UPDATE: For the Tribune’s Eric Zorn, calling racism racism is just a bargaining gambit + The in box. What the hell, Furman? | Fred Klonsky

The in box. What the hell, Furman? | Fred Klonsky:

For the Tribune’s Eric Zorn, calling racism racism is just a bargaining gambit.

by Fred Klonsky

When I pointed out what a lazy reporter the Trib’s Eric Zorn was, he wrote here and said he was sorry he disappointed me.
I think he wasn’t being sincere.
See, Zorn’s own daughter goes to Lane Technical College Prep. It was there that the story broke about the CPS ban of Persepolis, the hugely popular graphic novel. His daughter came home and told him about it. Typical of the way major Chicago media covers education stories, he dismissed it as a wild rumor. He made no calls or 

The in box. What the hell, Furman?

by Fred Klonsky

Our blogging comrade Tim Furman posted this today.

This Isn’t Goodbye-Goodbye…

…but it’s goodbye for now.

And so we have come to the end of School TechConnect. It’s been a hell of a ride.I’m taking a few months off.I’ll still be active on Twitter because as you know, I have to chime in on every little thing. And if I have something more extensive to say, I have a space ready for that. And I fully intend to be out on the streets with my cameras, so you ain’t heard the last from Ernest T. Bass, as a famous hillbilly once said.But the daily blogging is over for a while.
I’d like to thank all of my readers. You three have been a terrific audience. And I’d like to thank the people who’ve linked to me— you have excellent taste, all of you.
But seriously, thank you.
According to my vaguely sketched plan, I’ll be back in the saddle in August, in a new space, with my famously caustic wit intact. In other words, the babbling will continue in the fall.
See you on the streets. Adios!

What the hell, Furman? Like you have a day job?

Oh, right. You do.

Glen Brown, John Dillon, my brother and Tim Furman. These are Chicago area bloggers who people depend on. There are others. But not enough.

Tim, you may remember, was the go-to guy when we found the Jonah Edelman video on the Aspen site. I had 

California Superintendents, Elected Officials Launch Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan Transitional Kindergarten Online Resource - TKCalifornia

Transitional Kindergarten Online Resource - TKCalifornia:

California Superintendents, Elected Officials Launch Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan

Pre-K Students Sign, Seal Open Letter to Obama from CA School Superintendents 
 

Sacramento, CA – April 1, 2013 – Superintendents, legislators, advocates, civic leaders will join teachers, parents and child advocates to launch “Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan” at 10am on Tuesday, April 2 at a pre-kindergarten classroom at H.W. Harkness Elementary School in Sacramento.

The event kicks off the campaign’s efforts to galvanize support for the President’s plan and for early education initiatives in California. The campaign will roll out media campaigns, local rallies and other visibility events and activities to advocate for state legislative action that invests in California’s earliest learners.
 

Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan Launch

When: Tuesday, April 2, 10am PST

Where: H.W. Harkness Elementary School, 2147 54th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95822

What:

• Cameras can film Pre-K students "signing" and decorating a life-size letter to President Obama.
   
• Superintendent of Sacramento Schools Jonathon Raymond will present an open letter to the president on behalf of superintendents representing nearly 1.5 million students.
   
• Assemblywoman Bonilla (D-Concord) will present a legislative resolution in support of the president’s plan.
   
• Preschool California President Catherine Atkin will call on President Obama to announce a robust early learning plan.

Who:

• Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (D-Concord)
• Catherine Atkin, President, Preschool California
• Jonathan Raymond, Superintendent Sacramento City Unified School District
• John E. Deasy, Superintendent Los Angeles Unified School District
• Bill Kowba, Superintendent San Diego Unified School District
• Christopher J Steinhauser, Superintendent Long Beach Unified School District
• Mike Hanson, Superintendent, Fresno Unified School District
• Richard A. Carranza, Superintendent San Francisco Unified School District
• Dale Marsden, Superintendent San Bernardino City Unified School District
• Glyyn Thompson  Superintendent San Juan Unified       
• Deborah A. Flores, Ph.D, Superintendent Gilroy Unified School District
• Kevin Skelly, Superintendent Palo Alto Unified School District
• John R. Porter, Jr., Superintendent Franklin-McKinley School District
• Robert M. Hudson, Superintendent Alpaugh Unified School District
• Joel Shawn, Superintendent Aracadia Unified School District
• Mark M. Skvarna, Superintendent Baldwin Park Unified School District
• Russell Freitas, Superintendent Firebaugh – Las Deltas Unified School District
• Eric Cederquist, Superintendent Fowler Unified School District
• Frank Adelman, Superintendent Oak Run Elementary School District
• Doug Domene, Superintendent Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
• Richard Fauss, Superintendent Redding School District

###

About Californians for President Obama’s Early Learning Plan: A broad and diverse coalition of superintendents, educators, parents, legislators, scholars, child advocates and other supporters working to ensure every California child has access to high quality early childhood education.
 

About Preschool California: Preschool California works to ensure all children have the early experiences necessary to be successful learners, setting them on a path to college and career readiness. High-quality early childhood programs place children on a trajectory for success in kindergarten and beyond. In addition, economists have found that high-quality early childhood education offers one of the highest returns of any public investment.
 

Learn more at: Learn more at: www.preschoolcalifornia.org and www.tkcalifornia.org.

Gates and Murdoch "Personalize" Learning with Larger Classes and Big Data Systems - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Gates and Murdoch "Personalize" Learning with Larger Classes and Big Data Systems - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Gates and Murdoch "Personalize" Learning with Larger Classes and Big Data Systems

by Anthony Cody

Do you ever get the feeling that your mind has been boggled once too often? That was my reaction when I readthis enthusiastic report about the way the next generation's educational experience will be "personalized" by the tremendous data systems being developed by Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch.
The Gates Foundation has worked with Rupert Murdoch's Amplify to create a new non-profit called inBloom. (formerly the Shared Learning Collaborative). Their mission is "inform and involve each student and teacher with data and tools designed to personalize learning." This story explains:

To personalize learning, the first part is diagnostics - where are [students] on the learning path? - and the second part is, once you know where they are on the learning path, what's the next step?," said Streichenberger. InBloom's services address both needs.

By creating a neutral, nonprofit group to help connect the data, the hope is that schools won't encounter as much friction when companies and organizations want to access student data for assessment programs or other ed tech tools.

The service that inBloom will provide is to host all the data mined from all the assessments and surveys students 

National voices in the debate about testing and accountability — ain’t just Texas | Education Blog

National voices in the debate about testing and accountability — ain’t just Texas | Education Blog:

National voices in the debate about testing and accountability — ain’t just Texas

By Jeffrey Weiss
JWeiss@dallasnews.com
11:58 am on April 1, 2013 | Permalink

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Every day, I get delivered via email links to stories about various education topics. And every everyevery day, several are about the testing and accountability debate. I find it useful to he reminded that the Texas version of the debate is neither the only version nor, in many ways, all that different from many others. Here is a gleaning from today.

An English professor from Carnegie Mellon University does a column explaining why she has had her son, a third-grader, opt out from the Pennsylvania version of the standardized test. A nugget:

Then one day this March it dawned on me. I am getting angry at my son about a test. A test that I do not like. A “high-stakes” test that will put so much pressure on Jacob that it probably will not reflect his true abilities. I also realized something else: Jacob does not love to read.

To which I observe: There are lots of things I do not love to do and yet in which I am required to 

"Public Employee Performance Evaluation: Superintendent".

Leo Bennett-Cauchon

ROCKS!!!

Good morning,

There is a special board meeting on Wednesday April 3rd starting with open session starting at 4:30pm. 

http://www.scusd.edu/sites/main/files/file-attachments/april_3_2013_special_agenda_1.pdf 

The public has a right to comment at 4:35pm prior to closed session on topics listed for closed session.

The only topic listed is "Public Employee Performance Evaluation: Superintendent". 

I will be adding my input and urge others to consider joining me. If you like I have created a brief survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GTWLDWW   I will share the results with the board.

The evaluation process is described in the superintendent's contract:  ...

A. The BOARD and the SUPERINTENDENT shall meet at least annually (no earlier than May 1 and not later than August 30) to agree upon goals and objectives for evaluation for the succeeding year, and at least quarterly during the course of the year to discuss the working relationship between the SUPERINTENDENT and the BOARD, progress towards meeting the mutually agreed-upon goals and objectives and agreed upon modifications to those goals and objectives....

http://ddcache1.net/scusd.s468.SU/sites/main/files/file-attachments/9.1f.pdf

The SCUSD Board operates through "Coherent Governance" which also references the evaluation process. Unfortunately these policies are not posted on the website and I have not been successful in receiving a full set through a Public Records Act request. The available policies are at http://www.scusd.edu/board-education

San Diego Unified operates through a similar approach. Their policies are at http://www.sandi.net/domain/442

These include Operational Expectancy 4: Democratic Engagement of Stakeholder

Operational Result: The Board recognizes the citizens of San Diego to be the owners of the San Diego Unified School District. Accordingly, the superintendent shall maintain an organizational culture that appropriately engages all people, including members of the board, parents, community members, staff and employee organizations, with respect, dignity and courtesy.

