Sunday, September 7, 2014

9-7-14 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):

DRAFT [Please email your support, allowing your name to be included, and any edits ASAP to paul.thomas@furman.edu] NCTE ...

DRAFT [Please email your support, allowing your name to be included, and any edits ASAP to paul.thomas@furman.edu] NCTE Resolution: Grade Retention as Flawed Education and Reading Policy Grade retention as a major element in education and reading policy has been adopted by at least 14 states, with 32+ states linking reading intervention to high-stakes testing (Rose, 2012). These policies ignore fo

4 by plthomasedd / 1h

The Answer Sheet: Does holding kids back a year help them academically? No. But schools still do it.

Does holding kids back a year help them academically? No. But schools still do it.

by plthomasedd / 1min

Cashing in on Journalism’s Neutral Pose

As I have highlighted several times about how often education journalism fails the democratic goals of both the free press and universal public education, this Tweet from Juana Summers at NPR represents the power of the neutral pose among journalists: @plthomasEdD I’m not sure it’s my place to say whether the study is credible, but we both note the significant criticism of the methods. — Juana Sum

11 by plthomasedd / 48min

9-6-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICALEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by Loadbang Concert & RecordingLoadbang Concert & Recording This will include music by my friend Peter Kay.1 by plthomasedd / 2h SEP 04Grade Retention ResearchGrade Retention Research Alexander, K.L., Entwisle, D.R., & Dauber, S.L. (1994). On the success of failure: A reassessment of the effect

1 by mike simpson / 8h

9-7-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

Education Week: A Sandy Hook Parent's Letter to Teachers

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/09/06/03marquezgreen.h33.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2Published in Print: September 18, 2013, as A Sandy Hook Parent's Letter to TeachersCOMMENTARYA Sandy Hook Parent's Letter to TeachersBy Nelba Marquez-GreenePrinter-FriendlyEmail ArticleReprintsCommentsAs another school year begins and old routines settle back into place, I wanted to share my story in honor of the

by Rene Diedrich / 1min hide // save

5 Characteristics Of Grit -- How Many Do You Have? - Forbes

"grit"—a measure of conscientiousness and perseverancehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/margaretperlis/2013/10/29/5-characteristics-of-grit-what-it-is-why-you-need-it-and-do-you-have-it/ 5 Characteristics Of Grit -- How Many Do You Have? Recently some close friends visited, both of whom have worked in education with adolescents for over 40 years. We were talking about students in general and

by Rene Diedrich / 5min

Lausd Board Member Steve Zimmer'S Excuses Are Inexcusable

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-deasy-20140904-story.html#page=1Zimmer on iPad Flap:The notion of the constantly ticking inequity clock" fueled the fervor of iPads for all, school board member Steve Zimmer said. "It's my job to balance that urgency with scrutiny. And never have I failed more at that balance."He must have really worked on that blurb, it is well cra

by Rene Diedrich / 3min

LA Times Receives Letters from the public that reflect acute awareness of LAUSD dysfunction and corruption

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0907-sunday-lausd-ipads-20140907-story.html LAUSD iPad fiasco a distraction from real issues To the editor: It is astonishing that it has taken this long for the "fervor and fury" over the Los Angeles Unified School District's iPad debacle to emerge. ("Supt. Deasy's early and avid support of iPads under intense scrutiny," Sept

by Rene Diedrich / 5:32 PM UTC-7

Supt. Deasy's early and avid support of iPads under intense scrutiny - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-deasy-20140904-story.html#page=2 Supt. Deasy's early and avid support of iPads under intense scrutiny The pitch came from a smiling man in a jacket and tie, sitting at his desk and rhapsodizing about the wonders one product could bring to the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District. The new item would lead to "huge leaps in what's poss

by Rene Diedrich / 0min hide // save

Zimmer's inexcusable excuses

by Rene Diedrich / 1min

Inside the Mammoth Backlash to Common Core | Mother Jones

Inside the Mammoth Backlash to Common Core How a bipartisan education reform effort became the biggest conservative bogeyman since Obamacare. —Tim Murphy | September/October 2014 Issue Illustration: Chris Buzelli ONE NIGHT LAST SEPTEMBER, a 46-year-old Veterans Administration research manager named Robert Small showed up at a public meeting with state education officials in Ellicott

by Rene Diedrich / 1h

Fwd: Twelve Theses on Education's Future in the Age of Neoliberalism and Terrorism

