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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Morning Wink 8-27-13 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change


BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTS


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Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: DNAinfo: Eva Moskowitz Plans To Open 100 News Success Academy Charter SchoolsFrom DNAinfo:WILLIAMSBURG — The controversial charter network Success Academy plans to open 100 New York schools in the next decade, DNAinfo New York has learned.The charter chain already has 20 schools in the city with another seven slated to open next year, despite fierce opposition from public sc
Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private account | The Raw Story
Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private account | The Raw Story: Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private accountBy Pando DailyTuesday, August 27, 2013 8:17 EDTFor the last decade, cyber charter schools have been springing up all over the country. C
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Congratulations, John Owen, “Bad Teacher” of the Year!A terrific interview in USA Today with John Owen, who patiently explains what is really happening today in education.   A sample:   Q: You call yourself a “bad” teacher. When did this idea first occur to you? A: I was a bad teacher because I was a teacher. Today, “bad teacher” a
8-27-13 MomsRising Blog
MomsRising Blog: Fifty Years On: Toward a Politics of InclusivityMy 5 year-old son and I have had two conversations about the police — or “la policia,” as we call them – already this week.  In the first, he declared to me that “all police are not bad.”  That’s part of a larger and ongoing post-Trayvon talk we’ve been having this summer (more on that here).  Then yesterday morning, he pointed out t
Arne Duncan Wants Special Education Students To Take General Exams
Arne Duncan Wants Special Education Students To Take General Exams: Arne Duncan Wants Special Education Students To Take General ExamsShould students with disabilities be held to the same academic standards as their peers? And should schools and teachers be held accountable for their progress?U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan answered that question with a resounding yes, proposing a seemingl
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: The progressive South rises again.  North Carolina NAACP legal chair Al McSurely, Rev. William Barber and the Klonsky brothers. It wasn’t their plan, but the Republicans and Tea Party folks in North Carolina have created a progressive, multi-racial movement that has rocked the state over the past few
Teachers deserve a shot at running their schools | EdSource Today
Teachers deserve a shot at running their schools | EdSource Today: Teachers deserve a shot at running their schoolsAugust 27th, 2013 | 1 Comment | By Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentaryShare on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing ServicesTed Kolderie, the Minnesotan who had a large hand in drafting the nation’s first charter school law, is selling ideas again. This ti
How the public is deceived about ‘highly qualified teachers’
How the public is deceived about ‘highly qualified teachers’: How the public is deceived about ‘highly qualified teachers’By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 27 at 7:00 amE-mail the writer0CommentsMoreFor years now a charade has been perpetuated on the public by politicians in Washington and school reformers about the definition of a “highly qualified teacher” — an issue that has real-life conse
Wondering where your kids can hide in a school shooting | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com
Wondering where your kids can hide in a school shooting | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com: Wondering where your kids can hide in a school shooting COMMENT(12) 0 1 0 6View Larger In the last 10 years since my twins started school, school safety has become an issue of greater concern to parents.By Maureen DowneyWhen my children began elementary school, not only could parents stroll into the building, wil

YESTERDAY

Special Late Nite Cap UPDATE 8-26-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
Nite Cap UPDATEUPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATECORPORATE ED REFORMRedemption for Educators!Redemption for Educators! August 26, 2013 by Melanie Olmstead Educators may bear the brunt of school performance criticisms, but the public's opinion of educators is on the rise, with the majority of Americans believing that educators teach students well and keep them safe. This post has been generated by Page2RS
Nite Cap 8-26-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change
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 CAPTODAYRedemption for Educators! — Whole Child EducationRedemption for Educators! — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGRedemption for Educators!August 26, 2013 by Melanie OlmsteadEducators may bear the brunt of school performance criticisms, but the
Redemption for Educators! — Whole Child Education
Redemption for Educators! — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGRedemption for Educators!August 26, 2013 by Melanie OlmsteadEducators may bear the brunt of school performance criticisms, but the public's opinion of educators is on the rise, with the majority of Americans believing that educators teach students well and keep them safe. More than 70 percent of Americans have trust and confide
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Immoral Monday in Chicago
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Immoral Monday in Chicago: Immoral Monday in ChicagoStreets and Sanitation workers made a gruesome discovery a half-block from a Safe Passage route this morning: Mayor cancels walk with students after confronted by protesters Mayor Rahm Emanuel was scheduled to lead a group of children from Cather Elementary School on the West Side to a nearby community center for af
Anne Gassel’s Common Core Action List | Truth in American Education
Anne Gassel’s Common Core Action List | Truth in American Education: Anne Gassel’s Common Core Action ListFiled in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on August 26, 2013 • 1 Comment658This weekend I spoke this weekend at an event called “Exposing the Common Core” in Collinsville, IL (outside of St. Louis, MO).  Anne Gassel, the co-editor of Missouri Education Watchdog, also spoke.  I
No Experience Necessary | EduShyster
No Experience Necessary | EduShyster: No Experience Necessary Meet the new Superintendent of the Camden Public Schools: EduShysterThere is only one thing thing tempting enough to rouse me from the vaca coma in which I’ve spent the last 10 days: a handsomely compensated new job with a career trajectory heading up, up and up. Reader: I’ve got excellent news to share. No longer will I be toiling away
Microsoft’s lesson on what not to do with teachers
Microsoft’s lesson on what not to do with teachers: Microsoft’s lesson on what not to do with teachersBy Valerie Strauss, Published: August 26 at 4:02 pmE-mail the writer2CommentsMoreBill Gates                                         (By Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been spending billions of dollars on education reform for years, first with a small-school initiative tha
Architecture 101 Fall and Winter Workshops | Seattle Education
Architecture 101 Fall and Winter Workshops | Seattle Education: Architecture 101 Fall and Winter WorkshopsBesides my activities as an education advocate and architect, I teach introductory classes in Architecture for students from grade three through college and beyond.This fall I will be offering weekday classes for homeschool students, Saturday classes for grades 3 through high school and some H
Diane in the Evening 8-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Special Education in New Orleans: “Thoroughly Broken”Lance Hill, a New Orleans civil rights activist, describes the ongoing debacle of special education in that city. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state in 2010 for pervasive discrimination against students with special needs. Just recently, SPLC filed another suit agains
CCSS Publications Available - Year 2013
CCSS Publications Available - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Two Publications toHelp Schools and Students Transition to Common Core State StandardsSACRAMENTO—With schools beginning the year deeply engaged in the transition to the Common Core State Standards, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that they are availab
We Need More EdTech, But Less Technology In The Classroom | toteachornototeach
We Need More EdTech, But Less Technology In The Classroom | toteachornototeach: We Need More EdTech, But Less Technology In The Classroomby Jordan ShapiroTechnology plays a primary role in my teaching, but I rarely turn on the computer that makes the classroom “smart.”Occasionally, I project the class tweet stream. I am an advocate of Twitter for higher ed. But generally, during class time, I try
The Takeover of PS 154 by Bronx Classical Charter Has Begun southbronxschool.com
http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Takeover of PS 154 by Bronx Classical Charter Has BegunWe here at SBSB wish to extend  a laurel and hearty handshake to our new overlords and betters at PS 154, Bronx Classical Charter II. We look forward to years of acquiescence and seeing how the monies flow into BCC II and out of PS 154.We also have come to realize that as your school expands, 154 will shrin
Parents 4 Teachers offers school closing accountability hotline Parents United for Responsible Education
Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » Parents 4 Teachers offers school closing accountability hotline: Parents 4 Teachers offers school closing accountability hotlineFrom Parents 4 TeachersFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     Aug. 26, 2013CONTACT:Erica Clark, 773-851-6287Sarah Simmons, 773-573-9100CPS parents from closed schools urged to call School Closings Accountability Line to report
Organizing – It’s Contagious! | NEA Today
Organizing – It’s Contagious! | NEA Today: Organizing – It’s Contagious!August 26, 2013 by twalker  Filed under Featured News, Top StoriesLeave a CommentBy Amy Jordan and Nathan AllenGreat things happen when educators, administrators and parents work together to make their community stronger.Just ask Kristi Smith, a physical science teacher at Hellstern Middle School in Springdale, Arkansas.Smith
Sabrina Stevens Shupe: 'Bad' Women, Teachers, and Politics
Sabrina Stevens Shupe: 'Bad' Women, Teachers, and Politics: 'Bad' Women, Teachers, and PoliticsSabrina Stevens Shupe: 'Bad' Women, Teachers, and PoliticsJust three months into 2012, as the Republican primary season continues, the tenor of the political conversation around contraception and other "women's" issues has grown increasingly alarming (to those of us firmly grounded in the 21st Century, a
The Great Proficiency Debate
Shanker Blog » The Great Proficiency Debate: The Great Proficiency DebatePosted by Matthew Di Carlo on August 26, 2013A couple of weeks ago, Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute made the case that absolute proficiency rates should not be used as measures of school effectiveness, as they are heavily dependent on where students “start out” upon entry to the school. A few days later, Fordham presid
A new challenge for Common Core — from the left | Tampa Bay Times
A new challenge for Common Core — from the left | Tampa Bay Times: A new challenge for Common Core — from the leftTALLAHASSEE — Conventional wisdom held that liberals and teachers supported the new Common Core curriculum standards.Until the Badass Teachers Association crashed the party.The 25,000 BATs, as they call themselves, are pushing back against the national standards with Twitter strikes, t
A new challenge for Common Core — from the left | Tampa Bay Times
A new challenge for Common Core — from the left | Tampa Bay Times: A new challenge for Common Core — from the leftKathleen McGrory, Times/Herald Tallahassee BureauSunday, August 25, 2013 11:32pmFacebook61EmailShare92Print  34TALLAHASSEE — Conventional wisdom held that liberals and teachers supported the new Common Core curriculum standards.Until the Badass Teachers Association crashed the party.Th
8-26-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools - A System that StrugglesWe've heard from many parents who are unhappy about enrollment issues like waitlists.  My understanding is that the district was switching technology systems.  Reading the Queen Anne Elementary principal's blog, it would seem that the whole system has been down,  in one form or another.Principal Elliot's explains that on Bac
Feds propose eliminating scores from modified testing as part of AYP SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources
SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources: Feds propose eliminating scores from modified testing as part of AYPBy Tom ChorneauMonday, August 26, 2013NCLB Reorganization As part of a long-standing and controversial commitment to holding all students to challenging content and achievement standards, the Obama administration proposed late last week ending a practice allowing states to use scorin
K-12 News Network | Et tu, 5-2?
K-12 News Network | Et tu, 5-2? (LAUSD School Board Meeting, August 20, 2013): Et tu, 5-2? (LAUSD School Board Meeting, August 20, 2013)admin August 26, 2013 Charter Schools, Los Angeles, School Boards, School Districts, State Education Law 0Special to K12NN from Karen Wolfe. Karen is an LAUSD parent leader and activist in support of public schools.While corporate education reformers take every op
8-26-13 Wait What?
Wait What?: Mass Insight swaps out more consultants: Further reducing experience for CT Alliance DistrictsAs Connecticut’s Alliance Districts have become painfully aware, rather than utilize the tremendous expertise and experience within the Connecticut State Department of Education, Governor Malloy and his “Education Reform” Dream Team led by Commissioner Stefan Pryor decided to replace Connectic
Civil Rights Leaders Condemn Privatization of Prisons and Schools - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher
Civil Rights Leaders Condemn Privatization of Prisons and Schools - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher: Civil Rights Leaders Condemn Privatization of Prisons and SchoolsBy Anthony Cody on August 26, 2013 11:23 AMSpeakers at this weekend's March for Justice in Washington, DC, drew attention to the failed war on drugs, and called for its end as one step towards reducing the number of people
Cali Education Headlines Monday, August 26, 2013
FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: Adams: School bullying prevention efforts falling short, state audit saysEducation HeadlinesMonday, August 26, 2013New Inglewood Unified leader rescinds wave of campus security layoffsThe move to undo the wave of about 40 layoffs and demotions amounted to one of the first major decisions by Don Brann since he became the troubled district’s la
Katrina Pain Index 2013: New Orleans Eight Years Later | Dissident Voice
Katrina Pain Index 2013: New Orleans Eight Years Later | Dissident Voice: Katrina Pain Index 2013: New Orleans Eight Years Laterby Bill Quigley / August 26th, 2013Eight years after Katrina, nearly a hundred thousand people never got back to New Orleans, the city remains incredibly poor, jobs and income vary dramatically by race, rents are up, public transportation is down, traditional public housi
Arne Duncan’s endless supply of ‘game changers’
Arne Duncan’s endless supply of ‘game changers’: Arne Duncan’s endless supply of ‘game changers’By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 26 at 11:00 amE-mail the writer0CommentsMoreEducation  Secretary Arne Duncan                (By Jacquelyn Martin-Associated Press)Education Secretary Arne Duncan has something of an affinity for the phrase “game changer.” Just how much is chronicled in this post by
8-26-13 Jersey Jazzman
Jersey Jazzman: The Merit Pay Virus SpreadsThe Camden teachers contract is up for negotiation, just as the state has taken over the district and is ready to install a new, reformy superintendent, Paymon Rouhanifard. This young fellow spent his career in New York City forcing charter school co-locations on communities that did not want them; consequently, there here is little doubt he is being inst
Morning Wink 8-26-13 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2 #Cheats4Change
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSTODAYBridging the Higher Education Divide | Deborah Meier on EducationBridging the Higher Education Divide | Deborah Meier on Education: Bridging the Higher Education DividePosted on August 26, 2013 by debmeier“In our nation’s struggle to promote social mobility ….education has always been a key driver,” notes the Century Foundation’s president in the fore




8-27-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:



Howard Dean On What De Blasio's Candidacy Means
There aren't too many Democrats I like or respect these days, but Howard Dean is one.Here is what Dean did today:Top Bloomberg aide Howard Wolfson went on NY1 last night and criticized Bill de Blasio's mayoral platform, arguing that the public advocate was inconsistent on term limits and would bring New York City back to the high-crime era of the 1970s. This morning, de Blasio appeared with 2004 p

Know A Man By The Enemies He Makes
NYC Educator says if Weingarten, Bloomberg and Wolfson don't like de Blasio, there may be something to him.I think he makes a good point.Diane Ravitch made some good points in her endorsement of de Blasio as well.Let's see - Ravitch for, Weingarten/Wolfson/Bloomberg against.Hmm, which side am I on...

Bill Thompson And Black Community Support
This NY Times article looks at Thompson and de Blasio on stop-and-frisk and finds most people just don't buy Thompson's position:Mr. Thompson, a former city comptroller, enjoyed overwhelming support among blacks when he ran against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009. But this year, he must win over voters like Anthony Padgett, 55, a father of two who works as a housekeeper at a Brooklyn hospital.

“It’s two claps and then a sizzle.”
The NY Times took a stab at charter school teacher burnout and attrition rates today.Norm Scott did a nice job of taking the themes the charter school operators hawk around their teachers - experience is a detriment, 5 weeks TFA training is more than enough to give teachers the skills they need, anybody with more than a couple of years experience gets burnt out - and applies them to the journalism

DNAinfo: Eva Moskowitz Plans To Open 100 News Success Academy Charter Schools
From DNAinfo:WILLIAMSBURG — The controversial charter network Success Academy plans to open 100 New York schools in the next decade, DNAinfo New York has learned.The charter chain already has 20 schools in the city with another seven slated to open next year, despite fierce opposition from public school advocates in Williamsburg, Hell's Kitchen, Gramercy, Harlem and other neighborhoods.It received

8-26-13 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Research Group Financed By Bloomberg Philanthropies Hails Bloomberg Education PolicyThe Daily News has a story out today about research group MDRC releasing a report that shows how Bloomberg's small schools initiative has improved graduation rates of students compared to other schools in the system.The group claims the following on their website:(New York, August 26, 2013) —

Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private account | The Raw Story

Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private account | The Raw Story:

Corruption at Pennsylvania’s largest cyber-charter school as founder charged with funneling $8 million into private account

By Pando Daily
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 8:17 EDT



For the last decade, cyber charter schools have been springing up all over the country. Cyber schools give classes over the Internet to students in grades K-12, who get their education entirely online instead of in a brick-and-mortar location. Despite the lack of research into these schools’ educational quality, in recent years some states have removed limitations to their growth.
Pennsylvania is one such state pioneering cyber charter schools. As of the 2012-2013 school year, 16 of its public schools were cyber. Students could attend those programs free, subsidized by federal, state, and local tax revenue.
On Friday, the founder of Pennsylvania’s bigger charter school — PA Cyber — was charged with fraud, for funneling $8 million of the school’s funds into his personal companies and holdings. Nicholas Trombetta allegedly used the tax payer money to purchase a plane, houses for his mother and girlfriend, and a million dollar Florida condo.
The indictment raises questions about whether regulatory bodies need to monitor cyber schools more closely.
Youth cyber school programs are controversial in education. Proponents of cyber schools saythey encourage innovation and are helpful for students who might struggle in a brick-and-mortar school due to bullying, learning disabilities, or other issues. Critics argue that they’re bad for learning, because students are stuck behind a computer screen all day long without interacting face-to-face. Research has found that cyber school students consistently underperform. The University of Colorado Boulder’s National Education Policy Center saw a big gap in standardized testing benchmarks between students in virtual schools compared to traditional schools.
Critics have also pointed to the for-profit motive behind many cyber charter schools that distorts the educational purpose and leads to inflated costs. The PA Cyber controversy has brought this 


LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch




Paul Thomas: Shame on You, State Superintendent Zais!
Paul Thomas here describes how Mick Zais, state superintendent of South Carolina, misleads the public about the condition of education in his state, about how schools succeed, and what is needed to help them improve. Having found a high-poverty district that has higher-than-expected test scores, Zais uses this district to push the corporate reform agenda: Success is all about merit pay and “no exc
This Video Explains What Is Wrong with American Education
This is a video that uses the music of “Alice’s Restaurant.” It is filled with every bit of jargon and pedagogical nonsense that is now official policy in New York state and the nation. Watch this, listen to the steady flow of mandates, bureaucratese, official baloney, data-driven evaluation, and ask yourself: What does any of this verbal trash have to do with education? How does it relate to thin

Duncan: Students with Disabilities Should Take Same Exams
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants students with disabilities to take the same standardized tests as students without disabilities, reports Joy Resmovits at Huffington Post. The change “could have profound effects on some of the nation’s most vulnerable learners.” “Since President Barack Obama came into office, his administration has upheld and advanced policies that have increased the stak

Robert Scott: Ways to Reduce the Cost and Increase the Value of Higher Education
Robert Scott is president of Adelphi College in Long Island, New York. Here, he offers his ideas about how to strengthen higher education and direct federal aid more thoughtfully to students. First, he suggests a year of mandatory national service in communities after high school graduation. Rationale: This service year would help young people develop knowledge, skills, abilities and values outsid

Charter Schools in Ohio: No Better than Public Schools
Reformers love to test and rate and grade and rank everyone and everything: students, teachers, schools, etc. They love school report cards–where schools are assigned a single letter grade–because it sets up the D and F schools to be closed, then privatized. This enables them to churn the schools and introduce the principle of constant disruption, their favorite state of being. Disruption, you see

Congratulations, John Owen, “Bad Teacher” of the Year!
A terrific interview in USA Today with John Owen, who patiently explains what is really happening today in education.   A sample:   Q: You call yourself a “bad” teacher. When did this idea first occur to you? A: I was a bad teacher because I was a teacher. Today, “bad teacher” and “teacher” have become almost interchangeable. Listen to billionaire “visionaries” such as Bill Gates and Michael Bloom
David Sirota: How to Solve the College Debt Problem
David Sirota has a thoughtful and provocative column in Salon in which he argues that access to college has become so important that college should be funded like high school. In other words, public institutions of higher education should be paid for by taxes so that higher education is accessible and does not burden students with a mountain of debt. Citing Matt Taibbi, Sirota writes: “…economic a
China Adopts Ten Commandments of Education Reform, Reduces Testing
Yong Zhao, who was born and educated in China and is now a professor at the University of Oregon, reports on China’s new education reform plans To relieve the pressure on young children and to encourage creativity, China is reducing testing, homework, and tracking Yong Zhao reports: “No standardized tests, no written homework, no tracking. These are some of the new actions Chin
Diane in the Evening 8-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Special Education in New Orleans: “Thoroughly Broken”Lance Hill, a New Orleans civil rights activist, describes the ongoing debacle of special education in that city. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state in 2010 for pervasive discrimination against students with special needs. Just recently, SPLC filed another suit agains