11-26-13 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Teaching Strategies GOLD = Garbage waste of time

My colleagues in Pre-K hate, hate, hate GOLD. Then, these kids enter Kindergarten without being able to read or even write their own names. So, what the hell is going on? I received an email asking if I wanted to participate as a pilot classroom for GOLD. They even dangled a free iPad mini in […]

by Shaun Johnson / 1h 

Good coverage of the #optout movement from NYmag

Read up. United Opt Out National receives a mention. Nice.

by Shaun Johnson / 1h skip  //  save

Two things I thought would never be uttered: Thanksgiving and #commoncore, now with calcium

One more day before a short, but much-needed break. We’re culminating our study of the solar system tomorrow by launching a model rocket. But I just thought, for giggles, to peruse Google and Pinterest for some “Thanksgiving Fun” in case I had a few worthless minutes to spare. In 2013, is Thanksgiving in schools still […]

by Shaun Johnson / 1h 

November Guest Commentary by Joining Forces for Education’s Ellen Lubic

Joining Forces for Education was formed in response to Ben Austin’s public school bulldozer outfit, the Walton Family Foundation funded Parent Revolution. Ellen Lubic occasionally contributes to Professor Ravitch’s site. Obama : With Banksters/Common Core/Race to the Top/College for All, and other fantasy legislation vs. Reality and Vocational Ed We, the People, wanted to believe in […]

by Robert D. Skeels ... / 1h 

Little Merit in Rush to Report Merit Pay Report

Mathematica reports and journalists have proven to be problematic—as I noted about the Mathematica claims about KIPP middle schools. With a fresh Mathematica study, Talent Transfer Initiative: Attracting and Retaining High-Performing Teachers in Low-Performing Schools, also comes the rush to report: Top Teachers Retained Effectiveness After Transfer, Study Shows, Stephen Sawchuck at Education Week

by plthomasedd / 17min 

Misreading “Grit”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea Turtles

Misreading \”Grit\”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea Turtles. via Misreading “Grit”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea Turtles.

by plthomasedd / 58min 

11-25-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: Book Review: John Owens’ Confessions of a Bad TeacherI teach. I blog. I speak publicly. I advocate. I advise. I counsel. Not much time left for reading for pleasure. However, from the very opening paragraphs of John Owens’ firsthand account of the contemporary, reform-beaten American classroom, Confessions of a Bad Teacher, I was hooked: After we read the section of Homer’s The O

by mike simpson / 2h

11-26-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

The Malloy administration’s approach to financial planning in 2013

“Aware that the city school board was prepared Monday to pass a resolution demanding the funds, Barnes said he felt the time was right to make the deal.”  – CT Post 11/26/13 You heard him right… “The time was right to make the deal.” The deal being that the City of Bridgeport would get a giant […]The post The Malloy administration’s approach to financial planning in 2013 appeared first on Wait Wha

by jonpelto / 0min 

Paul Vallas: $1,200 a day from the taxpayers of Illinois while collecting $900 a day from the taxpayers of Bridgeport and Connecticut.

Hey, it’s not like we didn’t warn them… Governor Pat Quinn became Illinois’ chief elected official with a very narrow victory.  Arguably he won, in no small part, thanks too strong support from Illinois teachers. When Quinn picked Paul Vallas to be his running-mate, I told members of the Illinois media that considering what he […]The post Paul Vallas: $1,200 a day from the taxpayers of Illinois wh

by jonpelto / 52min skip  //  save

Hartford School Board vote reveals more about secret deal within Malloy administration

As reported by the Hartford Courant, “The city board of education reversed itself Monday night and approved two proposed magnet schools for the 2014-15 year, nearly a week after voting to reject the plans that were negotiated as part of a settlement in the Sheff v. O’Neill case.” The Hartford Board of Education also approved […]The post Hartford School Board vote reveals more about secret deal wit

by jonpelto / 1h 

11-25-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: Wait, What? – A weekend of political news and commentaryConnecticut and American Politics: Will Rogers, the “unequal distribution of the money” and the elections of 2014 and 2016 Meanwhile…..John Rowland? No Dannel Malloy Malloy continues to cash in on Education Reform initiative (corrected version)   Bridgeport: Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas: UPDATED: Secret Deal for Malloy Political

by mike simpson / 9h 

11-26-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

And now… Common Core tutors

It was inevitable. First we got the Common Core State Standards, adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia and intended to raise the academic achievement of students everywhere. To assess whether that was happening, we got high-stakes standardized tests aligned with the Core, because, in today’s school reform world, standardized tests are the […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 6h 

