public welfare” schools, akin to public housing or public transit, the ... more »

Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia

Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia:


Student loan debt driven by corporate mafia

10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year « Cooperative Catalyst

10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year « Cooperative Catalyst:


10 Ways to Deal with a Hard Year

I am having a difficult year. It’s hard for me to admit that, because I don’t want to be “that teacher” who complains about the kids and who blames the administration and who acts as if the universe owes him a unicorn and a mountain of peppermint fudge. I worry that in admitting just how hard it is, it will come across as blaming the students.
However, for a variety of reasons, it has been hard. I yelled at my class a few times this week. I got impatient with them often. Part of it has to do with my weaknesses and part of it has to do with the make-up of the group. Part of it has to do with the system and the restraints I have to deal with. My students would thrive if I had the permission to teach differently (as it is, I’m already breaking rules and raising eyebrows) I love my students and I don’t blame them.
But it’s been challenging. Add to this, I’m failing at the paperwork side of the job. I’m struggling to create six different lessons a day and to provide meaningful feedback on student work.
It’s been a hard year.
I’m not looking for advice or sympathy or any of that. I’m just putting it out there. It’s been hard. Really hard. Harder than my previous eight years of teaching. I will make through the year, but I will do so with a limp. I have had a few hard years before and here are ten things I’ve found to be true:
  1. Don’t let shame define you: Hard years often have a way of humbling good teachers. In a hard year, a teacher will probably snap at someone or use sarcasm or yell at a class. Add to this a lack of outward results and it can feel humiliating. Often, other teachers will offer advice rather than affirmation. It helps to remember that they are coming from the right place. They want to be useful. They want to help. In 

The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky

The Sunday Mail. « Fred Klonsky:


The Sunday Mail.

155455_4955560814757_1556775098_n

No snow yet. Chicago has never gone snowless this late in the season.
An art student at Cooper Union uses the people’s micRepeat this out loud and have the person next to you repeat what you said. And so on. You know the drill.
Are teachers and public schools a threat to national security? Diane Ravitch responds to the absurd claims of Joel Klein and Condi Rice.
Phil Kadner explains why it is the working class suburbs that will get screwed by Madigan’s pension obligation cost shift.
Newt bets on Hillary.
Charter schools with failing

Engaging Parents In School… » This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days

Engaging Parents In School… » This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days:


This week’s #PTchat – Longer School Days

Guest Post by Joe Mazza

You may have heard the news that 5 states have approved adding 300 hours to school days in an effort to close achievement gaps and re-imagine the school day. Below is a video from @CNNschools which Sam Chaltain (@SamChaltain) talks about impacts on both sides from these changes to the school day.
This week, Melissa Taylor (@MelissaWrites) from Parenting Magazine (@Parenting) will join us to dig deeper on this topic. Melissa is an award-winning educational blogger at ImaginationSoup, an award-winning teacher with a M.A. in Education, and a mom of two children, ages 6 and 9. You can follow her on Twitter or find her on FacebookMelissa wrote a piece last week on the efforts that Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York & Tennessee will put in place for 20,000 of their students in which she shared some pros and cons from her parenting lens:
Pros
  • More time for enrichment activities and instruction. (If everything goes as planned.)
  • Easier for working parents.         
Cons
  • Not supported by research or anecdotal evidence. For example, South Korea, Finland and Japan perform better than American students and already spend less time in school than we do.
  • Teachers unions don’t want to work longer hours. Convincing them otherwise will be challenging.
  • Funding is an issue. The 5 states in this 3–year trial are getting money from federal, state, and district funds plus funding from the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time and Learning.               
What do you think? Can we really add more time to school days without maximizing what happens within the time already allotted? Are we asking students to spend more time within a broken system? Join us this Wednesday, 12/12 at 9PM EDT for Parent-Teacher Chat (#ptchat)

Louisiana Educator: Cyber School Waste

Louisiana Educator: Cyber School Waste:


Cyber School Waste

Pennsylvania auditors are waking up to the fact that cyber charter schools are spending millions of taxpayer dollars on advertising just to attract students to their inferior on-line courses. The auditors point out that such schools are receiving much too generous state funding. The same is true in Louisiana where our two virtual charters receive 90% of regular MFP funding.

It costs much less to operate cyber schools than brick and mortar schools because the provider avoids building construction, maintenance, guidance, food service, and most special education services. On top of that, many virtual schools have pupil teacher ratios of 150 to one and more. No wonder most states are finding that cyber schools provide extremely inferior education. In Louisiana, unspecified profits are diverted to the for-profit 

Schools Matter: Reduction: No Other Truths

Schools Matter: Reduction: No Other Truths:


Reduction: No Other Truths

1. Words are provisional.  Ideas, as expressed, are words and so provisional.  Prometheanism fails; so does relativism.  All control is illusion.

