9-15-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

The Connecticut Post’s Tale of two cities

While one Connecticut Post article yesterday featured Bridgeport’s faux superintendent of schools, Paul Vallas saying “I am going to keep this job till someone says I can’t,” Hugh Bailey, an editorial writer at the paper was observing in another piece that, “At school reform’s center, a resounding ‘no’.” As Hugh Bailey so clearly noted in […]The post The Connecticut Post’s Tale of two cities appea

11 by jonpelto / 4min 

9-14-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: Bridgeport Community Bank that Bridgeport’s BOE Chair Kenneth Moales Jr won’t pay back goes underIn an article entitled, “State Has First Bank Failure In A Decade, the Hartford Courant reported last night that, “The Community’s Bank, with its headquarters and one branch in Bridgeport, came under the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. late Friday afternoon amid mounting

by mike simpson / 23h 

9-15-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:

Reign of Error: the important new book by Diane Ravitch

The testing, accountability, and choice strategies offer the illusion of change while changing nothing.  They mask the inequity and injustice that are now so apparent in our social order.  They do nothing to alter the status quo.  They preserve the status quo.  They are the status quo. Those words appear on p. 225 of Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America'

4 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 1min 

9-14-13 teacherken at Daily Kos

teacherken at Daily Kos:  Saturday reflection on teaching - the year goes onYesterday ending the first complete week of teaching at my new school, the 3rd with students.  Our first week we only had freshmen on Monday, to walk their schedules, and the 2nd week was interrupted by Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah.  We see our classes on alternate days, A Day - B Day, each time for extended periods.  That

by mike simpson / 8h 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Is Hairstyling a Common Core Career Ready 5th Grade Standard? Flat Irons Needed?

Missouri Education Watchdog: Is Hairstyling a Common Core Career Ready 5th Grade Standard? Flat Irons Needed?:

Is Hairstyling a Common Core Career Ready 5th Grade Standard? Flat Irons Needed?

What 5th graders are learning in a Missouri classroom.

The following information is from a Missouri mom.  Is this an example of "College and CAREER ready" the Common Core proponents are talking about?  This type of education will sure make our kids globally competitive!  It just might not be in the fields you thought Common Core was pushing: 

Our kids can't read....most can't do math any more...we can't find time to teach history, but we sure can teach them how to straighten hair.  This note sent from school was shared with me by a mom in our district.  On the off days from hair class 101, her daughter is learning about choreography in 5th grade. 

Alarmed yet?  Welcome to Common Core and the 21 Century learners.  College and CAREER readiness.  Like this mom said...if they don't teach her daughter to read or do math, she will have learned necessary skills to maybe become a stripper someday all while in the 5th grade.  

Not funny, but you have to laugh.  

Hair Styling 101

Week of

Coop Goes to High School Part 2 – First Year | Lefty Parent

Coop Goes to High School Part 2 – First Year | Lefty Parent:

Coop Goes to High School Part 2 – First Year

September 15th, 2013 at 12:51

Continuing from part one, this is part two in my attempt to recollect and record in writing my high school years which were so significant to me developmentally, not so much because of what I did in class, but what I did in my life beyond the schoolroom.

Pioneer high school was a big public high school with over 2000 students, one of two at the time in Ann Arbor, located on the southwest side of town about a mile and a half from my house. It was a sprawling building on an even bigger campus of lawn and parking lots looking more like a high-tech business campus than a typical high school. When I first entered to register for classes the week before school started the main hallway was broad and institutional with what I remember to be a polished formica or marble-like floor, nothing to give the place a sense of a human scale. The school was a string of buildings connected in an L-shape, maybe at least a quarter of a mile from one end to the other.

Registration included a long row of tables on the side of the broad main hallway of the school. Hundreds of newly enrolling kids were milling about 

Plaintiff in iconic school speech case starts tour - SFGate

Plaintiff in iconic school speech case starts tour - SFGate:

Plaintiff in iconic school speech case starts tour

By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press

Updated 10:29 am, Sunday, September 15, 2013

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VIEW: LARGER | HIDE

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  In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013, Mary Beth Tinker, 61, shows one of her collection of arm bands during an interview with the Associated Press in Washington. Tinker was 13 years old in 1965 when she wore a black armband to school to protest the Vietnam War. School officials suspended her, leading to a lawsuit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, almost 50 years later, Tinker has resigned her job as a nurse to spend six months traveling around the country to colleges and high schools to talk about free speech. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta

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 WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Beth Tinkerwas just 13 when she spoke out against the Vietnam War by wearing a black armband to her Iowa school in 1965. When the school suspended her, she took her free speech case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. Now 61, she's quit her part-time job as a nurse and will travel the country telling her story.

