Big Education Ape Nite Cap 6-4-13 #thankateacher #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

Harkins’ “Strengthening Corporate Control of Schools Act for 2013″ – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 minutes ago

Harkins’ “Strengthening Corporate Control of Schools Act for 2013″ – @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Harkins’ “Strengthening Corporate Control of Schools Act for 2013″ JUNE 4, 2013 BY JIM HORN LEAVE A COMMENT This new re-write of ESEA is more similar to NCLB than just the 1000+ pages of corporate lawyerese used to maintain and extend the current power structure over schools. Most of the specifics of NCLB stay in place, and where they are changed, they reflect changes found in RTTT. It is, yet, another document written by the corporate foundations and corporate think tank... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 minutes ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform: Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform by Melissa Westbrook Slow down, it's not Tom Stritikus. Please. No, this amazing piece of writing comes via the Washington Post's The Answer Sheet with a guest column by the Dean of the Howard University School of Education and professor of education policy, Leslie T. Fenwick. You should read the whole thing but highlights (bold mine): "Approximately 90 percent of black and white parents report attending parent teacher association meetings and nearly 80 percent o... more »

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 minutes ago

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG [image: ASCD Whole Child Bloggers]From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes June 4, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers [image: Milbrey McLaughlin and Rebecca A. London - John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities] *Post written by Milbrey McLaughlin, founding director of theJohn W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, and Rebecca A. London, senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center overseein... more »

PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois! Parents United for Responsible Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois!: PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois! by admin [image: psat_logo]Today I’m sharing an action alert from Stop Common Core Illinois as a follow-up to yesterday’s blog:ACTION ALERT: Let’s dump inBloom student data collection in Illinois! Posted on June 3, 2013 by ilpatriot *Ok Illinois we’re not being loud enough! We are one of only THREE states not dumping InBloom!* Today call The ISBE at (217) 557-6763! *Listen friends we can talk about CC and data tracking, but unless we fight w... more »

Jersey Jazzman: Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 14 minutes ago

Jersey Jazzman: Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs: Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs by Duke I take no pleasure in calling a fellow teacher to account. I am sure that Elizabeth Morgan is an excellent educator, and I would never question her motives. But her op-ed in NJSpotlight, cheering on the use of Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) and Student Growth Objectives (SGOs), comes across to me as little more than propaganda, straight from the NJDOE. Morgan serves on the Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC), the group charged with advising NJDOE on the new teacher evaluati... more »

Diane in the Evening Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Ellen Lubic: Whom Can We Trust? by dianerav Ellen Lubic of UCLA writes in response to an earlier post which asserted that the goal of corporate reform is gentrification, not education reform: In support of what is being posited here, one only needs to review the landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2005 in the case of Kelo vs. City of New London. It is referred to as the “reverse Robin Hood case where land is taken from the poor and given to the rich.” In this case a privately owned shopping center was taken by eminen... more »

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education: From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers [image: Milbrey McLaughlin and Rebecca A. London - John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities] *Post written by Milbrey McLaughlin, founding director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University. Rebecca A. London is a Senior Researcher at the John W. Gardner Center overseeing all analyses conducted with the Youth Data Archive. They are the ... more »

The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in” | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in” | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News: The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in” by Danny Weil *[image: capitalistschool]* *This is the first part of a two part series on ‘Obama’s 20/20 plan’ for higher education. * *In this first part we will critically examine the initial ‘leg’ of the two part plan. In the second part, we will examine the second ‘leg’ of the ‘trousered’, Obama plan. In the second part, we will also critically examine t... more »

Education By The Numbers | Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis.

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Education By The Numbers | Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis.: Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis. by Jill Barshay The New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington headed by Anne-Marie Slaughter, is calling for more federal funds and school time for teachers to use student data to change how they teach. The report, “Promoting Data in the Classroom,” written by Clare McCann and Jennifer Cohen Kabaker, was published o... more »

solidaridad: Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 5 hours ago

solidaridad: Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD): Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Benefits of Class Size Reduction for LAUSD Class Size Matters sent the following amicus research brief in support of the Creating Equitable and Enriching Learning Environments for All Los Angeles Unified School District Students resolution. While I don't like that Board Members Vladovic et al included mention of Corporate Core (CCSS) and A-G in their resolution, our students will continue to suffer if class s... more »

Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement - Esquire

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 6 hours ago

Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement - Esquire: Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement By Charles P. Pierce at 3:35pm *I like Maggie Gyllenhaal*. I really do. I thought* Secretary* was a star-making, hilarious performance. (Yeah, yeah, shurr'up, ya bastids. She and Spader were hilarious.) I thought she was brilliant in the* The Great New Wonderful*, and criminally unrewarded for her brilliant work in * Sherrybaby*. But she nearly lost me when she signed onto the public-school-teacher-bashing propaganda film, *Won't Back Down*. Central to the ... more »