2. Still, we concretize our parochial thinking.  The sand is stone to us on one side; stone is sand upon the other.

3. They are lying.  Some of us are good.  Some of us care about you.  But some of us turn into they and vice versa.

4. One morning Josef K woke to discover someone had been telling lies about him.

5. Nationalism is a murdering identity.  Someone is always worthy of eradication.  "Exterminate

Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians | Scathing Purple Musings

Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians | Scathing Purple Musings:


Why the List of Failed Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett’s Financial Backers Should Be Important to Floridians

It’s rare that an elected public servant moves to the same position as an appointed one as former Indiana Superintendent of Public Education, Tony Bennett seeks to do in Florida.  Bennett’s hasty, last-minute entry as a candidate for Florida Education Commissioner didn’t allow for proper vetting by state media. But Bennett, who clearly wont be running from his record as Indiana’s ed boss, doesn’t want to be asked about the people who financed his political rise. An overview of those can be found here. We will look at a few of them in this space as, some of them do business in Florida and will continue to do so with an appreciative Bennett making decisions on their contract.
K12 Inc:
The controversial online education corporation does not have a good record and has been drawing interest from a 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢:


Jordan High School: AFTER GENERATIONS OF FAILURE, A SCHOOL AND ITS STUDENTS HEAD FOR SUCCESS + smf’s 2¢

Jordan has made big strides in academic performance. There is more to achieve, but its progress is plain to see.

clip_image001

BY SANDY BANKS, LA TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/TSPAH3



LOS ANGELES-CA-DECEMBER 7, 2012: Students Devin Perkins, left, and Esmeralda Diaz are photographed at Jordan High School in Los Angeles on Friday, December 7, 2012. Both are high achieving seniors who credit caring teachers with improving the school and who promise to help the next generation succeed. (Christina House / For The Times)
Jordan High students Devin Perkins and Esmeralda Diaz are high-achieving seniors who are a part of the success at the campus. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times)

December 7, 2012, 7:15 p.m. :: I was prepared for the dog-and-pony show — the choreographed "reveal" of a school makeover that's been in the works for years.
I didn't expect much beyond a grown-up version of show-and-tell. But I came anyway because I have a soft spot for Jordan High in Watts.
I've spent a decade tracking the school's efforts to improve; watched reformers arrive with big plans and leave with broken dreams.
The school's problems, they'd say, are too deep and expensive to fix; too intertwined with a neighborhood that will always be warped by dysfunction and poverty.
But on Wednesday, state schools Supt. Tom Torlakson visited the school with certificates announcing its improvement. Jordan's 93-point jump on the state's academic performance index was the biggest of any urban high school in California this year.
That's why Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up after working "56 hours straight" on trade missions and labor deals. "No way


USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches - Yahoo! News

USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches - Yahoo! News:


USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Agriculture Department is responding to criticism over new school lunch rules by allowing more grains and meat in kids' meals.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told members of Congress in a letter Friday that the department will do away with daily and weekly limits of meats and grains. Several lawmakers wrote the department after the new rules went into effect in September saying kids aren't getting enough to eat.
School administrators also complained, saying set maximums on grains and meats are too limiting as they try to plan daily meals.
"This flexibility is being provided to allow more time for the development of products that fit within 

Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of 'informational texts' | The Daily Caller

Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of 'informational texts' | The Daily Caller:

Classic literature to be dropped from high schools in favor of ‘informational texts


If you really want to hear about it, new educational standards now approved in 46 out of 50 states mandate that nonfiction books constitute at least 70 per cent of the texts high-school students read.
As a result, The Telegraph reports, literature classics such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are about to be replaced by insulation manuals and dated dispatches from the Federal Reserve.
Common Core State Standards call for the new, notably nonfiction-heavy reading regime to be fully in place by 2014. English teachers nationwide have about a year to decide which novels, short stories and poems to eliminate, according to the Washington Post.
Great novels will be largely replaced by “informational texts.” Examples include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the U.S. Environmental Protection


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/08/classic-literature-to-be-dropped-from-high-schools-in-favor-of-informational-texts/#ixzz2Ea1L6vY9

How do reformers “see the whole elephant?” « Cooperative Catalyst

How do reformers “see the whole elephant?” « Cooperative Catalyst:


How do reformers “see the whole elephant?”

About 5 years ago, my school district brought in a reading expert. This was a real expert who had studied the reading process as her life’s work, some 40 years in schools and in a university laboratory setting. This expert has a list of book titles to her credit. Seeking help to design our Response To Intervention (RTI) processes for struggling readers, our district leadership contracted her to closely with teachers and instructional coaches.
In her first address to instructional leaders and reading teachers in my school district, she read Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young, an engaging, artistic treatment of the old parable, The Blind Men and the Elephant.  In this one, each blind mouse feels a different part of the elephant and declares what they have found, each identifying the elephant as something entirely different. Scrawling in my notebook that day, I made a note of her choice of texts, feeling that she meant to comment on the biases each of us brought to our endeavor to help students read.
Our expert likely knew then what the last four years have shown: like the blind mice in the story, the educators 

Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific” | Scathing Purple Musings

Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific” | Scathing Purple Musings:


Florida School Superintendent: SB 736 Teacher Evaluations “Inconsistent, Unfair, Unscientific”

So What...It's only Money
Just 8 months ago, two retiring Florida superintendents of schools warned that the of SB 736 are “unworkable and may be the tipping point” in Florida’s education accountability system. Bill Vogel (Seminole) and Ron Blocker (Orange) spoke with Orlando Sentinel reporter Dave Weber.
Florida’s runaway school accountability system is destined to fail and take with it the positive goals it was intended to accomplish, the superintendents of Orange and Seminole county schools agreed Friday.
Orange Superintendent Ron Blocker and Bill Vogel, superintendent of Seminole schools, said the