The Answer Sheet 3-17-14

The Answer Sheet:

Wyoming is first state to officially reject new science standards

This time the ruckus wasn’t as much about evolution as man-made climate change, but whatever the reason, Wyoming has become the first state to legislatively block the  Next Generation Science Standards, an initiative aimed at boosting science education across the country. The standards were developed over years in a process that involved the National Research Council, […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 24min 

Billionaires are privatizing science too — not just public education

One of the distinguishing features of the modern school reform movement is the extent to which super-wealthy private philanthropists are leading the drive to privatize the public education system. Some of them believe the public system is inefficient, while others simply don’t believe in the public sector — but whatever the motive, the vast amounts […]    

by Valerie Strauss / 1min 

Are American students grossly unprepared for college?

It has become a common refrain from school reformers that a very large percentage of high school graduates must take remedial classes when they get to college. Are they right? Award-winning Prinicipal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York  looks at this issue in the following post. She has been exposing the […]    

41 by Valerie Strauss / 5h  

The Answer Sheet 3-16-14

The Answer Sheet: How three teachers are dealing with Common Core in classLove them or hate them, the Common Core State Standards in math and English/Language Arts are being implemented in classrooms in most of the country — in some places better than others. A nonpartisan organization called Young Education Professionals asked a few teachers how they are dealing with the new standards, and their

by mike simpson / 8h 

3-17-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Seattle Schools Backs Off on School Cuts

I have received word of the following:The district is to recind the budget cuts to schools and add $1.8M to the budget to cover these cuts.The union is urging members to still attend the School Board meeting on Wednesday to support later start times.I'll be checking in with both groups tomorrow.

by Melissa Westbrook / 44min 

Wilson-Pacific Building Meeting Tomorrow

 I have a call into Mr. Sheppard to ask a couple of questions about this meeting.  Let me know if you have questions; I may be able to get them in when he calls back.NOTICE OF MEETING OF THE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS DEPARTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR WILSON PACIFIC ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLConditions:The Seattle School District is requesting a waiver (departure) from some City zoning regulations for

by Melissa Westbrook / 6min 

"If you know it’s wrong but remain silent, you’re complicit in educational malpractice"

In a very moving and determined move, this Massachusetts parent tells his district what he thinks about ALL high stakes testing. This comes via The Answer Sheet at the Washington Post.Rosa is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth who specializes in curriculum and instruction, language policies, Literacy and social studies education. In his letter, he refers to the

by Melissa Westbrook / 52min 

Nathan Hale has News You Want to Read

I had reason to check in at the Nathan Hale website and discovered their fine student newspaper, The Sentinel.  Very long (I haven't seen such a long student newspaper since I was in high school) and boy, they pack the news in.  (I note that The Sentinel took first place at a Western Washington University student journalism competition recently.)  From a front-page article, it seems that staff may

by Melissa Westbrook / 18min 

The Source/Fusion: Likes, Dislikes, Confusion?

I noted that at the strategic plan community meeting I attended at Hale, several parents said they (and some teachers) have frustrations with using The Source/Fusion.One reader replied:As an SPS teacher I would love to hear what parents like/dislike about the Source & Fusion. Is it limitations in the tool (and if so exactly what aspects)? Is it that teachers don't update the Source? With Fusio

by Melissa Westbrook / 8h 

3-16-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools This WeekMonday, March 17thThe wearing o' the Green.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.To note: signups for public testimony for the School Board meeting start at 8 am this morning. Tuesday, March 18thAudit&Finance Meeting from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  AgendaWednesday, March 19thSchool Board meeting starting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda.I see a LOT of audit update items

by mike simpson / 3h 

3-17-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Carol Burris Corrects More Duncan Lies from Massachusetts

Boston's CorpEd rag, the Boston Globe, quoted Arne Duncan's recent lie that 40 percent of MA high school grads attending 4 year colleges take remedial courses.  Did it occur to Globe's Scot Lehigh to do a little fact-checking?  Oh, I forgot, his is a column, so any lie repeated is totally fair.Correction from The Answer Sheet:. . . .What is “staggering” is the gross inaccuracy of the claim. Here a

by Jim Horn / 24min 

Duncan Warns Data Predators to Whom He Gave Privileges in 2009

At the behest of the Silicon Valley billionaires and the testing giants, the Obama Administration gutted FERPA protections for children in schools soon after coming into office, so that now corporate privateers and data predators have rich feeding grounds to collect, sift, and mine student and teacher data for whatever purposes they see fit.With parents and school boards with their hair on fire ab

2 by Jim Horn / 20min 

The common core and testing fever

Sent to the Oregonian, March 19, 2014Brett Bigham suggests that we need more standards and less testing ("Common Core Standards are not insidious: Guest opinion," March 16).  The Common Core,  however, is requiring an astonishing amount of standardized testing, far more than No Child Left Behind (NCLB) required. The new tests include the usual end of year tests, but in more subjects and

1 by skrashen / 5h 

3-16-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Call Your State Senator Tomorrow in TennesseeLocal TV news in Knoxville has typical coverage below of the move by the TN House last week, which voted overwhelmingly to delay implementation of Common Core testing. Note that Mike Edwards, who leads off the "fair and balanced coverage," is the President of Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, a Board of Director member of the Tene

by mike simpson / 12h

3-17-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

The Florida Voucher Cap Cost Limit Allows for a Stunning Rise to Almost $1 Billion

When a Florida superintendent of schools said last week that the expansion of Florida’s voucher program would rise to $1 billion in five years, he knew what he was talking about. From the text of SB 1620: Scholarship Funding Tax Credit Cap Limits.—The Department of Revenue may approve annual tax credit amounts under s. 1002.395 or s. 1002.396 until the sum of such approvals under both sections com

by Bob Sikes / 2h  

3-16-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education: Miami Herald: “Vouchers Please a Few, But Undercuts the Many”The Miami Herald became the latest large state daily to criticize the republican legislatures’ latest expansion of its school voucher program: Florida’s school vouchers, called the Tax Credit Scholarship progra

by mike simpson / 9h 

3-17-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: How ‘platooning’ and data walls are changing elementary school is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven.” I’ve previously posted about a series of excellent posts Marc Tucker has been writing at Education Week (see Several Excellent

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h hide  //  save

My Parent Engagement Blog Has Been Growing In Popularity — You Might Want To Check It Out

I publish one new post everyday at my Engaging Parents In School blog, and it’s been rapidly-growing in popularity. In comparison to this blog, of course, it’s tiny, but I do think that blog is a one-of-kind resource on the Web. You might want to check it out if you get a chance…

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2h 

“The Long Reach Of Reason” – It’s A Safe Bet That This New TED Talk Animation Will Be Shown In Every TOK Class

TED Talks has just unveiled a new animation titled “The Long Reach Of Reason.” Here’s how Chris Anderson at TED describes it: Two years ago the psychologist Steven Pinker and the philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, who are married, came to TED to take part in a form of Socratic dialog. Steven Pinker and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein: The long reach of reasonSteven Pinker and Rebecca Newberger

by Larry Ferlazzo / 49min

Here’s One More Small Thing I’m Doing To Help Students See The Importance Of Social Emotional Learning

As an advocate of helping our students develop Social Emotional Learning skills (as well as a critic of SEL manipulation), I’m also looking for new ways to reinforce them. Today, I tried something new and it seemed to go pretty well. I invited students in my mainstream ninth-grade English classes to do an extra credit (yes, I’m not a total believer in intrinsic motivation) project researching up

by Larry Ferlazzo / 21min 

Learn English By Reading About Eating Bugs At My Latest NY Times Post

Learn about eating bugs, categorizing words, and using online tools to create “word webs” in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. It includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. You can see all my previous NY Times posts here.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

3-16-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Videos Of The WeekIn yet another effort to get at my backlog of resources to share, I recently began this feature to share useful videos. I’ll still periodically highlight certain ones on their own, but the rest will be found on this regular post: Here’s an interesting video with Neil Degrasse Tyson that might, or might not

by mike simpson / 7h 

3-17-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

http://preaprez.wordpress.com/ | Fred Klonsky:

Ten minute drawing. Stabbed in the back and he’s not even elected yet.

 

by Fred Klonsky / 31min 

Dillard thanks the teacher unions for their support by calling for cutting state school funding to Chicago by a billion bucks. And other weird election news.

- Mike Klonsky’s Small Talk: Okay, so what did AFT & IFT leaders get in return for their support for Republican Kirk Dillard? The Man From ALEC is now calling for a billion-dollar cut in Chicago school funding and a “scrubbing of the rolls” for Medicaid, the state’s healthcare program for the poor. PUNCH 62 In the bizarre world of Chicago politics, there’s also lots of “liberal” money

by Fred Klonsky / 3min hide  //  save

Me, Reg Weaver, Bob Kaplan and Pearl Mack.

  This is me, former NEA President Reg Weaver, Bob Kaplan and Pearl Mack at the 2013 NEA RA in Atlanta. Pearl, Bob and I are running as delegates again this year. Reg doesn’t have to run. 

by Fred Klonsky / 26min 

A war on charters?

Bill de Blasio ran for mayor of New York with a promise that if he is elected, New York’s charter schools will have to pay their own way. No more free rides at the cost of neighborhood public schools. He got elected. He’s trying to carry out the promise. Weird, right? A politician tries to carry out a campaign promise. Now he’s getting slapped around by Democratic Party Governor Cuomo and the boy

by Fred Klonsky / 55min 

3-16-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Sunday reads.  Maintenance costs for closed CPS schools cut by $300 million. Gates echoes union leaderships complaint of Common Core’s bumpy implementation. Or do they echo him? As living standards fall for seniors, signs of a Silver Revolution. Those of us who turned 20 in ’68 are 65 today. Investiga

by mike simpson / 9h