Twelve Theses on Education's Future in the Age of Neoliberalism and Terrorism Thursday, 04 September 2014 10:03 By Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Henry A. Giroux, Kenneth J. Saltman, and Sophia A. McClennen, Paradigm Publishers | Book Excerpt 101 font size Print Email (Image: Paradigm Publishers)This excerpt from the chapter titled, "Twelve Theses on Education's

by Rene Diedrich / 6h hide // save

LAUSD administration swells 20 percent from 2001 to 2007 - Topix

http://m.topix.com/forum/city/walnut-park-ca/TPJ6DS4FTAKHO93KS/p5

by Rene Diedrich / 8h

9-6-14 Hemlock on the Rocks (The Big Gulp)

Hemlock on the Rocks: LA Schools: Restoring The SUPER In Tendent by Sara Rooshttp://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories-hidden/7465-la-schools-restoring-the-super-in-tendent -When my home town built a new school in the early '70′s, a whole era vanished in concert with the disappearance of gilded letters proclaiming the "Superintendent's Office" within. I never did figure out what a "Su

2 by mike simpson / 8h

9-7-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

TFA 4.0 & Minority Teachers

Teach for America is nothing if not flexible.In the oft-told tale, TFA was a targeted response to a specific problem-- inner-city schools that could not find enough qualified staff to fill their teacher positions. TFA would create an American teacher version of the Peace Corps, making it cool to put in a couple of years in a classroom before heading on to your real job.In fact, TFA 2.0 came fairly

3 by Peter Greene / 2min

No, Education Post Is Not About Conversation

Twelve million dollars buys you a big splash. Many of us have launched blogs; very few of us have had heavy press coverage of the launch.When Anthony Cody, a nationally known education writer and activist left the nest at Education Week to launch Living in Dialogue, a website that features work from many of the top writers in education policy today, the Washington Post did not dispatch Lindsey Lay

9 by Peter Greene / 32min

9-6-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:Curmudgucation WeekEfficiency Report Is Only Mostly That BadThe edublogonewsphere buzzed a bit this week about a report from GEMS Education Solutions regarding educational efficiency and the fact that it finds the US somewhat lacking. It is, however, a large report, and some reporters made the mistake of skipping through to just the shiny, sexy parts. I'm not sure that the report ha

1 by mike simpson / 8h

NYC Educator: Opting for the Joys of Childhood

NYC Educator: Opting for the Joys of Childhood:

Opting for the Joys of Childhood

Think for a moment of your best elementary-school memories. Do they involve tests or prepping for tests? Or, were they the kind of moments that are being pushed aside to make room for the Core?

Think for another moment: How many academic failures did you experience in elementary school? Surely, we all must have failed at some things. But was your academic existence framed by failure? Did 2/3 of your class ever fail the year? If it had, what do you think parents might have said about the teacher? And, how many calls do you think the principal might have received to keep kids out of that class?

Common Core now teaches all our children. You can call the principal, but there's no way out of the class unless you can afford tuition at an elite institution like those to which many "reformers" choose to send their own children. Instead of easing students into higher standards, the Common Core academically slaughters. Students are the carnage. The good news is you can OPT OUT of NYC Educator: Opting for the Joys of Childhood:

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Video: Is Lafayette Parish Schools Selling a “Visual Strategy” or Common Core? | deutsch29

Video: Is Lafayette Parish Schools Selling a “Visual Strategy” or Common Core? | deutsch29:

Video: Is Lafayette Parish Schools Selling a “Visual Strategy” or Common Core?

September 6, 2014

Let’s examine a program known as Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). They’ve been around for a while. It is important to note that VTS predates test-driven education “reform,” both the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB):

VTS is a well-known program developed by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine more than twenty years ago, used in museums both locally and internationally, as well as in schools, colleges and universities. The founders of VTS incorporated Visual Understanding in Education as a non-profit organization in 1995 with a mission to broaden the use of VTS, deepen our research, and increase the understanding of Aesthetic Development.
Today, VTS is one of the most significant art education and critical thinking programs with a national presence. We are a small staff with an active national volunteer board, along with regional VTS boards which support teams of trainers and consultants through out the country and the world.

VTS is looking to establish itself in the K12 classroom, and these days, VTS has found it useful to advertise that “VTS fits into the Common Core Standards puzzle.”

One school system that is posting a video ad for VTS is in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Watch Lafayette Parish teachers and admin in this four-and-a-half-minute VTS promo:

Lafayette Parish Schools is all for CCSS.

In their video promo for VTS, Lafayette teachers and administration pitch for VTS. They note that it helps students who are not good at reading and writing. They note that VTS works because test scores are high.

But I am confused.

First, if VTS predates CCSS and VTS raises test scores, why do we need CCSS?

Second, if the benefit of VTS is that it helps students who are not as good at reading and writing, how is it that these “not so good readers and writers” are producing high test scores?

Third, if CCSS is only now being fully implemented in classrooms nationwide and Louisiana has not even taken any supposedly-fully-aligned CCSS assessments, how is it that VTS is so surely raising scores on tests that are certainly connected to CCSS?

Fourth, what magic will VTS work in the light of highly-likely, ever-shifting,capriciously-Video: Is Lafayette Parish Schools Selling a “Visual Strategy” or Common Core? | deutsch29:

The Courage of Their Convictions by teacherken

The Courage of Their Convictions:

is the title of this book by Peter Irons.

One of those featured in the book was a woman who as a girl - along with her brother - refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They were both Jehovah's Witnesses. They were both expelled, and the Supreme Court, in 1940, upheld their expulsion in Minersville v Gobitis by an 8-1 vote, the sole dissent by Harlan Fisk Stone.

Three years later a somewhat different court ruled 6-3 in favor of another Jehovah;s Witness in West Virginia v Barnette, by a court whose chief Justice was Harlan Fisk Stone. That decision is why to this day in theory students cannot be compelled to participate in the Pledge ceremony - even requiring them to stand is a violation of what Robert Jackson laid down in his opinion.

The relevance of this is again upon us, and we are reminded when we read Lillian Gobitas Klose, 90, Dies; Stood Against Mandatory Pledgeamong the obituaries in The New York Times.

As we read in the obituary,

Lillian Gobitas’s family belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and heeded a leader’s call to refuse to recite the pledge in compliance with biblical commands against idolatry. On Oct. 22, 1935, Lillian’s brother William Gobitas, a fifth grader, refused to say the pledge at his public school in Minersville, Pa. The next day, Lillian did the same thing. The town school board responded by passing a resolution calling refusal to recite the pledge an act of insubordination. It then expelled the Gobitas children.

Please keep reading.

For 12-year-old Lillian, the sting from her act of conscience — which she said was entirely

Krugman on "The Medicare Miracle"

... a funny thing has happened: Health spending has slowed sharply, and it’s already well below projections made just a few years ago. The falloff has been especially pronounced in Medicare, which is spending $1,000 less per beneficiary than the Congressional Budget Office projected just four years ago. That is one key paragraph from this Paul Krugman column in Monday's New York Times. As is ofte

18 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 6d

Ferguson - it is really about WHITE rage

White rage recurs in American history. It exploded after the Civil War, erupted again to undermine the Supreme Court’sBrown v. Board of Education decision and took on its latest incarnation with Barack Obama’s ascent to the White House. For every action of African American advancement, there’s a reaction, a backlash. That is a key quote from Ferguson isn’t about black rage against cops. It’s white

14 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 6d

AUG 30

Kristof: "When Whites Just Don’t Get It"

The net worth of the average black household in the United States is $6,314, compared with $110,500 for the average white household, according to 2011 census data. The gap has worsened in the last decade, and the United States now has a greater wealth gap by race than South Africa did during apartheid. (Whites in America on average own almost 18 times as much as blacks; in South Africa in 1970, th

100+ by rss@dailykos.com ... / 7d hide // save

Yet again a Saturday morning teaching reflection

Students began classes on Wednesday, so I am getting back into the rhythm that has been so much of a part of my life for the past two decades or so. And is my wont I take some time on a Saturday morning before returning to the tasks associated with being a high school social studies teacher to reflect upon my teaching life. There have always been at least a few people here who are interested in

6 by rss@dailykos.com ... / 7d

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