Tinker will visit her first school Monday in Philadelphia. After that, she's scheduled to travel by RV to 18 states and the District of Columbia as part of what's being called the "Tinker Tour." She'll log 10,000 to 15,000 miles, the equivalent of driving across the country three to five times, before her tour ends Nov. 25 in suburban Kansas City. Along the way, she'll stop at more than three dozen locations, most of them schools, and she plans a tour of schools in western states in the spring. Her message: Students should take action on issues important to them.

"It's better for our whole society when kids have a voice," Tinker said in a recent interview 

9-15-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

Compare and Contrast Reactions to Teacher Evaluation: In Mexico 10,000 Teachers Protest, In NYC Union Leaders Defend the Undermining of the Profession

The education issues in Mexico and in this country and in other parts of the world are the same. That should tell you something. That the union misleaders who are wearing buttons that say Dec. 31, 2013 to mark the end of the Bloomberg era are not telling the members the truth about the neo-liberal assault on education, teachers and their unions.Reports about how teachers have taken over Mexico Cit

2 by ed notes online / 8min mark as read  //  save

News From Susan Ohanian Plus Brief Commentary for a Sat Nite

I broke the fastBut I did not eat the humitz(to the tune of "I Shot the Sheriff).Well, I'm as full as a bull after 24 hours of fasting. We had 6 people at the break the fast and me and the guys went down to my recently refurbished room which I'm trying to brand my new "man cave." Now pre-Sandy I wouldn't be found dead down there -- though I could have been found dead down there (lik

1 by ed notes online / 8min 

9-14-13 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online: Al Qaeda Plan to Drain US Economy - Did Fall of Soviet Union Result From Similar US Policy?In an audio speech a day after the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, called on Muslims to carry out a “a few disparate attacks” on American soil and to “bleed America economically,”.. NY Times, Attack U.S., Qaeda Chief Te

by mike simpson / 20h 

Diane in the Evening 9-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Colorado Teacher: Can We Find Common Ground?

Sam Chaltain, one of our very thoughtful bloggers, urged that we try to find common ground with those who disagree with our views. That is usually sound advice. In the present instance, there are so many who say they want to privatize public education, and whose motives are not disguised, that it is hard to know how to find common ground. I think, for example, of ALEC, the Koch brothers, the gover

by dianerav / 0min 

Michelle Rhee Tells Philadelphia How to Solve Its Problems

Michelle Rhee penned an article about how to fix the public schools of Philadelphia. She says it is time for performance pay, so that there is “a great teacher” in every classroom. She apparently is unaware that merit pay has been tried for nearly a century and has never worked, not in any district. It causes teaching to the test, narrowing the curriculum, gaming the system, rivalry among colleagu

by dianerav / 1min 

A Word About Competition and Profits

Some of the discussion today has centered on the issue of competition, control, and profits. New York City has been closing down hospitals that once enjoyed a hefty public subsidy but are now expected to pay for themselves or turn a profit. After these hospitals were turned over to private corporations, the pressure to make a profit brought about the closure of several major hospitals. One of the

5 by dianerav / 42min mark as read  //  save

Nancy Flanagan: Why All the Snark?

Nancy Flanagan, a retired music teacher in Michigan, NBCT, 30+ years of experience, is one of our best teacher-bloggers. Unlike the pundits who observe the schools from 30,000 feet above ground, Nancy knows whereof she speaks. In this post, she tries to understand what is behind all the snarky comments and previews of my book, which will debut tomorrow. Some people who never read it denounced it.

5 by dianerav / 1h 

A Wonderful Review of “Reign of Error” by TeacherKen at the Daily Kos

Please take the time to read Kenneth Bernstein’s fine review of “Reign of Error” at the Daily Kos. TeacherKen, as he is known online, has read the book carefully and taken the time to explain its major themes. I think you will enjoy reading his thoughtful review. I know I will take my lumps for leading the charge against the attacks on public education. I am grateful that those with many years of

1 by dianerav / 8min 

Sam Chaltain on “Reign of Error”

Sam Chaltain is one of our most thoughtful bloggers. This is his review of Reign of Error, which appears in his regular column in Education Week. I appreciated his connection of this book to the work of the muckrakers. It is a comparison that I made in my own mind, but kept to myself because I was loathe to be so bold as to associate myself with the bold reformism of such giants as Jacob Riis, Lin

by dianerav / 5min 

Diane Ravitch: School privatization is a hoax, “reformers” aim to destroy public schools - Salon.com

Diane Ravitch: School privatization is a hoax, “reformers” aim to destroy public schools - Salon.com: Diane Ravitch: School privatization is a hoax, “reformers” aim to destroy public schoolsOur public schools aren't in decline. And "reformers" with wild promises don't care about education — just profitsBY DIANE RAVITCH TOPICS: BOOKS, EDUCATION, EDITOR'S PICKS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, TEACHERS, W

3 by mike simpson / 23min

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-15-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Los Angeles: Deasy’s Top Deputy QuitsJaime Aquino, the deputy superintendent for instruction in LAUSD, unexpectedly quit his $250,000 a year post, although he plans to stay until the end of the year. The story is that he was disheartened by the change in the board, in which progressive members took control away from the corporate r

by mike simpson / 59min 

Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool - NYTimes.com

Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool - NYTimes.com: "Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool"

Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool

If you were to walk into my sister’s house in Los Angeles, you’d hear a bit of yelling from time to time. “Luca! Get off Minecraft! Luca, are you on Minecraft again? Luca! Enough with the Minecraft!”

Luca is my 8-year-old nephew. Like millions of other children his age, Luca is obsessed with the video game Minecraft. Actually, obsessed might be an understated way to explain a child’s idée fixe with the game. And my sister, whom you’ve probably guessed is the person doing all that yelling, is a typical parent of a typical Minecraft-playing child: she’s worried it might be rotting his brain.

Fro those who have never played Minecraft, it’s relatively simple. The game looks a bit crude because it doesn’t have realistic graphics. Instead, it’s built in 16-bit, a computer term that means the graphics look blocky, like giant, digital Lego pieces.

Unlike other video games, there are few if any instructions in Minecraft. Instead, like the name suggests, the goal of the game is to craft, or build, structures in these 16-bit worlds, and figuring things out on your own is a big part of it. And parents, it’s not terribly violent. Sure, you can kill a few zombies while playing in the game’s “survival mode.” But in its “creative 

A Funny Way for Students to Get Savvy About Money

James Cunningham, a Canadian comic, has created a one-hour show that uses jokes and a light-hearted style to teach teenagers how to look after their finances.    

2 by By ELAINE SMITH / 3min 

Federal database to include your children? | toteachornototeach

Federal database to include your children? | toteachornototeach:

Federal database to include your children?

by Bob Unruh

Regulations creating repository for ‘every
public school student’s personal information’

The federal government is laying the foundation for a national database that could include all of the personal details of every student in every public school in every state, warns a report by the leading homeschool advocacy group.

The report, compiled by Will Estrada and Katie Tipton of the Home School Legal Defense Association, points out that a “slew of new federal incentives and federally funded data models have spurred states to monitor students’ early years, performance in college, and success in the workforce by following ‘individuals systematically and efficiently across state lines.’

The authors “believe that this expansion of state databases is laying the foundation for a 

4 Lessons as a Sophomore Principal | Connected Principals

4 Lessons as a Sophomore Principal | Connected Principals:

4 Lessons as a Sophomore Principal

September 15, 2013

By Ron Sherman

This week, I’ve been asked to share a few thoughts with our newest principal hires, now that I’m a “wily veteran” (having started my third year as a principal).  Our Director of Student Learning has asked a few of us “vets” to speak about our most important learning, which we think may help our novice administrators as they go along their path.
It’s given me the chance to summarize some of the stray thoughts that have been rolling around in my head this past summer.  Given some time in the beach chair, I came to a few conclusions about the role of the principal, and where I’m at in my learning right now.
You can read the rest of my blog by clicking here.

Duncan’s Dilemma | My Island View

Duncan’s Dilemma | My Island View:

Duncan’s Dilemma

September 15, 2013 by tomwhitby

One of my reasons for becoming active on Social Media was to engage people of influence in the discussion of education. I soon found out that there were several circles of influence that were driving the discussion, but educators had very little influence in any of those circles and Social Media had even less influence on them. Business people, politicians, and people were driving the education discussion interested in entering the education industry for profit. Educators, whether by choice or circumstance, were not involved in the very reform discussions that were affecting their profession. Although educators are educated and experienced in the area of education, education expertise was claimed and permitted for the most part by those without either.

Many of these people used Social Media to put out a one-way information campaign to support their ideas of reform. It was not a discussion of ideas, but rather a statement of position. Teachers were praised as they were targeted. The public education system was condemned as a failure and alternatives were presented as a better, and cheaper. Standardized testing became a goal in 

What happened to ‘scientifically based’ research in ed policy?:

What happened to ‘scientifically based’ research in ed policy?

By Valerie Strauss, Published: September 15 at 12:45 pmE-mail the writer

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Scientifically based research. It’s one of those phrases thrown around a lot in the education reform debate, but what it actually means is anybody’s guess. Here’s a piece on the subject by P.L. Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. He edited the 2013 book “Becoming and Being a Teacher,” and wrote the 2012 book, “Ignoring Poverty in the U.S.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Education.” This was published on Alternet.com.

By P.L. Thomas

The federal education legislation popularly known as No Child Left Behind made a number of ambitious promises, such as closing the achievement gap, while lamenting the failed state of public education in the United States. One of the most repeated requirements in NCLB to address this is the call for scientifically based research.

In a 2004 policy report for Pearson, Sasha Zucker notes, “A significant aspect of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is the use of the phrase ‘scientifically based research’ well over 100 times throughout the text of the law.”

Zucker acknowledges that the phrase itself sparked debate about what counts as