 

11-25-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Brace yourself: Pearson has a ‘new global education strategy’Pearson, the largest education company in the world, has “a  new global education strategy.” What exactly is it? Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains in this post. Willingham is a professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like Schoo

by mike simpson / 8h 

11-26-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

At the Chalk Face: Education Reform as Collaboration, Not Competition | National Education Policy Center

At the Chalk Face: Education Reform as Collaboration, Not Competition | National Education Policy Center

by P. L. Thomas / 1h 

CALL: The Politics of Panem: Critical Perspectives on the Hunger Games

Series: Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres Volume Title: The Politics of Panem: Critical Perspectives on the Hunger Games Editor: Sean P. Connors, University of Arkansas By any measure, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series is a commercial success. In 2012, the bookselling behemoth Amazon reported that the trilogy outsold the Harry Potter series, no small accomplishme

by plthomasedd / 1h 

Little Merit in Rush to Report Merit Pay Report

Little Merit in Rush to Report Merit Pay Report.

by plthomasedd / 15min 

Misreading “Grit”: On Treating Children Better than Salmon or Sea Turtles

Rob McEntarffer (@rmcenta) Tweeted a question to me about my blog post, The Poverty Trap: Slack, Not Grit, Creates Achievement, asking: “can Grit research (Duckworth, etc) be used as a humanizing/empowering tool, rather than a weapon against schools/kids?” Rob’s question is both a good one and representative of the numerous challenges I received for rejecting “grit”—some of the push-back has been

by plthomasedd / 2h 

11-24-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Safe Spaces for Teachers’ Professional Voices in a Public SphereIt is a bittersweet irony that words are mostly inadequate to express my appreciation to be nominated for and then recognized with the National Council of Teachers of English 2013 George Orwell Award—”establ

by mike simpson / 9h 

11-26-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Cuomo Warns Unions They Need A "Reality Adjustment"

Colby Hamilton at DNAinfo:MIDTOWN — Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned the city’s municipal labor unions Tuesday that they should be prepared to signficantly manage expectations as they prepare to sit down and negotiate new contracts with soon-to-be-mayor Bill de Blasio.While he praised the unions for their “superb” willingness to help the city during tight times in the past — most notably during the fiscal

by reality-based edu... / 53min 

“Tell The Assembly We’re Coming For Them. We’re Coming For Them, We’re Angry And We Vote!” - Parent At Common Core Forum

More protests on the Gospel of the Common Core tour:BINGHAMTON — Bearing signs reading “We are human, not machines,” “Oust the King” and “End Fed Ed,” Binghamton area residents let state Education Commissioner John King see — and hear — their discontent with Common Core state standards.“Tell the assembly we’re coming for them. We’re coming for them, we’re angry and we vote,” said Christina Bangel,

by reality-based edu... / 1:25 PM UTC-8 

Cuomo's Job Performance Ratings

After a Siena poll showed Andrew Cuomo with a 44%-56% job performance rating last week, a new Quinnipiac poll released today shows a different story:New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who saw his job approval rating drop in Quinnipiac University polls in the first six months of the year, opens his reelection bid with a 62 - 25 percent approval rating today. Marist released a poll yesterday finding

by reality-based edu... / 46min skip  //  save

NYSED Commissioner John King: Elementary School Teachers To Blame For Common Core Opposition

First, he said there is no turning back:State Education Commissioner John King defended the Common Core curriculum during a tour of the Binghamton region on Monday while acknowledging some difficulty in rolling out the standards.“Any time you try to raise standards across 45 states, it’s going to be a complicated process,” King said.King is traveling throughout the state to explain the initiative

by reality-based edu... / 3h 

Merryl Tisch Get A Subpoena From The Moreland Commission Yet?

Of course she hasn't - but she should.We learned on Sunday that Regents Chancellor Tisch paid out of her own pocket for private employees to run NYSED offices - at least the first million came from the Tisch family fortune.Millions more came from the Gates Foundation, General Electric and a bunch of other corporate entities - $19 million in total from more than two dozen private employees.These pr

by reality-based edu... / 6h 

11-25-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Cuomo's Education Reform Agenda ExposedTim Farley wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo, part of which made it to the Times Union.In it, Farley shows just how much of the NY State reform agenda is Cuomo's agenda.He notes how Cuomo has been trying to distance himself from the state reform agenda in recent days, as public outrage over the reforms has grown, then writes:  This seems

by mike simpson / 9h 

11-26-13 Truth in American Education

Truth in American Education:

Should American High Schools Prepare any Students for STEM? Common Core Doesn’t Think So

