Common Core Phrase: Teachers are ‘Guides on the Side’. Can Jibo Perform that Function? | Missouri Education Watchdog

Common Core Phrase: Teachers are ‘Guides on the Side’. Can Jibo Perform that Function? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Common Core Phrase: Teachers are ‘Guides on the Side’. Can Jibo Perform that Function?

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Common Core State Standards Initiative is dependent on technology for teaching material, assessing the material and then gathering the data from the assessments into state databases which then can be accessed by various federal agencies and private third parties.  The insistence from the CCSS supporters that schools can still ‘choose their curriculum’ is hollow.  The curriculum will need to align so that the data can be compared from state to state.  If the curriculum doesn’t align, then how can the results from the assessments be valid for state by state comparison?

What would make this transition to ‘sameness’ easier?  Teachers have been taught different teaching strategies via CCSS and are now considered ‘guides on the side’.  They don’t write their own assessments and must teach to the script as their evaluations are tied to the assessment scores of their students.  Many veteran teachers are commenting teaching is no longer a profession.  They might be right.  If you are a ‘guide on the side’ then why not use a robot in the classroom that could perform the functions of following scripted lessons?  If direct instruction is passe and the students are leading their learning process, traditional teachers are not needed to impart knowledge and a cheaper robot might just fit the bill.

Let’s meet Jibo, “The World’s First Family’s Robot:Common Core Phrase: Teachers are ‘Guides on the Side’. Can Jibo Perform that Function? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

7-21-14 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):

JUST IN: LAUSD adding two years to contract offer to teachers union

JUST IN: LAUSD adding two years to contract offer to teachers union From left: Vivian Ekchian, Betty Forrester In a new contract proposal to the teachers union, UTLA, LA Unified is offering a three-year package with annual raises of at least 2 percent and a plan to re-hire 3,000 teachers who have been laid off in recent years. The latest offer adds two years to the length of the contract initially

4 by Vanessa Romo / 1h 

Opinion: Teachers unions oppose change — why?

Opinion: Teachers unions oppose change — why? Via Wall Street Journal | By Antonio Villaraigosa President John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” This message has apparently been lost on some people in our teachers unions who used their recent national conventions in Los Angeles and Denver to argue against de

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Johnson campaign goes negative, citing the ‘myth’ of McKenna

Johnson campaign goes negative, citing the ‘myth’ of McKenna Alex Johnson has gone negative. In two recent mailings (here and here) to “most likely” voters in LA Unified’s District 1, the Johnson campaign is questioning George McKenna‘s accomplishments as the two candidates seek the open school board seat. “We always knew that at some point, our campaign has to address to the myth of George McKenn

4 by Michael Janofsky / 34min 

LA Unified offers shots to stall rise of whooping cough

LA Unified offers shots to stall rise of whooping cough In response to a surge in cases of whooping cough, LA Unified is helping parents meet new state immunization requirements by offering immunization shots, beginning July 28. The T-dap shots protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or whooping cough. Eligible students are Medi-Cal recipients, Native Americans and those without insuran

3 by Yana Gracile / 1h 

Morning Read: POTUS gains support for minority education

Morning Read: POTUS gains support for minority education Obama to report widening of initiative for black and Latino boys President Obama will announce on Monday that 60 of the nation’s largest school districts are joining his initiative to improve the educational futures of young African-American and Hispanic boys, beginning in preschool and extending through high school graduation. NY Times Bey

11min 

7-19-14 This Week in 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):PAC spending for Johnson gives him $200,000 advantagePAC spending for Johnson gives him $200,000 advantage As the week comes to a close, Alex Johnson has expanded his overall lead in financial support over George McKenna in their quest to win election as the new District 1 board member in LA Unified, accor

by mike simpson / 30min 

7-21-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

PTA Releases Fourteen Videos To Explain Common Core To Parents

Learning First shared that the National PTA has released fourteen videos explaining Common Core to parents. You can find them all here. I’m adding this info to The Best Resources For Talking To Parents About The Common Core Standards. Here’s one of them:

3 by Larry Ferlazzo / 42min 

“Want More Kids to Graduate? Report Suggests Starting with Mom and Dad”

Want More Kids to Graduate? Report Suggests Starting with Mom and Dad is the headline of a post over at Education Week. Here are a some excerpts: A new report released today by the Foundation for Child Development and CLASP, a Washington think tank, finds that although parents’ education has a huge effect on their children’s future health and educational attainment, there are very few programs foc

2 by Larry Ferlazzo / 5min 

7-20-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": Odd Question: Are Parents “Assets Or Liabilities”?John Merrow, who produces education-related segments for the PBS News Hour, recently published a post about parent engagement titled Assets or Liabilities? Though certainly there are teachers who are not very positive about working with parents, my suspicion is that they are

by mike simpson / 33min 

7-21-14 The Whole Child Blog — What Advice Do You Have for New Principals?

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:

What Advice Do You Have for New Principals?

As the key players in developing the climate, culture, and processes in their schools, principals are critical to implementing meaningful and lasting change in the ongoing school-improvement process. Those who have a clear vision; inspire and engage others in embracing change for improvement; drive, facilitate, and monitor the teaching and learning process; and foster a cohesive culture of learnin

by Klea Scharberg / 22min 

7-19-14 THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog How Do We Build Systems for All Learners?All the talk of closing the achievement gap in schools obscures a more fundamental issue: do the grades we assign to students truly reflect the extent of their learning? In a new ASCD book, Grading Smarter, Not Harder, Myron Dueck reveals how many of the assessment policies t

by mike simpson / 2d 

Conservative advocacy group pushes for charter funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Conservative advocacy group pushes for charter funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

Conservative advocacy group pushes for charter funding

by Alisha Kirby

Model legislation aimed at improving the budgets of charter schools was released earlier this month by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which brings state lawmakers together with business groups from across the country to discuss and actually develop policy proposals that could be taken back to individual state houses and presented formally.

“We support vouchers, school scholarship programs, virtual learning, blended learning, course choice and educational savings accounts – anything that drops under the umbrella of school choice, we promote as an organization – including charter schools,” said Lindsay Russell, director of the group’s Education Task Force.

Even in states like California, where charters are heavily supported by Gov. Jerry Brown, funding disparities between them and traditional public schools can be significant.

In fact, charter schools received an average of $395 less per student than traditional public schools in 2011, according to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Included in ALEC’s draft model legislation are three options for how states should distribute funding to charters, be it through school districts, through a charter’s authorizer or directly to each school. Every option calls for charter schools to receive the same per-student funding provided to traditional schools, and for payments to be made in equal installments on a monthly basis.

Each option also requires funding for first-year public charters to be paid based on estimated Conservative advocacy group pushes for charter funding :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

7-21-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Five Ways to Tell Whether the Charter School Near You Sucks

With A Brooklyn Accent:

Five Ways to Tell Whether the Charter School Near You Sucks

There are some excellent charter schools in NY and around the nation. I am not attacking them. However, all too many charter schools have the following characteristics1. Over paid "CEO's" who take pride in their dictatorial management style.2. Terrorized teacher temps who have no union protection 3. Student disciplinary policies which draw heavily upon shame and humiliation4, Systematic

5 by Mark Naison / 50min 

7-20-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Love Letters to the BATS

With A Brooklyn Accent: New York Now Leads the Way in the Movement Against Common Core- At The Polls  Something truly extraordinary has happened in the New York State Gubernatorial race-something with broad national implications.  A big money Democratic Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who thought he was going to make himself a front runner in the 2016 Presidential Race by ramming through legislation requi

by mike simpson / 1d

7-21-14 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.:

Breaking (1:35 EDT). New London, Connecticut board cancels meeting where they were going to hire the phony Chicago “Dr.” Carter.