The superintendent will:

1. Assure the timely flow of information, appropriate input, and strategic two-way dialog between the district and the community that informs, shapes, and builds understanding and support for district and school efforts....

There are interesting articles on a previous evaluation sessions at:

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/15/4414665/the-public-eye-expert-sees-conflict.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/29/4299166/gfdgf-dgf-dgh-hgfh.html#storylink=misearch

The open session topic starting at 6:30pm is "Bond Workshop".

In solidarity, 

Leo

Feds look to reclaim funding granted rural schools under sequester SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Feds look to reclaim funding granted rural schools under sequester

Hundreds of rural school districts across the U.S. – including many in northern California – face the unhappy prospect of returning to the federal government millions of dollars in aid already delivered but reclaimed under the requirements of sequestration.

Secure Rural Schools and Communities Act, which dates back to the Theodore Roosevelt administration, was most recently reauthorized last year to provide $328 million in support of schools, road services and other government programs in rural counties located in 41 states.

But officials at the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees the program, notified participating local agencies that the funding is subject to the sequestration and are demanding repayment of $17.9 million based on the portion of funds that has been disbursed to states.

As a result, 31 members of the House of Representatives – including Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Rocklin, – sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the president’s Office of Management and Budget, asking that the order be rescinded.

“It retroactively takes funds that are already being used for rural schools, emergency services, infrastructure, and 

Just Say No to Just Read, Florida, South Carolina | the becoming radical

Just Say No to Just Read, Florida, South Carolina | the becoming radical:

Just Say No to Just Read, Florida, South Carolina

Posted on April 1, 2013 by plthomasedd

“Nearly 3,000 of South Carolina’s third-graders who struggle with reading could be held back if the state adopts a plan that would require students to read at or near grade level,” Jamie Self reports in The State (“Education leaders: Florida holds key to SC literacy fix,” March 31, 2013), adding later,

Under Peeler’s bill, 2,886 SC third-graders scored low enough on a 2012 reading test to be held back a year — more than four times the 584 third-graders held back in 2012. The number reflects only the lowest-scoring readers, about 27 percent of the more than 10,500 third-graders who scored as not reading on grade level….

SC schools chief Mick Zais supports the plan to hold back struggling third-graders and would like to see a similar track for seventh graders, his spokesman Jay Ragley said.

SC Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, has introduced the bill 

UPDATE: Beverly Hall worried about asking too little of inner city students. But is there also a danger of asking too much? | Get Schooled

Beverly Hall worried about asking too little of inner city students. But is there also a danger of asking too much? | Get Schooled:

Beverly Hall worried about asking too little of inner city students. But is there also a danger of asking too much?

by Maureen Downey

Despite all the cheering on the blog that APS administrators are now facing justice for their roles in the CRCT cheating scandal, an unresolved issue remains: Why was there so much cheating in APS?  (And elsewhere in the country, as uncovered by a later AJC investigation?)
The Georgia CRCTs are not difficult tests. Why was it so difficult to get APS students to score in acceptable ranges?
The indictments in the APS cheating scandal bring us back to the national quandary of how to raise the achievement level of students who historically were never expected to do well, were accorded fewer resources with which to do well, had the most inexperienced teachers and came from homes that lacked the social capital to assist them in school.
The cheating at APS occurred in the schools with the least advantaged populations.
When she came to Atlanta, Beverly Hall said she wanted teachers who believed poor children could do well. (Interesting side point here is that Hall wanted to fire many …

Nearly one in five high school boys diagnosed with ADHD. Is it big problem or Big Pharm?

by Maureen Downey

Mining CDC data, The New York Times is reporting today nearly one in five high school age boys and 11 percent of school-age children over all have received a medical diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Are we over-diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity, especially in boys, because we have less tolerance of what were once understood and accepted as normal kid behaviors?
Have we become a nation that spots a fidgety 5-year-old and thinks a pill is the answer?
Are these behaviors more troubling in an era where even kindergarten has an academic focus and where children are measured by test scores? Are parents buying the pharmaceutical industry’s promise that it can turn a restless student into a focused scholar?
A child with ADHD is easily distracted, hyperactive and impulsive. More than overactive, these children often can’t sit still long enough to respond to a question or listen to a story. Some can’t slow down between idea and action, leaving them …

A Special Message From the President | The White House

A Special Message From the President | The White House:

A Special Message From the President

Kori Schulman

April 01, 2013 
10:00 AM EDT

 President. Watch it here:

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