Diane in the Evening 6-5-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

More about Michael Weston on This Teacher-Run Site

by dianerav

This website was created by teachers for teachers.
It alerted me to Michael Weston’s firing by his principal in Hillsborough Country, Florida.

Should Teachers Have Freedom of Speech? Hillsborough County, Florida, Says No

by dianerav

Teacher Mike Weston is running for school board.
He teaches math at Freedom High in Hillsborough County, Florida.
That is, he used to teach math at Freedom High.
He was fired by his principal.
Freedom High doesn’t think highly of Weston’s freedom of speech.

Third Graders to Governor Cuomo: “We Are Only in Third Grade, for Heaven’s Sake”

by dianerav

A third-grade class of children in upstate New York were upset by the Common Core exams.
Their teacher and principal encouraged them to write to the Governor.
Many complained that they didn’t have enough time to finish.
One wrote, “”I know the governor wants us to be ‘college ready,’ but we are only in third grade for heaven sakes.”
Out of the mouths of babes, more wisdom than one hears from the

New Common Core Tests Will Require Up to 10 Hours

by dianerav

Catherine Gewertz reports in Education Week that the new Common Core tests created by the PARCC consortium of states will require up to ten hours, depending on grade level.
Here is the projection:
“The amount of time students will have to complete both the performance-based and end-of-year components in math and English/language arts:
Grade 3: 8 hours
Grades 4-5: 9 hours, 20 minutes
Grades 6-8: 9 hours, 25 minutes
Grades 9-10: 9 hours, 45 minutes
Grades 11-12: 9 hours, 55 minutes”
Reminds me of the song in “Gigi” sung by Maurice Chevalier, “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.”
But I do worry about my grandchildren.

Come to the Skinny Awards in NYC on June 18 to Honor Two Great Teacher Bloggers

by dianerav

Please attend our Fifth annual “Skinny Awards” Class Size Matters fundraiser

And enjoy a four-course dinner with wine

When: Tuesday June 18 at 6 PM

Where: FAGIOLINI ON 40TH, 120 E. 40th St.  (betw. Lexington and 3^rd Ave.)

Purchase your tickets here.

Each year we give an award to the individuals who provide the real “Skinny” on NYC schools. Past recipients of the award include Diane Ravitch and Juan Gonzalez.  This year, our “Skinny” award will go to two brilliant teacher/bloggers: 

Arthur Goldstein, who writes the NYC Educator blog and is an ESL teacher

at Francis Lewis High School in Queens

Gary Rubinstein, who blogs at Teach for Us and is a math teacher

at Stuyvesant HS in lower Manhattan

 This dinner is always a highlight of the year, with delicious food, good wine, and great company.
This year, it is especially important to attend and/or contribute to our work.  As always, Class Size Matters relies on your donations to keep our organization going.  We have continued to advocate for smaller classes and an end to school overcrowding, as class sizes swell throughout the country.  We also have become leaders in the fight against high-stakes testing, privatization, and the violation of student privacy.
Nationally, we spearheaded the battle against the sharing of confidential student data with a corporation called inBloom Inc.  inBloom Inc. plans to put children’s personal information on a vulnerable data cloud, and share it with private vendors without parental notification or consent.
If you believe that class size matters, and that it is important to keep our public schools and children’s personal information out of the hands of private corporations, please make tax-deductible contribution now to Class Size Matters and/or purchase a seat at our fundraiser dinner June 18 by clicking here or here: http://www.nycharities.org/events/EventLevels.aspx?ETID=6292 .
Please forward to others who care and hope to see you there, Leonie

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
leonie@classsizematters.org
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson

Teacher to Iowa Media: Stop Bashing Teachers and Schools

by dianerav

Amy Prime teaches second grade in Iowa. She writes strong opinion pieces and in this one, she lambastes the Des Moines Register (which publishes her articles) for its most recent editorial blasting the schools. In this case,the newspaper complained that Iowa schools did not have test scores as high as Maryland.
Have Iowa’s test scores “stagnated”? Whence came the belief that they must go up every year, like stock prices?
She writes:
“Even if our scores have “stagnated,” as the Register article asserts, then Iowa teachers should be praised for maintaining such high scores with that added challenge. I’d like to see a feature congratulating teachers for not

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-5-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] North Carolina: Public Schools First Rallies Against Cuts by dianerav ACTION ALERT! publicschoolsfirstnc.org Help Us Deliver 15,000+ Signatures to Governor McCrory on Thursday! It’s time to wake up the people of North Carolina and let them know that our public schools are in danger! Pending bills in the General Assembly could devastate our schools as we know them — lifting the cap on classroom sizes, eliminating classroom positions, slashing eligibility for Pre-K, ... more »

The Disturbing Inequities of the New Normal | School Finance 101

The Disturbing Inequities of the New Normal | School Finance 101:

The Disturbing Inequities of the New Normal

by schoolfinance101

I wrote a post a while back, providing an overview of the basics of state school finance formulas, reforms and why they matter. I revisit this post having how conducted more extensive analysis of the retreat from school funding equity over the period from 2005 through 2011 (most recent available federal school finance data). Let’s begin with a review of my previous post.
School Funding Formula Basics
Modern state school finance formulas – aid distribution formulas – typically strive (but fail) to achieve two simultaneous objectives: 1) accounting for differences in the costs of achieving equal educational opportunity across schools and districts, and 2) accounting for differences in the ability of local public school districts to cover those costs. Local district ability to raise revenues might be a function of either or both local taxable property wealth and the incomes of local property owners, thus their ability to pay taxes on their properties.
Figure 1 presents a hypothetical example of the distribution of state and local revenue per pupil across school districts, sorted by poverty concentration. The hypothetical relies on the simplified assumption that districts with weaker local revenue raising capacity also tend to be higher in poverty concentration. While that’s not uniformly 

Don’t blame Mississippi’s working moms for state’s education woes | Hechinger Report

Don’t blame Mississippi’s working moms for state’s education woes | Hechinger Report:

Don’t blame Mississippi’s working moms for state’s education woes

by Liz Willen

Let’s take a hard look at some facts about education in the poor and largely rural state of Mississippi. Nearly seven percent of adults in the state have less than a ninth-grade education. At least 15 percent of all adults in the state are illiterate, with the percentage approaching twice that in some of the state’s poorest and most rural counties.

Gov. Phil Bryant

The state ranks 48th in an annual ranking of U.S. education performance. Mississippi spends less on education than nearly every other state. Just 61 percent of Mississippi’s students graduate from high school on time—more than 10 percentage points below the national average.
All too often, the children of this state start behind and stay behind.
So what does Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant do when given a microphone at a Washington Post public forum earlier this week? Asked how America became “so mediocre” in its educational outcomes, he noted that both parents started working, and “the mom is in the workplace.”
The Republican governor knew he had put his foot in his mouth.
“I can just see the emails now,” Bryant said as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

The End of the Beginning for Common Core | Jay P. Greene's Blog

The End of the Beginning for Common Core | Jay P. Greene's Blog:

The End of the Beginning for Common Core

The folks at Pioneer have landed another blow against Common Core in the mainstream Conservative press.  This time Jim Stergios and Jamie Gass have a lengthy piece in the Weekly Standard detailing the start of troubles for Common Core, both substantively and politically.  This follows on a piece by Gass and Charles Chieppo in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.  A central part of the strategy for Common Core was to create the impression that it was inevitable, so everybody might as well get on board.  That aura of inevitability has been shattered.
My reasons for opposing Common Core are slightly different from those articulated by the folks at Pioneer, but we agree on the political analysis of its fate.  To become something meaningful Common Core requires more centralization of power than is possible under our current political system.  Pushing it forward requires frightening 

To Infini-Pie and Beyond! — Whole Child Education

To Infini-Pie and Beyond! — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

To Infini-Pie and Beyond!

June 5, 2013 by Walter McKenzie

We baby boomers grew up in an age of finite pie. There was only one pie and it could be divided into only so many slices. Even our pie graphs represent the totality of the resources we have to work with. There's only so much pie to go around. And the implications play out in how we think, act and define success. If you only have one finite pie, what flavor is it? How many people can it serve? How small can you make the slices? What does it mean if you simply don’t have enough?

All of this is a legacy of the Industrial Age, which was based on the availability of natural resources to feed growth. Empires were built for this purpose; gaining access to raw materials that could fuel their economic engines. You could not sustain industrial success on finite resources, so you kept expanding the size of your pie. Of course, this works well as long as there are new lands to acquire and new resources to consume. But in the physical world, there are always limits. Be it foreign lands or fossil fuels, everything runs out eventually.

This legacy of finite pie sticks with us today, especially if we're over forty years of age. Our grandparents were survivors of the Great Depression. Our parents grew up during the rations of the Second World War. We remember the gas lines of the early 1970s. No doubt about it, we had to think carefully about your resources. And even today, we want to make sure we have enough pie to last us. It makes sense. It’s understandable. In the physical world, the earth is one big pie with only so much to go around.

Enter the Information Age, where more and more of our information, interaction, and entertainment is 

Making Demands | Taking Note

Making Demands | Taking Note:

Making Demands

by John Merrow

If you were regional sales manager for, say, washing machines, auto parts or lawn fertilizer, you might insist on performance guarantees from your sales reps, perhaps with the promise of bonuses for superior performance.  But suppose you were a school superintendent?  What guarantees would be appropriate to demand from your principals?

I pose the question because some former principals in Washington, DC, recently shared their correspondence with former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.  Here are two examples, one of which uses ‘safe harbor’–a gain of at least ten percentile points–as the target.

On September 27, 2007, Chancellor Rhee wrote Carol Barbour, principal of Rudolph Elementary School,“You are guaranteeing me that you will see a bump in test scores from 29.2% in English and 26.9% in math (proficient and advanced) to ‘safe harbor’ in the coming year. I plan to hold you accountable to these goals.”[1]

One day later the Chancellor wrote Lucia Vega, principal of Powell Elementary School, “You are  

Is democracy essentially utopian? | Deborah Meier on Education

Is democracy essentially utopian? | Deborah Meier on Education:

Is democracy essentially utopian?

by debmeier

In arguing with Mike Petrilli on Bridging Differences (you can get there by clicking to your left) on the centrality of democracy as the function of Public Education (and ideally of independent ad private schools too) I’m perhaps presenting a marginal viewpoint. Yes, there is a time and place, for preparing oneself for a articular vocation. But most of the habits of work and mind (and heart) that democracy rests on will go along way to making people good at their jobs too. So I’m not worrying abut that.
The idea upon which modern democracy rests–that we’re all members of the ruling class–is a shaky idea. It needs to be explored in many ways, and the governance of schooling is itself one place for exploring it. Ditto for every subject we teach. Math is important–but if we worry just about it’s employment repercussions we are ignoring its central function — to get us through daily life and to prepare us to contemplate the big issues that as citizens we need to be knowledgeable about. So we’re not so dumb when it comes to millions vs billions vs trillions, for example.
But–how iffy is it that we can persuade our fellow citizens about democracy. We’ve somehow confused it with 

Pay More, Get Less: The Malloy/Pryor Approach to Problem Solving: - Wait, What?

Pay More, Get Less: The Malloy/Pryor Approach to Problem Solving: - Wait, What?:

Pay More, Get Less: The Malloy/Pryor Approach to Problem Solving:

by jonpelto

The goal is helping Connecticut’s 30 Alliance School Districts.  These are the districts that face the greatest academic challenges because they have higher levels of poverty, a more significant number of students who face language barriers due to their lack of English language skills and districts with the largest number of special educations students.