New London – The Board of Education has canceled its meeting previously scheduled for tonight, the school district announced. The board was expected to vote on a contract for Terrence P. Carter, the candidate chosen to be the city’s next superintendent of schools. The meeting was canceled “in order to provide Board of Education members with the opportunity to fully clarify and consider recent stat

by Fred Klonsky / 6min 

Ten minute drawing. CPS central office. Is there a real doctor in the house?

by Fred Klonsky / 6min 

Jonathan Pelto. The phony doctor and Connecticut Governor Malloy.

Terrence P. Carter. No doctor. - Jonathan Pelto is running for Governor of Connecticut. Proving that there is apparently no bounds to the arrogance and sense of entitlement displayed by Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and his administration, the Day newspaper of New London is reporting that, “The [New London] Board of Education will go forward with its scheduled vote tonight on the contract for newl

by Fred Klonsky / 22min 

George Schmidt. Here a doctor. There a doctor.

- George Schmidt is a retired Chicago public school teacher and publishes Substance. Here a doctor… there a doctor…. everywhere a doctor DOCTOR… Not to be missed is that “Doctor” Carter’s CPS experience was mostly as a “team leader” for AUSL. In one of the AUSL applications for state funding, they note that Carter was helping at their version of Collins High School, where he was supposedly spendi

by Fred Klonsky / 0min 

Chicago politics. Magical thinking, perfect storms and bean bag.

All weekend I have been asked the same question. “Is Karen going to run?” I consider Karen a friend. But let us be clear. I am not on her exploratory committee, an insider or political confidant. I don’t like sitting in on strategy meetings. I’m great at knocking on doors. But my answer to those who asked was YES. Because I hope she does and believe she will. The cynics in the press either ignore

by Fred Klonsky / 0min hide  //  save

Call me Dr. Klonsky, if you please.

What is it with Chicago and Connecticut? Why do we keeping sending them mopes? First we send them Paul Vallas. Now we’ve sent them Terrence P. Carter. Carter went to Hartford after spending time in Chicago where he served as director and chief academic officer of the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) , a key part of CPS failed turnaround strategy. Carter was director and chief academic o

2 by Fred Klonsky / 34min 

7-20-14 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.: Happy birthday Karen Jennings Lewis!Sunday reads.Happy birthday Karen Jennings Lewis! Charles Schwab — A core member of the ‘charter cabal’. The Joe Berrios crime family. In case you forgot, Joe is Chairman of the Chicago Democratic Party. Teacher disciplined because her students’ scores are too high.

by mike simpson / 1d 

Cartoons of Kids in School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Cartoons of Kids in School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Cartoons of Kids in School

Yep, here’s another edition of monthly cartoons. The following cartoons of kids in school (and at home) have tickled me and I wanted to share them with readers. Enjoy!

Cartoons of Kids in School | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

No Water, But Lots of Tests | educarenow

No Water, But Lots of Tests | educarenow:

No Water, But Lots of Tests

Posted on July 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

I was recently at a social event when I mentioned to an educator friend that I was off to protest the Detroit water shut offs the following day.  I also added that every educator should be there.

She paused and looked at me, and then asked, “Give me the nutshell explanation that connects water shut offs to educational issues.”

Without the nutshell part, here goes…

Some Context- Detroit Today

As a city on the forefront of what David Blacker calls the  “neoliberal endgame,”  Detroit is a fascinating, if tragic study.  Detroit is under the rule of an Emergency Management.  The laws allowing for the emergency manager werepromoted by ALEC legislation (sound familiar educators?) and have disenfranchised the voters of Detroit in favor of a ruler, Kevyn Orr, who has virtually no accountability in our so-called democracy.  Upon acquiring this office, Orr almost immediately led Detroit into bankruptcy.

At the same time, Detroit Public Schools have been under Emergency Management since 2009.  Clearly, this experiment isn’t working in Detroit.  As quoted in Eclectablog:

“What the Detroit schools situation shows is that the problems in Detroit aren’t simply financial and they aren’t simply a matter of poor management. WithouNo Water, But Lots of Tests | educarenow: