8-28-13 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.:

“7 years of school and no music class.”

  CPS boycott and rally today. Photo: Matt Farmer

1 by Fred Klonsky / 14min mark as read  //  save

Today, President Obama speaks of Dr. King, and prepares for another war.

  “America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into

2 by Fred Klonsky / 29min 

Life in Rahm’s Chicago. Drones for Safe Passage.

“There’s still a big safety issue, especially with the small ones,” said Chicago Alderman George Cardenas of the 12th Ward. “They have a tendency to crash from time to time. So now you have something with spinning blades over the top of children that could fall out of the sky. That would seem unwise.” However, that is a minor problem for the Aldeman Cardenas. He has become the main advocate for u

1 by Fred Klonsky / 11min 

  

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

by mike simpson / 10h 

8-28-13 Perdido Street School:

Perdido Street School:

Quinn, Weiner Booed At Rally For Fast Food Workers

Quinn and Weiner are fooling no one with their "We're for the little guy"shtick:City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Congressman Anthony Weiner received a round of boos this afternoon when they appeared at a fast food workers rally–one they were there to support–in Union Square. Ms. Quinn and Mr. Weiner joined the three other leading Democratic mayoral candidates and a slew of other pol

by reality-based edu... / 8min 

Board Of Education Candidates Supporters Trade Alcohol For Votes

Here's a novel way to knock off incumbent candidates:A University of Alabama Greek organization offered incentives to members in exchange for voting in the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education election, according to an email obtained by AL.com Monday.The email, sent to sorority members residing in District 4 from a ranking member of the chapter's executive board, encourages members to vote for Cason

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Bill Thompson's Support Among Black Voters Plummets

I posted yesterday about the Times story that said Thompson was having trouble with some black voters because of his nearly incoherent stop-and-frisk policy stance.Today's Quinnipiac poll captures that trouble in a colorful graph (via Azi Paybarah):The Times story reported that the de Blasio ad with his son, Dante, was resonating with some black voters.Dunno if the ad is the reason, but take a loo

by reality-based edu... / 26min mark as read  //  save

Quinnipac Poll: De Blasio 36%, Quinn 21%, Thompson 20%

Now we know why the attacks against de Blasio have been so hard and heavy from the establishment - it's because he's pulling away.Not only is de Blasio closing in the lead, besting his next closest opponent Quinn by 15 percentage points, he's closing in on the magical 40% to avoiud a runoff.If the Q poll numbers are anywhere close to accurate, Quinn is finished:In a runoff, de Blasio beats Quinn 5

1 by reality-based edu... / 1h 

Will De Blasio Still Have Momentum In Today's Quinnipiac Poll Release?

Harry Enten says little leaks here and there about the Quinnipiac poll release today suggest de Blasio will still have momentum in those poll numbers. Then there is this:Everyone assumes the NYC Democratic primary will go to a runoff. That CW might change soon.— Steven Shepard (@HotlineSteve) August 28, 2013Couple of things to say here in the hour and a half or so before the poll is released.First

by reality-based edu... / 15min 

Spitzer Calls For "Fair Contract Negotiations" With UFT

Looks like Spitzer wants to make nice with Mulgrew and the UFT:NEW YORK -- Two weeks before the New York City primary, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) plans to wade into the complicated world of education policy. According to a policy memo obtained by The Huffington Post, Spitzer, who is running for city comptroller, plans to propose auditing how the city spends money on testing and test pr

by reality-based edu... / 27min 

Julie Cavanagh Breaks Down The APPR Decisions

A great post from Julie Cavanagh at MORE Caucus on the choices to be made both individually and collectively by teachers in the new evaluation system.After going through the new system in a bit of detail, she concludes:1.       Make decisions based on outcomes:  what will result in the best “scores” for your staff?  (What tool? Who will the target population be?  How will they be measured?) 2.    

by reality-based edu... / 0min 

Rod Paige: If MLK Jr. Were Alive, He Would Be On Board With Education Reform

From the NY Post:Paige said America has come a long way on race relations in a short period of time. The former teacher-in-chief gave the United States a grade of B for advancing civil rights — and pointedly recognized the progress made in his native Mississippi.He said discrimination still exists, but described it as “episodic,” not government-sanctioned and systemic.“There are opportunities out

by reality-based edu... / 51min 

Eva Moskowitz: Success Through Attrition And Suspension

A devastating column by Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News on how Eva Moskowitz gets those high test scores:Success Academy, the charter school chain that boasts sky-high student scores on annual state tests, has for years used a “zero tolerance” disciplinary policy to suspend, push out, discharge or demote the very pupils who might lower those scores — children with special needs or behavio

by reality-based edu... / 6min 

8-27-13 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

by mike simpson / 9h 

Advice From Teachers to Parents | toteachornototeach

Advice From Teachers to Parents | toteachornototeach:

Advice From Teachers to Parents 

by Pete Mason

Like many teachers, I have a good relationship with the parents of my students. I have been both a general education teacher (social studies and math) and a special education teacher, and found both ups and downs working with a variety of parents. I spoke to colleagues from across my teaching career and asked them what they would say to parents of their students, to provide perspective towards the workload that teachers have on their plate for 180 days of the year, plus professional development, planning, research and coordinating with fellow teachers on interdisciplinary curriculums. Our combined input has led to the following pieces of advice that hopefully sheds some light on this side of the teacher-parent relationship and encourages open communication for the benefit of students. After all, that’s why we’re here, right?

Mind you, these are not a list of gripes, or an unfiltered telling off of parents. Quite the 

8-28-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

SEA Rally at Eckstein Middle School

 From the SEA rally outside of Eckstein Middle School this afternoon. It was about 60 teachers and kids. Spoke with SEA head, Jonathan Knapp, who had no new information but said their issues were a "package deal" and "doable." He also said the teachers could strike but they also could just go to work on September 4th under their old contract and continue negotiations.  I spoke with a couple of tea

by Melissa Westbrook / 2h 

District Drops One of Contract Sticking Points

Publicola talked with Clover Codd and is reporting that the district has backed off on the issue of eliminating the weekly paid hour of collaborative planning for teachers.  Codd told PubliCola this morning: "We actually withdrew that proposal. The hour of collaboration time pay. We’re leaving that in the contract. And they still get the 2.6 percent compensation for that."Re: teacher pay, She adde

by Melissa Westbrook / 47min mark as read  //  save

What is Common Core For?

1 by Melissa Westbrook / 1h 

Washington State Charter Applications

The Washington State Charter Commission has released the application form/information for applying to be a charter school.  I am mostly happy because there are items in there that I believe are of great importance and I applaud the Commission for listening and including them in.  My hope was that no school community or district gets caught by surprise by any charter coming into their district (or

by Melissa Westbrook / 1h 

Odds and Ends

Good wrap-up of the current teacher contract negotiations by Josh Feit over at Publicola.   I got a little more clarity on the issue of elementary school teachers and the added unpaid half-hour of work.Calling one sticking point "a longer day for less pay," Knapp said teachers objected to a district proposal to contractually increase the length of the school day for elementary school teachers from

by Melissa Westbrook / 0min 

Charter Schools and Positive Discipline

Here is a story, from the New York Daily News, about the discipline practices at a group of charter schools in New York that are operated by Success Academy. The Success Academy schools have extraordinarily high suspension rates and extraordinarily high test scores.This would appear to provide evidence that suspensions improve education rather than worsen it. That's contrary to the story told by L

by Charlie Mas / 20min 

Seattle Schools: Not Open for Business September 4th?

The district sent out this e-mail to families:The Seattle Education Association (SEA), which represents teachers, rejected the district’s latest contract proposal. They plan to meet again on September 3 to vote on whatever the proposal is at that time. With the start of school on September 4, we are encouraging families to develop back=up plans should Seattle Public Schools not open on time. We re

by Melissa Westbrook / 5h 

8-27-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pinehurst: Up in the AirFrom the Superintendent to Pinehurst families:Seattle Public Schools is considering the possibility of closing Pinehurst K-8 School after the 2013-14 school year. No decision has been made at this time. The schedule of events shown below has been created in order to determine whether the school is to be closed. The Superintendent will make a

by mike simpson / 44min 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Movement Envy

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Movement Envy:

Movement Envy

Protesters rally during "Moral Monday" demonstrations at Halifax Mall near the General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C., in July. More than 1,000 people have been arrested while protesting against policies being enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

By Susan Klonsky

I admit it. We have a great movement here in Chicago, but still, I'm jealous of Mondays in North Carolina.

Reviving the spirit and moral compass of the Civil Rights Movement of the ‘60s, protest has become the Monday Lifestyle in NC.  People  put their Monday evening rallies on the calendar. “Mon. 5:30 pm:  Sit in, get arrested @ State Capitol.” It’s becoming sort of normal.

For the past 4 months in Raleigh, every Monday  is Moral Monday. Late in the day, as people get off work, they surround the Statehouse with rings of protesters. Mass arrests are scheduled, followed on Thursdays by well-organized press conferences by those arrested.  Every Monday the protests get larger—now exceeding 15,000 in Raleigh, with big rallies throughout the state. The movement is multiracial and has spread well beyond North 

Louisiana Educator: DOE Changes Rules for School Bonus Points

Louisiana Educator: DOE Changes Rules for School Bonus Points:

DOE Changes Rules for School Bonus Points

Shortchanges Schools That Made the Most Progress

Some of the schools that made the most progress in improving the achievement levels of low performing students in Louisiana public schools will be denied bonus points promised before the beginning of the school year because they have performed too well!!That's the conclusion some principals are coming to after receiving a memo from Ms Baghian of the DOE informing the schools that they would not be receiving bonus points because the improvement in their students' scores moved them to the proficient level. According to the memo, schools will get bonus points only if the students scores of the sub-groups improvebut remain below the proficient level. This particularly penalizes schools that have made the most progress in improving student performance for previously low achieving students. It can actually lower the letter grades that some schools were originally qualified to receive. The following is quoted from an email sent to the DOE by Iberville Parish Superintendent, Dr Edward Cancienne: "The decision to withhold bonus points from schools that brought non-proficient students in the super subgroup to proficiency has had a negative impact on the letter grade of the individual school and on the morale of the entire Iberville Parish School System."

The original proposal approved by BESE for awarding bonus points said nothing about students in sub-groups remaining in the non-proficient category in order for their schools to receive bonus points. It simply does not make sense to change the rules after the end of the school year to penalize the schools that made the most progress in working with low performing students. The whole 

Old and New Ads for Computer Hardware | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Old and New Ads for Computer Hardware | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Old and New Ads for Computer Hardware

Even though I try to avoid looking at ads on billboards, television, in newspapers and magazines, and at  websites, it is inevitable that I see them for the millisecond in my mind’s eye. And that is all the time advertising writers need.

Ad copy writers tell viewers  of the unique features of the product compared to competitors (e.g., cost, speed, simplicity of use) and the benefits you will gain from buying it (e.g., efficiency, productivity). Ad writers also try to create positive feelings surrounding the product such as being the first to get the product, or keeping up with the crowd, or  being associated with an admired figure or that it will attract attention from the opposite sex should you buy the product. Psychologists point out that the best ads create positive feelings in viewers leading to increased sales.

In looking at ads for computer hardware over the past 40 years, one can see the features that ad writers stressed, the positive feelings they sought to create, and how many companies were in the hardware market then and are now gone.

Here is a sampling.

School reform: The problems — and some solutions:

School reform: The problems — and some solutions

By Valerie Strauss, Published: August 28 at 4:00 amE-mail the writer

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I recently published an excerpt from a new book titled “Public Education Under Siege” edited by University of Pennsylvania historian Michael B. Katz and UCLA education scholar Mike Rose.  The book is a series of essays that discuss he problems with technocratic educational reform; the intersection of education, race, and poverty; and alternatives to modern school reform. Here is a Q & A I did with the authors about their book and public education today.

Q) Why did you write “Public Education Under Siege”?
A) Well, maybe the best way to answer that question is with an example from the news.  At the end of July, the Walton Family Foundation (the philanthropist arm of Walmart) donated $20 million to Teach For America to recruit and train close to 4000 teachers to work in underresourced schools across the country.  The largest percentage of these recruits will be coming to Los Angeles, where one of us lives.  If the past is prologue, most of the new TFA crew will work in L.A. charter schools.  There’s a lot about this story that is good news, right?  The Walton Foundation is spending its fortune and shining its considerable spotlight on education, and Los Angeles will get at least 500 sharp, idealistic young people in its schools.  This scenario fits well in the current mainstream school reform agenda.  But the story also raises for us a host of questions about contemporary reform, and we produced “Public Education Under Siege” as a kind of sourcebook to use in exploring those questions.

 Q) So what are those questions?
 A)  One set of questions has to do with teaching itself: What does it involve?  What does it take to nurture it and do it—and how can we determine when it is done well?  A

The most ridiculous ed idea of the week

The most ridiculous ed idea of the week so far comes to us from Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott organized a three-day education summit for ed leaders, legislators, teachers and parents. He sent interim Education Commissioner Pam Stewart to lead it, opting not to attend himself. Read full article >>    

1 by Valerie Strauss / 0min 

Twerk, MOOC, girl crush — words added to Oxford Dictionaries Online

Twerking, a sexually provocative way of dancing made famous by Miley Cyrus this week at the MTV Video Music Awards, is one on a long list of new words that have just been added to Oxford Dictionaries Online. The free … Continue reading →    

35 by Valerie Strauss / 2h