Will Education Commissioner Pryor, Paul Vallas and Steven Adamowski cost Malloy his job? - Wait, What?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Will Education Commissioner Pryor, Paul Vallas and Steven Adamowski cost Malloy his job? - Wait, What?: Will Education Commissioner Pryor, Paul Vallas and Steven Adamowski cost Malloy his job? by jonpelto The corporate funded education reform industry’s assault on Connecticut’s public schools continues. Led by Stefan Pryor, Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Paul Vallas, Bridgeport’s “Superintendent of Schools” and Steven Adamowski, Malloy’s Special Master for Windham and New London, the news is full of their efforts to undermine teachers, parents and our local schools. After leg... more »

6-4-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: Guest Post: Why My Family is Boycotting the State Field Tests by Lauren Cohen I previously wrote about the NY State Field Tests, in which unsuspecting students have their learning time hijacked so they can do free research for Pear$on. This piece, from a fellow member of NYC-based Change the Stakes, was originally published on Schoolbook. Why My Family is Boycotting the State Field Tests by Jinnie Spiegler There […] Just a quick announcement, NBD by Chalk Face, PhD I am teaching myself to use Xcode. In three months time, by the end of thi... more »

solidaridad: Protest to get Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS) out of Santee Education Complex!

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

solidaridad: Protest to get Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS) out of Santee Education Complex!: Protest to get Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS) out of Santee Education Complex! by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene From the organizers: PLEASE SHARE! Protest TODAY (Tuesday) at Santee High School at 3PM to get rid of Mayor Villaraigosa's "Partnership" for Los Angeles Schools! They are dishonest, corrupt and shady as hell! They have gotten rid of many teachers, Ethnic Studies classes and now they are trying to get rid of Dr. Rangel! Enough is enough! Let's get rid of these... more »

Fitch colluded with Wall Street. Now they use teacher pensions as a reason to lower Illinois credit rating. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Fitch colluded with Wall Street. Now they use teacher pensions as a reason to lower Illinois credit rating. | Fred Klonsky: Fitch colluded with Wall Street. Now they use teacher pensions as a reason to lower Illinois credit rating. by Fred Klonsky As expected, the credit rating agencies, private corporations, are reacting to the failure of the Illinois General Assembly to cut public employee pensions. Greg Hinz: *The first reaction is in from Wall Street to the Illinois Legislature’s failure to enact pension reform last week, and it’s negative.* * **Fitch Ratings, one of the big fir... more »

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, June 4, 2013

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Willful defiance suspensions vary widely among San Diego County districts Education Headlines *Tuesday, June 4, 2013* Wasco voters consider merging school districtsVoters in Wasco on Tuesday will decide whether to merge the Wasco Union Elementary School District and the Wasco Union High School District. Museum education gets innovation recognitionEach year, nearly 50,000 students, parents and teachers take field trips to the USS Midway Museum to study math, physical sciences, social studies and other subjects in a one-of-a-kind l... more »

Public Education “Reformers” Discredited By Yet Another Study | FDL News Desk

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Public Education “Reformers” Discredited By Yet Another Study | FDL News Desk: Public Education “Reformers” Discredited By Yet Another Study by DSWright The privatization of public education movement sometimes called “ed reform” has always had one fatal flaw – none of their claims are supported by the evidence. In modern American politics being completely nonfactual is only a minor handicap, especially if like the “ed reform” movement you have money behind your agenda. Just shout louder and bribe anyone who still has their hearing left. But now we may have finally hit a tipping poin... more »

Chicago's Students Deserve Acts of Heroism | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Chicago's Students Deserve Acts of Heroism | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights: Chicago's Students Deserve Acts of Heroism by National Education Association *By Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association (NEA)* For weeks now, teachers, parents and community leaders have been protesting Chicago Public Schools' plan to close 50 schools in what will be the largest single wave of school closures in U.S. history. The media coverage has been dramatic, but what you see in the eyes of educators who are so adamantly opposed to this plan is the same thing you... more »

Heads up: Special Ed Community Committee meeting tonight - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 7 hours ago

Heads up: Special Ed Community Committee meeting tonight - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools: Heads up: Special Ed Community Committee meeting tonight Monday, June 3rd, 2013 at 1:34 pm in UncategorizedNo Comments I was planning to attend the Programs for Exceptional Children Community Advisory Committee meeting tonight after writing about the departure of OUSD’s special education director Karen Mates. I can’t make it but there is a lot to talk about from what I hear: The Special Education Teacher Caucus will be presenting, there will be discussion about pl... more »

Harkin to Introduce Schools Legislation - NYTimes.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Harkin to Introduce Schools Legislation - NYTimes.com: Senator to Introduce Education MeasureBy MOTOKO RICHPublished: June 4, 2013 Nearly half a century after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a sweeping federal education act and promised to “bridge the gap between helplessness and hope” for disadvantaged children in the nation’s public schools, Congress is still trying to fine-tune the law to achieve its original goals. On Tuesday, Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, is introducing the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013. It is an updated version of the 48-year-old Ele... more »

