7-10-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Civics Matters - Tell Seattle Public Schools

Pass it on.  This is a great initiative and great effort on the part of civics teacher, Web Hutchins.On March 17, 2014 the Seattle City Council and King County Council passed tandem “Resolutions of Support for the Civics for All Initiative.”  As the embodiment of local, direct democracy and the representative voices for millions of voters, the 9-0, 9-0 unanimous votes of these Councils signifies a

by Melissa Westbrook / 31min 

Seattle Schools and the Search for a Superintendent

A week from today, the Sacramento School Board (they call their members "trustees") will vote on Jose Banda as their new superintendent.  (I am waiting to hear back from their Communications person on details.)I suspect they will vote to offer Banda the contract and that he will accept.  I'm also fairly certain he would start almost immediately.That then opens the door for two things to

by Melissa Westbrook / 30min 

7-9-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Awkward and Odd; Green Dot Comes to TownAs I previously reported, Green Dot has submitted a letter of intent to the Charter Commission to open their second Puget Sound region charter school this time in "south Seattle."  A couple of readers alerted me that Green Dot had two open houses this week, one in the SW and one in the SE, to meet parents.  I attend

by mike simpson / 11min 

Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side

By Anthony Cody on July 10, 2014 12:09 PM

Guest post by Paul Horton.

The rhetoric of the Education "Reform" has become truly Orwellian. Those who claim to serve "students first" are funded by corporate and financial interests who seek to profit from opening new product lines in the rapidly growing educational market place. Most of those who call themselves "reformers" seek to further entrench the notion of the validity of standardized testing to cloak a seemingly well intended extension of what Nicholas Lehman has called a "moral equivalent of religion" (The Big Test) that covers up a crude Hobbesian Social Darwinism: the best test takers will rise to the top. "Radical," the title of one such "reformer's" new book about her exploits, is truly reactionary. Stalinists and Fascists referred to themselves as utopian "radicals."

The methods of what could only be described, as a "New Class" of Education technocrats are anything but democratic. The chief characteristic of any "New Class," political theorist Alvin Gouldner tells us, is the attempt to control critical discourse. Party line propaganda is carefully orchestrated. Bill Gates invests hundreds of millions of dollars in creating a Common Core Curriculum and his Foundation constructs an ideology of "buy-in" using the pronouncements of duped teachers (who welcome any and all extra dollars to feed and educate their kids), leading "experts" from the Hoover and American Enterprise Institutes, a bunch of governors, Wall Street fat cats who see investment opportunities in charter school companies (who have their kids in Horace Mann, Dalton, Collegiate, or Trinity), and big donors to the Obama campaign. This scary cauldron is straight out of Macbeth!

The push is top-down, nothing short of an educational putsch! Our Education Secretary, who plays basketball like he is straight out of an Updike Rabbit novel, claims to be "old school" when it comes to education. He tutored kids at his mom's school. He has seen the impact of poverty and violence Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Other People’s Cities | EduShyster

Other People’s Cities | EduShyster:

Other People’s Cities

In Camden, education reform and gentrification go hand in hand

By Keith Benson 
In case you missed it, Camden, NJ will soon be home to a brand new practice facility (*we’re talkin’ about practice!*) for the Philadelphia 76ers that will cost taxpayers $82 million. What does Camden get in exchange for this princely sum? Fifty seasonal—read low-paying—sales and marketing jobs. This news comes on the heels of the layoffs of hundreds of teachers and staff from the Camden Public Schools. If you’re wondering about the priorities of a city that can’t afford to pay its teachers but can somehow spring for the *biggest and best* practice facility in the US, you’re not the only one; I’m feeling confused and angry about the direction of my city these days.

Cities for others
What’s happening in Camden isn’t unique. The city is being forcibly changed to cater to those who DON’T live here. Read the work of academic researchers and practitioners like Pauline Lipman of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Valerie Kinloch of Ohio State University, Leslie T. Fenwick of Howard University and Stephen Danley of Rutgers University-Camden and you’ll encounter similar stories from other cities. In Camden, a City for Others, Danley writes: *This city is not designed for its residents. And its residents Other People’s Cities | EduShyster:

7-10-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

LA Unified students find their inner artist with help from CalArts

Click to view slideshow. A group of 250 high school students from LA Unified and the surrounding area are putting finishing touches on their art projects this week under the guidance of college faculty and graduate students from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), a university focused on visual and performing arts. Administered through Community Arts Partnership (CAP), an off-shoot of CalA

by Aaron Stella / 0min 

How to find schools that teach arts education in LAUSD

South California public radio station, KPCC, just launched a new map widget that identifies the level of arts education access at LA Unified’s elementary schools for the coming year. According to KPCC’s findings, only 70 out of more than 500 elementary schools in the district will provide all four forms of arts education required by California law. This is the first comprehensive survey of arts ac

3 26min 

Morning Read: Firing Centinela Superintendent could take a month

Process for firing Centinela Superintendent could take a month Although the Centinela Valley school board has voted to fire Superintendent Jose Fernandez following an investigation into his excessive pay, the process of terminating the embattled leader could take another month. LA Daily News California’s top political watchdog agency looking into Inglewood school spending California’s Fair Politi

2 1h 

7-9-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Overpaid Centinela Valley superintendent firedCentinela Valley school board fires embattled Superintendent Jose Fernandez The Centinela Valley school board Tuesday night voted to fire Superintendent Jose Fernandez, ending a five-month chapter that began with revelations that the leader of th

by mike simpson / 21h 

Why Do Low-Income Students Take Longer To Graduate? - Janell Ross - The Atlantic

Why Do Low-Income Students Take Longer To Graduate? - Janell Ross - The Atlantic:

Why Do Low-Income Students Take Longer To Graduate?

Financial-aid restrictions are woefully out of keeping with the way most students attend school today.

Nico Paix/flickr

The golden image of college students walking brick-paved paths to attend small classes in ivy-covered buildings hasn't matched the reality of higher education for a while now. Nearly half of U.S. college students commute to classes at open-enrollment community colleges and have never lived or studied in a dorm. Many of those students juggle family and other responsibilities between classes, work to cover living expenses and tuition, and don't have the credits to graduate after four years. 

Yet when policymakers talk about boosting college graduation rates, they often seem to have an antiquated ideal of college in mind. A pair of studies released this month by the Campaign for College Opportunity found that accurate information about how students pursue college degrees and how long it takes them are two of the most critical but poorly understood aspects of higher education policy.

The studies examine student patterns at California's network of state universities and community colleges. Together these institutions make up the largest public higher-education system in the country, serve one of the nation's most diverse student bodies, and reflect patterns that have come to define the Why Do Low-Income Students Take Longer To Graduate? - Janell Ross - The Atlantic:

The Answer Sheet 7-10-14

Answer Sheet:

What libraries need from key U.S. technology program

I’ve published two posts this week about the federal “E-Rate” program — which offers discounts to schools and libraries  for Internet access and telecommunications — and a modernization plan that the Federal Communications Commission will take up at its meeting Friday. The first post urged the FCC to approve the plan as a first step […]

by Valerie Strauss / 21min 

What 4 teachers told Obama over lunch

President Obama sat down this week for lunch at the White House with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and four teachers to talk about education, teaching and school reform. What the teachers said to Obama is explained in the following post by Justin Minkel, the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, a board member of the […]

3 by Valerie Strauss / 47min 

The Answer Sheet 7-9-14

Answer Sheet: Will the FCC ignore educators in modernizing key U.S. technology program?This post is a rebuttal to one that I published a few days ago about the federal “E-Rate” program — which offers discounts for schools and libraries to get Internet access and telecommunications — under the headline “A watershed moment for technology in education.” The earlier piece was co-written by Julius Gena

by mike simpson / 21h 

Sam Pirozzolo Bares His Soul

http://www.southbronxschool.com:

Sam Pirozzolo Bares His Soul

Part of the lawsuit spearheaded by NYC Parents Union honchos Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo is their complaining about practices that can harm children brought about by teachers.

What troubles us here at SBSB is what about practices that can harm children and shock the conscience by the professional complainers?

The Crack Team came across Sam Pirozzolo's Facebook page (Last photo) and what we found was quite shocking, and a bit surreal. And just to be sure that it is not deleted, this screen shot will show for all the audacity of Sam Pirozzolo (Click to enlarge!).

The Crack Team is busy attempting to ascertain whether or not that is Sam's buttocks shoveling the snow naked. We are in no way accusing Sam of shoveling snow naked or being a deviant snow shoveler. Even if it is Sam's buttocks, we here at SBSB believe that Sam (As one can see in his FB profile photo, Sam is a darn proud American!) is protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America as every right to due process as well as the .

But there is a bigger issue here. What kind of person not only will post this photo on his Facebook page but not take advantage of the privacy controls Facebook offers to keep the entire world from seeing this photo?

Francesco Portelos got hammered for a sarcastic remark in which others said he was threatening children, well, is this something children should see? Are not the children of the lawsuit and any other children who wish to sue able to access this photo? What kind of example is Sam Pirozzolo setting? Does he think it's funny for children to see a fat man's naked buttocks? Is there some kind of cheap thrill that Sam is getting by showing this?

Again, we are not saying this is a photo of Sam, but at no time has he either confirmed nor denied whohttp://www.southbronxschool.com: 

Shanker Blog » The Language Of Teacher Effectiveness

Shanker Blog » The Language Of Teacher Effectiveness:

The Language Of Teacher Effectiveness

Posted by Matthew Di Carlo on July 10, 2014

There is a tendency in education circles these days, one that I’m sure has been discussed by others, and of which I myself have been “guilty,” on countless occasions. The tendency is to use terms such “effective/ineffective teacher” or “teacher performance” interchangeably with estimates from value-added and other growth models.

Now, to be clear, I personally am not opposed to the use of value-added estimates in teacher evaluations and other policies, so long as it is done cautiously and appropriately (which, in my view, is not happening in very many places). Moreover, based on my reading of the research, I believe that these estimates can provide useful information about teachers’ performance in the classroom. In short, then, I am not disputing whether value-added scores should be considered to be one useful proxy measure for teacher performance and effectiveness (and described as such), both formally and informally.

Regardless of one’s views on value-added and its policy deployment, however, there is a point at which our failure to define terms can go too far, and perhaps cause confusion.

For one thing, I’m starting to get concerned that too many people, particularly those outside of education, may take terms such as “performance” and “effectiveness” at face value. Upon hearing these incredibly powerful words, they may not be aware that they almost always are defined — when they’re used in empirical arguments — in terms of Shanker Blog » The Language Of Teacher Effectiveness:

7-10-14 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.:

Home from the NEA RA. Listening to the mountains, the veterans and the voices in my head.

Our friend Jean shared the secret of hiking up the two-mile path to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. And the two miles back down. We needed to get there early before the crowds. We needed to hike without hearing people’s voices. We needed to listen to the Park. That way we would also hear the voices in our own heads My head almost exploded with thoughts and ideas. I had no trouble he

by Fred Klonsky / 1min 

Brant Rosen. Tragedy in Gaza: Reckoning with Root Causes

- Rabbi Brant Rosen is a congregational rabbi in Evanston and the co-founder/co-chair of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council. It’s happening again. As of this writing, Israel has dropped 800 tons of explosives on Gaza, a strip of land roughly the size of Detroit. The official death toll currently stands at 81, the majority of whom are civilians and half of whom are women and children. Y

by Fred Klonsky / 16min 

7-9-14 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.: Greg Hinz. Rauner and Quinn and Stroger and Madigan.- Greg Hinz If you put together a list of Illinois politicians whom Bruce Rauner would be least likely to funnel campaign cash to, Chicago’s Stroger clan and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan would be right at the top. The late John Stroger and

by mike simpson / 16h 

The Face Of Authentic School Reform – redqueeninla

The Face Of Authentic School Reform – redqueeninla:

The Face Of Authentic School Reform

Written by redqueeninla in Education

How do you complain about a system you support? Because it’s been suggested that criticizing LAUSD only feeds its demise by contributing to the atmosphere of fear and/or negativity that ultimately “forces” families into the arms of privatized “public” schools, aka Charter Schools.

The fallacy is that if you don’t like what you experience, you should go elsewhere, namely out of the system.

Yet what sparks howls of protest from among those of us here by choice, is that the option to fix, not forgo, never seems to figure into the equation. In fact, it was once presumed a component of maturation to learn how to stay and resolve a problem, not just grab one’s toys and stalk away. The latter would be considered a spoiled, selfish, “entitled” and reactionary response, one indicating a need for attention to social, interactive and problem-solving skills.

And yet the political climate educationally as well as more broadly, establishes a response funnel where the presence of a problem is construed as evidence of an irretrievably broken miasma of permanent and irreversible failure from which immediate withdrawal is the only solution.

Conversely, then, acknowledging or pointing out problems in the system is considered tantamount to admitting irreversible “badness”.

Which as a participant in this system, is a The Face Of Authentic School Reform – redqueeninla:

7-10-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL, & EF

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

Good Post Worth Reading: “The Importance of Asking Questions to Promote Higher-Order Competencies”

© 2008 Valerie Everett, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio The Importance of Asking Questions to Promote Higher-Order Competencies is a very good post by Maurice Elias (who has often contributed to my Ed Week column) over at Edutopia. It’s a definite addition to The Best Posts & Articles About Asking Good Questions. And, speaking of asking questions, next week you’ll be able to read an interview I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18min 

If You Were Going To Read Just One Thing About Bloom’s Taxonomy, Then “What’s Old Is New Again” Would Be It

© 2011 David Wees, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio Scott McLeod just sent out a tweet about a forty page PDF document titled “Bloom’s Taxonomy: What’s Old Is New Again.” It’s written by Cecelia Munzenmaier, MS, with Nancy Rubin, PhD. I’ve got a lot of resources on The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom list, but this document provides the best overview and must

by Larry Ferlazzo / 55min 

Must Bookmark Site: “The Ultimate Directory Of Free Image Sources”

The Edublogger has recently published an invaluable resource, The Ultimate Directory Of Free Image Sources. It’s a star addition to The Best Online Sources For Images.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16min 

“A 360-Degree View of Life at the Bottom of the Ocean”

TIME has just published a neat interactive called “A 360-Degree View of Life at the Bottom of the Ocean.” I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Oceans.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11min hide  //  save

Tomorrow Is World Population Day – Here Are Related Resources

Tomorrow, July 11th, is World Population Day. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About Our World’s Population Of 7 Billion. Here’s how the United Nations describes World Population Day: As the world population edged to 7 billion people in 2011 (up from 2.5 billion in 1950), it has had profound implications for development. A world of 7 billion is both a challenge and an o

by Larry Ferlazzo / 11min 

“‘Collaboration Is Crucial’: An Interview With Carmen Fariña & Laura Kotch”

In my latest Education Week Teacher post, I interview Carmen Fariña, Chancellor of the New York City schools, & Laura Kotch, its former Director of Professional Development and Curriculum, about the new edition of their book, A School Leader’s Guide to Excellence. Here are some excerpts:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 47min 

7-9-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL, & EF

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: Video: Donald Duck On Self-ControlI’ve previously shared the videos Sesame Street has done this year promoting the virtue of self-control. They’re pretty creative and entertaining. I just learned that Walt Disney apparently had similar ideas in 1938, and put out this cartoon of Donald Duck teaching and learning about self-c

by mike simpson / 16min 

Anger, frustration as hundreds of New Orleans parents turned away from public school enrollment center | NOLA.com

Anger, frustration as hundreds of New Orleans parents turned away from public school enrollment center | NOLA.com:



Anger, frustration as hundreds of New Orleans parents turned away from public school enrollment center

New Orleans public school enrollment faltered badly Wednesday when hundreds of parents arrived at the lone resource center to sign up their children -- only to be turned away for lack of staff to help them. It was an embarrassing fiasco for an enrollment process that has received national praise and aims to make life easier for families.

By 6 a.m., the line of applicants already snaked around First Pilgrim School on Marais Street, the location of the Recovery School District's summer parent center, said Pilgrim Church janitor Cedric Woods Jr. By 9:45 a.m., it was around the block. With nowhere on site to park, cars lined the narrow streets of the St. Roch neighborhood, as did, later, the tow trucks.

"This is ridiculous. This is really sad," said Monique Johnson, running out to move her car for the "third or fourth" time. She said she arrived at 6 a.m. to sign up her nephew and was No. 246 in line.

So numerous were the applicants waiting outside that a snowball truck, a voter registration team and a woman selling snacks from her car showed up to take advantage of the opportunity.

Sign-up was supposed to run from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. But at about 11 a.m., officials told everyone to leave and come Thursday to Lake Area New Tech High School, where they promised more space, said Latoya Roberts, No. 646, who took off work to no avail.

By 12:30 p.m., staff weren't even giving out numbers anymore. Upstairs in the school, applicants were shuffled from room to room, sitting in folding chairs, while the OneApp team was serving only No. 121.

April Johnson, who arrived at 7:30 a.m., said when the officials gave out numbers they reported 300 people already inside the school.

Recovery School District Deputy Superintendent Dana Peterson confirmed that Wednesday afternoon. And 300 people was all the system was expecting, he said, based on past experience. But more than 800 showed up before noon, and there were only a Anger, frustration as hundreds of New Orleans parents turned away from public school enrollment center | NOLA.com:

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• Hundreds of New Orleans parents try again at summer enrollment center after Wednesday breakdown
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