When states adopted Common Core’s mathematics standards, they were told (among other things) that these standards would make all high school students “college- and career-ready” and strengthen the critical pipeline for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).However, with the exception of a few standards in trigonometry, the math standards end after Algebra II, as James Milgram, professo

by Sandra Stotsky / 5min 

New York Principles Send An Open Letter to Parents

An open letter signed by 545 Principals across New York State was addressed to the parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in New York.  They address several points:NYS testing has increased dramatically.The tests were too long.Ambiguous questions appeared throughout the exams.Children have reacted viscerally to the tests.The low passing rate was predicted.The college readiness ben

by Shane Vander Hart / 2h skip  //  save

Rigor of the State Standards Doesn’t Correlate With Student Achievement

Ramesh Ponnuru makes an excellent point in his op/ed at Bloomberg:For that matter, how common will that core really be? Classroom practice doesn’t always reflect the standards written in a state’s official documents. That’s one reason the rigor of state standards doesn’t correlate with student achievement. But ensuring uniformity in practice would require the kind of heavy-handed central governing

by Shane Vander Hart / 3h 

Two States Delay Fully Implementing PARCC | Truth in American Education

Two States Delay Fully Implementing PARCC | Truth in American Education: Two States Delay Fully Implementing PARCCFiled in Common Core Assessments by Shane Vander Hart on November 25, 2013 • 0 Comments9Two states last week made moves to address Common Core concerns, specifically the implementation of the PARCC assessment.Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White announced a 10-year plan whi

by mike simpson / 5h 

UPDATE: Let Senator Williams Know We Want Charter School Accountability, Stop Bill 1085. Join us at his office, | WeArePCAPS

Let Senator Williams Know We Want Charter School Accountability, Stop Bill 1085. Join us at his office, | WeArePCAPS:

Comly Elementary Student Gets to the Heart of Our School Crisis

by wearepcaps / 29min 

Let Senator Williams Know We Want Charter School Accountability, Stop Bill 1085. Join us at his office,

Top legislators join critics of proposed regs for new funding formula | EdSource Today

Top legislators join critics of proposed regs for new funding formula | EdSource Today:

Top legislators join critics of proposed regs for new funding formula

November 25th, 2013 | Add a Comment | 
By John Fensterwald

In a letter on Monday, leaders of the state Senate and Assembly criticized proposed regulations on state funding for the state’s neediest students as inconsistent with the intent of the new school finance law.

Their letter to the State Board of Education, which must adopt the regulations in January, adds an exclamation point to similar criticisms from organizations representing low-income students, foster youth and English learners. Legislators and advocates are arguing that the proposed regulations for the Local Control Funding Formula or LCFF would give districts too much flexibility to decide how to spend money targeted for high-needs students.

Signing the letter were Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg; Assembly Speaker John Pérez; Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco; Assembly Budget Committee Chairwoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley; Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Judy Liu, D-Glendale; and Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo.

The three-page letter suggests nine changes to the regulations and the proposed template for the Local Control and Accountability Plan or LCAP, which the State Board also is considering. Starting the next school year, every district and charter school will be required to adopt an LCAP, detailing how they will respond to  the eight priorities, including school climate, parent engagement and 

Shanker Blog » ESEA Waivers And The Perpetuation Of Poor Educational Measurement

Shanker Blog » ESEA Waivers And The Perpetuation Of Poor Educational Measurement:

ESEA Waivers And The Perpetuation Of Poor Educational Measurement

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on November 26, 2013

Some of the best research out there is a product not of sophisticated statistical methods or complex research designs, but rather of painstaking manual data collection. A good example is a recent paper by Morgan Polikoff, Andrew McEachin, Stephani Wrabel and Matthew Duque, which was published in the latest issue of the journalEducational Researcher.

Polikoff and his colleagues performed a task that makes most of the rest of us cringe: They read and coded every one of the over 40 state applications for ESEA flexibility, or “waivers.” The end product is a simple but highly useful presentation of the measures states are using to identify “priority” (low-performing) and “focus” (schools “contributing to achievement gaps”) schools. The results are disturbing to anyone who believes that strong measurement should guide educational decisions.

There’s plenty of great data and discussion in the paper, but consider just one central finding: How states are identifying priority (i.e., lowest-performing) schools at the elementary level (the measures are of course a bit different for secondary schools).

There are 42 states with accepted waiver applications. Out of these 42, 17 exclusively use some version of proficiency or other cutpoint-based rates to identify priority schools. Another 23 employ a composite index consisting of different measures, but in most of these indexes, proficiency still plays the dominant role. Finally, another two