Missouri Education Watchdog: What Will It Take To Get Answers From DESE?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 8 hours ago

Missouri Education Watchdog: What Will It Take To Get Answers From DESE?: What Will It Take To Get Answers From DESE? by Anngie Some folks down in the East Newton school district *still* have questions about Common Core and are willing to do whatever it takes to get answers from DESE. They have scheduled a meeting this month and invited DESE to attend. Here was the first response from DESE. -----Original Message----- Sent: Fri, May 31, 2013 2:58 pm Subject: Letter from DESE in response to our invitation Dear Bobbi: Thank you for the invitation to participate in your community mee... more »

UPDATE: Daley to run for governor on pension-cutting platform. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 9 hours ago

Daley to run for governor on pension-cutting platform. | Fred Klonsky: Ten minute drawing: Three to protect the status quo. by Fred Klonsky [image: Status Quo] Click on drawing to enlarge. Daley to run for governor on pension-cutting platform. by Fred Klonsky [image: chi-william-daley-blasts-inaction-on-pension-r-001] Banker Bill Daley will challenge Governor Squeeezy for the office. He all but formally announced his candidacy yesterday in an-all out attack on the sitting governor, claiming Squeezy didn’t do enough to cut public employee pensions. Son of the late Boss Daley, brother ... more »

Mental illness in children is on the rise. Should parents worry? | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Mental illness in children is on the rise. Should parents worry? | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: Mental illness in children is on the rise. Should parents worry? by Deepa Fernandes [image: OCD Children] *Cassidy George and her mother Lisa George play outside their home in Manchester, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, on June 3rd, 2013. At age 7, Cassidy was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.; Credit: Mae Ryan/KPCC* Mental health issues in children are increasing. One in five kids now suffer from a mental disorder, according a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control an... more »

Imagine 2013 | the becoming radical

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Imagine 2013 | the becoming radical: Imagine 2013 Posted on June 4, 2013 by plthomasedd I am no John Lennon, but I think it is appropriate to imagine an education system and an education reform movement that create teaching and learning experiences for all students based on evidence and the experiences and expertise of educators, scholars, and researchers. So let’s imagine that system, and consider just a few possibilities. First, what about gathering student feedback on teachers or attempting to evaluate teachers based on pre- and post- test data within a high-stakes accountability... more »

Poor Children Need a Hand Up, Not Hospice - Bridging Differences - Education Week

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago

Poor Children Need a Hand Up, Not Hospice - Bridging Differences - Education Week: Poor Children Need a Hand Up, Not Hospice by Deborah Meier *Michael Petrilli writes to Deborah Meier once again today. Deborah will respond to this post on Friday.* Dear Deborah, Your last post was amazing—one of the most coherent, cogent articulations of a reform alternative that I've ever read. I was particularly moved by this passage: We need quiet places and noisy places, places full of books and computers and others full of paint and clay. We need adults with the freedom to make spontaneous dec... more »

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] NYC: On Thursday, Join a Demonstration for Education! by dianerav This just in: Hope you can join us and spread the word! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 6th, 2013 NYC public school children will sign John Hancocks to their own “Declaration of Education” on Chancellor’s Day City Hall Park gathering injects a positive message into the standardized testing debate, favors giving administrators room to create learning communities and giving teachers time to do wha... more »

solidaridad: SPaARCS calls for support of the Lower Class Size resolution at LAUSD

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

solidaridad: SPaARCS calls for support of the Lower Class Size resolution at LAUSD: SPaARCS calls for support of the Lower Class Size resolution at LAUSD by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene *Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 9am downtown (Beaudry),* * * our school board will consider a special resolution to *LOWER CLASS SIZE* As parents ~* WE MUST SPEAK LOUDLY IN SUPPORT OF THIS CRITICAL IMPROVEMENT*. There has been some suggestion that this measure is little more than a self-serving trick of organized labor. We must QUASH this mindset that ignores our children's needs. * * *KIDS NEED SMALLER...more »

NYC Educator: The Young Teacher and the Chapter Leader

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

NYC Educator: The Young Teacher and the Chapter Leader: The Young Teacher and the Chapter Leader by NYC Educator *by Curious Teacher* Young Teacher knocked on Chapter Leader's door. "Can I speak to you for a minute?" "Sure," said Chapter Leader. She was a kindly looking old lady. "What's going on?" Young Teacher explained her tale of woe. It was the old story: administration was harassing her when they had never bothered her before, she felt enormous pressure to resign, they didn't want to give her tenure, etc. Her AP had brought her up on charges of "professional misconduct" and ... more »

What Critical Problems in K-12 Schools Does Online Instruction Solve? (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

What Critical Problems in K-12 Schools Does Online Instruction Solve? (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: What Critical Problems in K-12 Schools Does Online Instruction Solve? (Part 2) by larrycuban K-12 online instruction attracts policy-inclined school reformers and reform-minded policymakers because it appears as a technological and inexpensive solution for serious problems at a time when public schools are viewed as a double failure: in urban districts where largely poor and minority youth get a third-rate education and many suburban and rural scho... more »

Chicago pension fund sends thanks for the no vote on SB1920. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Chicago pension fund sends thanks for the no vote on SB1920. | Fred Klonsky: Chicago pension fund sends thanks for the no vote on SB1920. by Fred Klonsky In the final hours of the Illinois General Assembly, Mayor Emanuel conspired with Speaker Madigan and President Cullerton to try to pass SB1920 which would allow for another so-called pension holiday for CPS. Rahm threatened (and continues to threaten) to raise class sizes if CPS was required to meet their pension obligation. I advocated a no vote. The bill failed to pass. This morning the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund sent out a ... more »

Why schools should relax about cheating

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Why schools should relax about cheating: Why schools should relax about cheating By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 4, 2013 at 6:00 amE-mail the writer 7 Comments More [image: growing-pains_12]Here’s a rather unconventional view on cheating. It was written by Penelope Trunk, who founded Brazen Careerist and two other startups. Her career advice runs in 200 newspapers. She lives on a farm in Wisconsin and homeschools her sons. This appeared on her blog. By Penelope Trunk Eric Anderman, professor at education psychology at Ohio University, has studied cheating for decades, and he says ... more »

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Portugal's hot!

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Portugal's hot!: Portugal's hot! by Mike Klonsky "Against the Troiks"** *"We are faced with a wall of intransigence. The government better understand that negotiating is not the same as imposing."* -- Carlos Silva, the head of the 500,000 members-strong UGT It's hot here in Lisbon and I'm not just talking about the weather. Luckily we're able to get around the city pretty well, arriving in town just after another strike shut down the Lisbon Metro for the 4th time in the past year. Lots of young people in the streets. Graffiti is ubiquitous. Unemplo... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Stranger Danger

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 12 hours ago

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Stranger Danger: Stranger Danger by Melissa Westbrook From My Northwest, a report of three (apparent) attempts to abduct a child in three different areas in the Puget Sound Region (including outside of two schools including Coe Elementary). Talk to your children about strangers and what to do if they are approached. From the story: The National Child Prevention Council offers these tips for talking with kids about stranger danger: - You should also talk to your children about how they should handle dangerous situations. One way is to teac... more »

The Illegal Trojan Horse In King’s Teacher Evaluation Plan | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 18 hours ago

The Illegal Trojan Horse In King’s Teacher Evaluation Plan | Gary Rubinstein's Blog: The Illegal Trojan Horse In King’s Teacher Evaluation Plan by Gary Rubinstein The state education commissioner of New York, John King, recently imposed a teacher evaluation system on New York City after years of disagreement between the city and the teacher’s union. The evaluation system will consist of three components: 55 points for principal observations, 40 points for test scores, and 5 points for student surveys. Much of this was inevitable as last year the state legislator updated education ... more »

Don’t let that American Flag in the corner of the room confuse you. - Wait, What?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Don’t let that American Flag in the corner of the room confuse you. - Wait, What?: Don’t let that American Flag in the corner of the room confuse you. by jonpelto As this update is being posted to Wait, What? the Bridgeport Board of Education’s “Board Policy Committee” is meeting in Bridgeport. The five member committee is made up of three Democrats loyal to Mayor Finch and his political operation and two members of more independent minded, one a Democrat and the other a member of the Working Families Party. Any action taken tonight by the Board Policy Committee must be confirmed ...more »

New data shows school “reformers” are full of it - Salon.com

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

New data shows school “reformers” are full of it - Salon.com: New data shows school “reformers” are full of itPoor schools underperform largely because of economic forces, not because teachers have it too easyBY DAVID SIROTA Michelle Rhee(Credit: © Hyungwon Kang / Reuters) In the great American debate over education, the education and technology corporations, bankrolled politicians and activist-profiteers who collectively comprise the so-called “reform” movement base their arguments on one central premise: that America should expect public schools to produce world-class academi... more »

Oath of Office OR Looney Tunes? | Reclaim Reform

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Oath of Office OR Looney Tunes? | Reclaim Reform: Oath of Office OR Looney Tunes? by kenpreviti What Oath of Office must be made by every state legislator? *“I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of …. to the best of my ability.”* (Source: Illinois Constitution.) That’s it. Nice. Simple. Direct. What’s not to know? “… will support the Constitution.” Well, a bunch of Democratic and Republican politicos couldn’t do it. Who? See HE... more »

Daily Kos: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy has lung cancer - with small personal update

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Daily Kos: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy has lung cancer - with small personal update: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy has lung cancer - with small personal update by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken) as you can read in this NY Times story. She is a dear friend, and I found out earlier today in an exchange of emails on another topic. Some of her House colleagues knew, because she was not a secretive person. She had discussed this earlier with political colleagues. The announcement was made several hours ago. She says her doctors are quite hopeful about the prognosis. She is getting superb treatment.... more »

A Note On Teacher Evaluations [A Memo For Sanity] - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

A Note On Teacher Evaluations [A Memo For Sanity] - The Jose Vilson | The Jose Vilson: A Note On Teacher Evaluations [A Memo For Sanity] by Jose Vilson [image: UFT Prez Michael Mulgrew, NYS Education Commissioner John King, and NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo] UFT Prez Michael Mulgrew, NYS Education Commissioner John King, and NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo Remember a few years ago when I told you that trying to create equations for the intangibles is calamitous for*any* profession, especially education? If think tanks prognosticate that the 21st century *needs* ideals like collaboration and ... more »

LA Unified school board considers two plans for Brown's proposed boost in school funding | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

LA Unified school board considers two plans for Brown's proposed boost in school funding | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC: LA Unified school board considers two plans for Brown's proposed boost in school funding by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez [image: Monica Ratliff District 6] *Monica Ratliff's fifth grade classroom at San Pedro Street Elementary.; Credit: Rebecca Hill/KPCC* Board members at L.A. Unified will hold talks Tuesday morning about how to use funding increases expected from Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed student funding overhaul. Board members have written up two proposals. The first inc... more »

Reform of California’s complex school finance system likely | EdSource Today

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 20 hours ago

Reform of California’s complex school finance system likely | EdSource Today: Reform of California’s complex school finance system likely - by Louis Freedberg by Louis Freedberg [image: Louis Freedberg] Louis Freedberg Less than a year after convincing voters to approve a multi-billion dollar tax increase for the state’s schools, Gov. Jerry Brown is on the verge of accomplishing a task that few California governors have dared to take on, let alone accomplish: reforming a school finance system that researchers andeducation advocates alike have for years labelled as inequitable, irra... more »

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. I retired a year ago. I turn 65 in two weeks. | Fred Klonsky

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. I retired a year ago. I turn 65 in two weeks. | Fred Klonsky: Life in Rahm’s Chicago. I retired a year ago. I turn 65 in two weeks. by Fred Klonsky [image: 727_10201239583460941_1879980649_n] *Outside the shiny headquarters were about 100 CTA employees protesting layoffs by CTA boss Forrest Claypool.* “What do you do with your time,” I am often asked. In the old days time was money. Now money is time. I have been working on the goal of living as well and spending less. So I will spend time (which I have more of) to save some (which we have less of). Take the ann... more »

Former DISD chief of staff Jerome Oberlton federally indicted for deal in Atlanta Public Schools | Education Blog

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Former DISD chief of staff Jerome Oberlton federally indicted for deal in Atlanta Public Schools | Education Blog: Former DISD chief of staff Jerome Oberlton federally indicted for deal in Atlanta Public Schools by Matthew Haag Former Dallas ISD chief of staff Jerome Oberlton was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury, accused of receiving at least $60,000 in kickbacks connected to a contract awarded by Atlanta Public Schools. Oberlton resigned as … [visit site to read more]

Another boondoggle in the making: At a cost of more than $12 million to CT Taxpayers - Wait, What?

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Another boondoggle in the making: At a cost of more than $12 million to CT Taxpayers - Wait, What?: Another boondoggle in the making: At a cost of more than $12 million to CT Taxpayers by jonpelto On Wednesday, June 5, 2013 the Connecticut’s State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on a proposed new charter school for Windham, Connecticut called The Path Academy. The Path Academy is a project of Our Piece of the Pie, a Hartford-based “youth development agency” that seeks to “help young people access and attain a mix of the educational, employment, and personal skills that co... more »

Diane in the Evening 6-3-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Student Speaks Out Against StudentsFirst Award to Anti-Gay Legislator by dianerav A reader shared the following story about a student in Tennessee, where StudentsFirst named an outspoken anti-gay legislator as its “Reformer of the Year.” “11-year old takes on Michelle Rhee and Students First over endorsing “Don’t Say Gay” lawmaker endorsement. “ “I am Marcel Neergaard, and I am 11 years old. This year I was homeschooled for sixth grade because of severe bullying. If I had gone back to public school, there is a gr... more »

Administration Honors U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools and District Sustainability Awardees; Launches Facilities Best Practices Tour | U.S. Department of Education

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 day ago

Administration Honors U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools and District Sustainability Awardees; Launches Facilities Best Practices Tour | U.S. Department of Education: Administration Honors U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools and District Sustainability Awardees; Launches Facilities Best Practices Tour JUNE 3, 2013 *Contact: * Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov White House CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe, and Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Janey Thornton joined U.S. Secretary of Edu... more »

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform:

Education School Dean Calls Out Ed Reform

by Melissa Westbrook

Slow down, it's not Tom Stritikus.  Please.

No, this amazing piece of writing comes via the Washington Post's The Answer Sheet with a guest column by the Dean of the Howard University School of Education and professor of education policy, Leslie T. Fenwick.  You should read the whole thing but highlights (bold mine):

"Approximately 90 percent of black and white parents report attending parent teacher association meetings and nearly 80 percent of black and white parents report attending teacher conferences. Despite these similarities, fewer black parents (47 percent) than white parents (64 percent) report being very satisfied with the school their child attends. This dissatisfaction among black parents is so whether these parents are college-educated, high income, or poor.

The lie is that schemes like Teach For America, charter schools backed by venture capitalists, education management organizations (EMOs), and Broad Foundation-prepared superintendents address black parents 

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes

June 4, 2013 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Milbrey McLaughlin, founding director of theJohn W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, and Rebecca A. London, senior researcher at the John W. Gardner Center overseeing all analyses conducted with the Youth Data Archive. They are the editors of From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes.

Policy discussions about how to improve academic, social, and physical outcomes for today's youth typically take place solely within the domains of many individual youth-serving sectors. For instance, much of educators' current deliberation considers responses to the new Common Core State Standards and how to increase students' high school graduation and college attendance. Health professionals may focus on asthma management or obesity reduction. In social services, providers may talk about how to create seamless transitions for foster youth. Despite their common focus on young people, these youth-serving sectors typically are disconnected from, and uninformed about, each other's programs, policies, and approaches to serving youth—when in fact, local youth are constantly moving between them. These so-called institutional "silos" can result in unintended gaps in the web of supports that 

PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois! Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois!:

PSAT for 6-4-13: Dump inBloom in Illinois!

by admin

Today I’m sharing an action alert from Stop Common Core Illinois as a follow-up to yesterday’s blog:

ACTION ALERT: Let’s dump inBloom student data collection in Illinois!

Posted on June 3, 2013 by ilpatriot

Ok Illinois we’re not being loud enough! We are one of only THREE states not dumping InBloom!
Today call The ISBE at (217) 557-6763!
Listen friends we can talk about CC and data tracking, but unless we fight we won’t rid our state of this! You, yes YOU have to pick up the phone and call! Don’t expect everyone else to do it. 
If you don’t want your child tracked with InBloom then call!! TODAY!
Use their contact form: http://webprod1.isbe.net/contactisbe/
Page three of this document has your local regional office:http://isbe.net/regionaloffices/pdf/roedirectory.pdf
Go to their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Illinois-State-Board-of-Education/136022251779
Go to the boards next meeting:
http://www.isbe.net/board/pdf/2013_board_meetings.pdf
(it’s in Naperville!)
Tweet them:
https://twitter.com/ISBEnews
Again don’t just sit on this! Call, write, tweet, and MAKE SOME NOISE! Tell them we want out of InBloom!!!
Christopher Koch got our state in Common Core and the data tracking with RTTT…let him know what you think! (Call one of these numbers and ask for him…it’s the main office number: 866/262-6663 • 217/782-4321)
Here’s a list of the board members: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/board/

A tale of two alma maters: which is worse on public education???

by admin

I’m usually up in the air about which of my two alma maters to be more proud of or embarrassed about.
As a resident of Hyde Park, I’m usually most offended by the U of Chicago’s muscling around and over the neighbors it considers less desirable and replacing local businesses with more generic establishments. And let’s not even talk about the U of C charter schools and their Tim Knowles, a member of Rahm Emanuel’s education transition team who most recently assured the Tribune that “the city is going to be responsive. They’re not going to be deaf” to the schools on the closure list. Mmm hmm.
But then there was this excruciatingly tone-deaf letter to the Tribune last week by a Northwestern education prof named Diane Whitmore Schatzenbach who tossed the ball of shame right back into NU’s court. She wrote:

….the best research suggests that these closings are unlikely to cause long-term harm to 

Jersey Jazzman: Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs

Jersey Jazzman: Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs:

Debunking NJDOE's Propaganda on SGPs

by Duke

I take no pleasure in calling a fellow teacher to account. I am sure that Elizabeth Morgan is an excellent educator, and I would never question her motives. But her op-ed in NJSpotlight, cheering on the use of Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) and Student Growth Objectives (SGOs), comes across to me as little more than propaganda, straight from the NJDOE.

Morgan serves on the Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC), the group charged with advising NJDOE on the new teacher evaluation system, AchieveNJ. I know some of the other members of this committee personally; they are excellent educators and I'm sure they have the best of intentions. But the endorsement of good people is not reason enough to dismiss the very serious problems I and others have outlined with AchieveNJ. 

Teachers, administrators, parents, and students in New Jersey have to understand that this new teacher evaluation program has serious flaws that have not been acknowledged, let alone addressed. To that end - and I hope the good people on the EPAC panel, including Morgan, understand the spirit in which I offer this criticism - let me address some critical points in Morgan's op-ed:

One of the measures of AchieveNJ, the proposed system -- and the one that has received the most press attention -- is the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) score. The SGP is a measure of how a teacher’s students have grown on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) in comparison to those statewide who are most like them 

Diane in the Evening Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

A Sound Vision for Improving the Teaching Profession

by dianerav

A group of distinguished educators addressed a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan that carefully explains how to get excellent teaching. Such an effort would begin by setting a high bar for entry into the profession, continue by establishing an atmosphere of autonomy and professionalism, and grow stronger by enabling teachers to work together and build a vibrant culture of learning and professional development.
The group warned that Race to the Top does not encourage good teaching. It wrote:
“Current education policy, including the Race to the Top law, and especially the practice of evaluating teachers by their students’ performance on high stakes assessments, will likely weaken, rather than strengthen, the teaching profession. Although the current policy may have intuitive appeal, a variety of evidence indicates it will not lead to sustained improvements in teaching and learning over the long term. In fact, it is likely to lead to 

A New “Fix” for Failing D.C. Public Schools

by dianerav

While former Chancellor Michelle Rhee traipses around the nation telling red states and the media her formula for saving schools, a member of the D.C. City Council has devised a plan to reform the schools she left behind.
David Catania, an at-large member of the City Council, plans to introduce seven bills to overhaul the still low-performing public schools of the nation’s capital. Catania said the public schools have been “stagnating” for the past several years, those being the years of Rhee and her deputy.
This gets complicated because the city’s public schools are supposedly controlled by the mayor. Chancellor 

Ellen Lubic: Whom Can We Trust?

by dianerav

Ellen Lubic of UCLA writes in response to an earlier post which asserted that the goal of corporate reform is gentrification, not education reform:
In support of what is being posited here, one only needs to review the landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2005 in the case of Kelo vs. City of New London. It is referred to as the “reverse Robin Hood case where land is taken from the poor and given to the rich.”
In this case a privately owned shopping center was taken by eminent domain and then sold by the city to a 

Fairtest: New ESEA Bill Continues Damage Done By Bush-Obama Administrations

by dianerav

Those hoping that a Senate rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (now known as No Child Left Behind) would recognize the damage of the past 12 years of federally-mandated high-stakes testing will be disappointed by the Senate Democrats’ proposal, says FAIRTEST. The new proposal completely ignores the grassroots rebellion by parents, geachers, students, and local school boards against the punitive misuse of testing.
Here is the FAIRTEST statement:
FairTest
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
for further information:
Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792
or Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
for immediate release, Tuesday, June 4, 2013
U.S. SENATE EDUCATION BILL FAILS TO REVERSE “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” DAMAGE;
IGNORES MESSAGE FROM CONSTITUENTS’ RESISTANCE TO HIGH-STAKES TESTING;
GRASSROOTS BOYCOTTS, OPT-OUTS AND RESOLUTIONS SAY, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”
Education legislation unveiled in the U.S. Senate today is “grossly inadequate to undo the damage of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB) test-and-punish era,” according to the country’s leading assessment reform organization. “Rather than embracing policies that would improve learning and teaching, the bill drafted 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 4 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Good News: Illinois Enacts Moratorium on Virtual Charters by dianerav Thank you, Governor Pat Quinn! And congratulations to the 18 suburban districts that protected their students. Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation that enacts a one-year moratorium on virtual charters, allowing time to study their performance. Any impartial study will reveal that online charters get poor results. They have high student dropouts every year, students get low grades and have a po... more »

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes — Whole Child Education:

From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes

by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Milbrey McLaughlin, founding director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University. Rebecca A. London is a Senior Researcher at the John W. Gardner Center overseeing all analyses conducted with the Youth Data Archive. They are the editors of From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes.
Policy discussions about how to improve academic, social, and physical outcomes for today's youth typically take place solely within the domains of many individual youth-serving sectors. For instance, much of educators' current deliberation considers responses to the new Common Core State Standards and how to increase students' high school graduation and college attendance. Health professionals may focus on asthma management or obesity reduction. In social services, providers may talk about how to create seamless transitions for foster youth. Despite their common focus on young people, these youth-serving sectors typically are disconnected from, and uninformed about, each other's programs, policies, and approaches to serving youth—when in fact, local youth are constantly moving between them. These so-called institutional "silos" can result in unintended gaps in the web of supports that youth need, duplication of services, poorly aligned goals, and missed opportunities to be mutually reinforcing. how the community as a whole, rather than any one agency or program, meets the developmental needs of children and youth is important for supporting their pathways to productive adulthood.

One way to improve coordination and learning among youth-serving organizations is through data sharing, but this rarely occurs due to practical, technical, or legal difficulties. Each youth-serving organization collects and maintains a wealth of information on its "own" participating youth, without the ability to consider the other developmental areas the organization may be influencing or the broader set of community supports and services that shape child and youth outcomes.
In a new book, From Data to Action: A Community Approach to Improving Youth Outcomes, we argue that new cross-sector tools are necessary and available to support cross-institutional community youth development. We, along with our co-authors, describe the Youth Data Archive, a project of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University. The Youth Data Archive (YDA) is a cross-agency, integrated 

The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in” | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in” | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:

The Obama 20/20 plan for education: ‘chump change’ you can’t believe in”

by Danny Weil

This is the first part of a two part series on ‘Obama’s 20/20 plan’ for higher education. 

In this first part we will critically examine the initial ‘leg’ of the two part plan.  In the second part, we will examine the second ‘leg’ of the ‘trousered’, Obama plan.  In the second part, we will also critically examine the Lumina Foundation (the ALEC related former Sallie Mae, “USA Group”).  I will also put forth some strategies available to fight this whole pernicious business of privatizing and turning over to Wall Street, all forms of education in the US.

Both parts are insidious and devastating for any public education interests. 

From President Barrack Obama’s speech to the University of North Carolina students, April 2012:

“We only finished paying off our student loans off about eight years ago. That wasn’t that long ago. And that wasn’t easy – especially because when we had Malia and Sasha, we’re supposed to be saving up for their college educations, and we’re still paying off our college 

Education By The Numbers | Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis.

Education By The Numbers | Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis.:

Report urges that federal funds for class-size reduction should instead go to train teachers in data analysis.

by Jill Barshay

The New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington headed by Anne-Marie Slaughter, is calling for more federal funds and school time for teachers to use student data to change how they teach. The report, “Promoting Data in the Classroom,” written by Clare McCann and Jennifer Cohen Kabaker, was published on June 4, 2013.
There’s a ton of education data out there now. Every state in the nation now maintains a longitudinal data system that tracks each student’s test scores year after year. (That’s thanks to more than $620 million in federal funds for setting up state data systems since 2005, plus additional Race-to-the-Top grants). But McCann and Kabaker make the argument that, for the most part, they’re not being used by teachers to figure out how to teach their students better.
McCann and Kabaker describe recent efforts in Oregon and Delaware to get teachers to actually use the data. In both cases, it was time consuming. One Oregon school district got the school board to approve a later start time to the school day so that teachers could pore over data in the morning. Other schools set aside regular blocks of time during the school day for teachers and administrators to meet. Delaware hired professional data coaches from Wireless Generation, a private company now owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp. The idea was to examine the data and plan instructional changes, such as when to use whole group versus small group or individual instruction. Or the teachers could identify which students need additional help. Some teachers were resentful that it was taking away from conventional lesson planning. Many teachers struggled to find the required 

solidaridad: Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)

solidaridad: Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD):

Benefits of Class Size Reduction for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)

Benefits of Class Size Reduction for LAUSD

Class Size Matters sent the following amicus research brief in support of the Creating Equitable and Enriching Learning Environments for All Los Angeles Unified School District Students resolution. While I don't like that Board Members Vladovic et al included mention of Corporate Core (CCSS) and A-G in their resolution, our students will continue to suffer if class sizes aren't reduced. Superintendent Deasy would much rather use Prop 30 funds to hand over to his buddy Rupert Murdoch at Amplify, Inc.

Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement - Esquire

Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement - Esquire:

Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement

By Charles P. Pierce

at 3:35pm

I like Maggie Gyllenhaal. I really do. I thought Secretary was a star-making, hilarious performance. (Yeah, yeah, shurr'up, ya bastids. She and Spader were hilarious.) I thought she was brilliant in the The Great New Wonderful, and criminally unrewarded for her brilliant work in Sherrybaby. But she nearly lost me when she signed onto the public-school-teacher-bashing propaganda film, Won't Back Down. Central to the film was a "parent-trigger" law through which plucky Maggie and plucky Viola Davis defeat the lazy featherbedding teachers unions for the good of The Kids. The parent-trigger law was one of the newer gimmicks of the school "reform" movement.

You know what's coming next, right?

Yet these petition drives differ from most elections. There is no public balloting place and no mechanism to ensure that all of those eligible to "vote" - i.e., the parents of the school's students - are notified. No public forums or debates are held to guarantee that parents hear both sides of the issue. This process does a disservice to parents, some of whom miss out on opportunities to become more informed about their options - or in some cases even to know that a petition drive is underway - before nearly irreversible decisions have been made. Yet neither the Legislature nor the state Board of Education has moved to fix these problems.    

Of course, the process is less transparent. The entire purpose of the school "reform" movement is to make the public schools less public. For all the preaching about empowering parents and the community, the school "reform" movement's ultimate goal is to privatize public education in this country, either directly, through the familiar techniques of "starving the beast," or in a softer way, in which Michelle Rhee and her corporate dancing partners convince you that they know

Read more: Another Whopping Failure For The School "Reform" Movement - Esquire 
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