Helping these districts succeed requires that the state to provide them with state-of-the-art technical assistance so they can better confront their challenges and more financial support so they can provide the necessary services to their children.

The task of providing the technical expertise has been the responsibility of professional staff at the State Department of Education.  The outstanding and well-respected team has been made up of three former Connecticut school superintendents and four administrative 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Let's Ask Arne

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Let's Ask Arne:

Let's Ask Arne

by Melissa Westbrook

I'm not actually sure who wrote this letter but Senator Tom Harkin is being urged to ask Sec. of Education Arne Duncan these questions.  You can too by e-mailing the Secretary at
arne.duncan@ed.gov

"How many of your staffers have worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Who are they, and why did you hire them?

"What role did these staffers and Bill Gates have on the formulation of the RTTT mandates?

"How much classroom teaching experience do the principal authors of the RTTT mandates have, individually, and as a group?

"Why are these individuals qualified to make decisions about education policy?

"Were you, or anyone who works within the Department of Education in contact with any representative or lobbyist representing Pearson Education, McGraw-Hill, or InBloom before or during the writing of the RTTT mandates?

"What is the Broad Foundation? What is your connection to the Broad Foundation? What education policies 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, June 5, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Harkin to Introduce Schools Legislation - NYTimes.com

Education Headlines

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Wasco schools merger fails

Voters in Wasco on Tuesday voted not to merge the Wasco Union Elementary School District and the Wasco Union High School District.

Salinas superintendent Donna Vaughan remembered for her compassionate leadership

When Donna Alonzo Vaughan took the reins of the Salinas City Elementary School District in 2004, the 8,000-student district was facing a $5 million deficit and a possible state takeover.

Lodi Unified School District will test on-campus suspensions

Suspended students at Lodi and Tokay high schools may serve their time on campus away from other students if a pilot program at Bear Creek and McNair high schools is successful.

Off to the right start: New screening tool offers insight into readiness of county's youngest learners

As she lists off a series of facts about kindergarten-age students across the county, Office of Education Early Childhood Specialist Cindi Kaup can hardly contain her enthusiasm.

South Bay Union approves new superintendent

The South Bay Union School District school board has voted unanimously to hire Katie McNamara to be the district’s superintendent. She will succeed Carol Parish who is retiring at the end of this school year.

'Boy I spent a lot of money on those people'

The president of the company managing Sweetwater schools’ $644 million bond program told a criminal grand jury that he feared losing his multimillion dollar contract if he did not shower officials with campaign donations, meals, tickets to sporting events and other gifts.

Violence and drugs make East Palo Alto middle school unsafe, mothers say

A small but committed group of Hispanic mothers with children who attend Ronald McNair Middle School in East Palo Alto have banded together to pressure the school principal and district to do more about the bullying, violence and drug use they say are prevalent on campus.

San Mateo high schools did not discriminate

A federal civil rights investigation has cleared the San Mateo Union High School District of discriminating against Chinese American students who were assigned to schools outside their neighborhoods.

RIVERSIDE: Plan would keep adult school open

Even without any money from Riverside Unified School District’s general fund, Riverside Adult School can keep its doors open, the school’s director said.

McLaughlin named to lead San Leandro school district

San Leandro school board members have selected a new superintendent from Rodeo to lead the 8,800-student, 900-employee district beginning July 1.

Language immersion program pushed for Vietnamese youth

A group of Vietnamese parents and educators are asking the Garden Grove Unified School District to create the state’s first Vietnamese-English dual immersion program as soon as fall 2014.

LAUSD board hears pleas to boost campus hiring, academic programs in 2013-14

Two weeks before the Los Angeles Unified board is set to approve the 2013-14 budget, officials scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to hear how the public wants its money spent. There were no surprises, however, as about two dozen speakers pleaded with officials to use an expected increase in state funding to restore programs lost during the six-year recession.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Wasco voters consider merging school districts

Voters 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 recognition

Each 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 learning laboratory. The success of the program has prompted the Classroom of the Future Foundation to recognize museum president and CEO Mac McLaughlin with its visionary and outstanding leadership award last month.

San Leandro teacher's nude photo mishap in classroom leads to child pornography, burglary charges

A San Leandro High School teacher is facing criminal charges after authorities found child pornography on a school computer. The investigation began after the teacher mistakenly showed students a nude photograph of himself, authorities said Monday.

Education bill rewrite would protect gay students - Yahoo! News

Education bill rewrite would protect gay students - Yahoo! News:

Education bill rewrite would protect gay students

By PHILIP ELLIOTT | Associated Press – 9 hrs ago

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  Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite, File - FILE - In this March 22, 2013 file photo, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Democrats are introducing legislation …more 

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Buried in the proposed rewrite of the nation's massive education law are protections for gay and lesbian students that its supporters liken to the landmark 1972 protections for the rights of female athletes in high school and college.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday released a 1,150-page revision of the law governing the nation's elementary and secondary schools, formally known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Actbut more commonly called No Child Left Behind.

In it, they include student nondiscrimination language that, if passed, would threaten schools' funding if gay and lesbian students are bullied or harassed.

The supporters praised the language as similar to Title IX, the federal law chiefly known for mandating gender equity in high school and collegiate sports.

The legislation's text on gays and lesbians begins on Page 694 of the massive school bill.

"This is a significant moment for our nation's education system and one that addresses the vital needs of all students in K-12 schools," said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. "We are thrilled that the Senate is moving to address the long overdue issue of school bullying and harassment. This bill includes critical components to ensure safer learning 

Jersey Jazzman: Are We Winning Against Corporate Reform in NJ?

Jersey Jazzman: Are We Winning Against Corporate Reform in NJ?:

Are We Winning Against Corporate Reform in NJ?

by Duke

I really don't want to get my hopes up too much, but the last day has brought two stunning pieces of news. The first is that virtual charters in New Jersey have been halted:

State Education Commissioner Chris Cerf yesterday told the organizers of two proposed online charter schools that he would not grant them the final approval needed to open next fall. 

The decision comes as something of a surprise. 

A year ago the two charters -- a K-12 school in Newark and a high school for dropouts in Monmouth and Ocean Counties -- appeared poised to become the state's first all-online programs. Both had received preliminary approval from the Christie administration. 

But support slowly wilted over the past year, as community and political opposition mounted. And K12 Inc., the nation’s largest online education firm, was connected with both charter applications as well, prompting debate over the for-

All Things Education: Virginia ed tech is for ed testing

All Things Education: Virginia ed tech is for ed testing:

Virginia ed tech is for ed testing

by Rachel Levy

The high-stakes testing season in Virginia is drawing to a close. I'll probably have more to say later about this year's testing season, but in the meantime I wanted to address this Washington Post article about Virginia being a "model" for the nation when it comes to on-line testing:

All Virginia students will have to log on to a computer to take this year’s Standards of Learning tests, making Virginia one of the only states to wholly abandon the nearly ubiquitous paper-and-pencil bubble sheets. 

With spring testing in reading and math underway in many schools this week, the move to electronic tests means that Virginia, one of the few states that did not adopt national academic standards, has become a model for the dozens of states that did. Those states are scrambling to meet a fast-approaching deadline to implement corresponding online tests. It took more than a decade of school technology investments and upgrades for Virginia to get to this point.

As I have written ad nauseum on this blog, I am generally opposed to the current high-stakes testing regime. That being said, I acknowledge that on-line assessments are an improvement in principle. However, in practice, there are several problems with on-line testing and I shudder when I hear Virginia is to be a "model" for the rest of the country.

First of all, on-line testing means that testing-related computer skills drive instruction in technology. This leads to, for example, kindergarteners in Virginia being asked to practice over and over again computer skills that they