Big Education Ape: Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/26/15 #‎NPEChicago‬

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/26/15

Special Nite Cap 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Tester pushes overhaul of No Child Left Behind testing policy | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana

Tester pushes overhaul of No Child Left Behind testing policy | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana:TESTER PUSHES OVERHAUL OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND TESTING POLICY(U.S. Senate) - After hearing directly from Montanans that annual federal testing is robbing students of a high-quality education, Senator Jon Tester is pushing Congress to let teachers teach and let students learn.Tester, a former publi

1 by mike simpson / 1h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy:Urgent Action Needed on Student Data PrivacyI am a member of the Network for Public Education, a group started by elder education statesperson, Diane Ravitch.  One of our members sent this message today; I ask you to consider helping with input to elected officials on an issue around student data privacy for higher educa

3 by mike simpson / 1h 

Diane Ravitch in conversation with NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García and AFT’s Randi Weingarten at the Network of Public Education annual conference

Diane Ravitch in conversation with NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García and AFT’s Randi Weingarten at the Network of Public Education annual conference at the Drake Hotel.

3 by mike simpson / 2h 

The Surprising Mr. Smith: Former Oakland Schools Supe To Tackle a New Challenge | California Magazine

The Surprising Mr. Smith: Former Oakland Schools Supe To Tackle a New Challenge | California Magazine: The Surprising Mr. Smith: Former Oakland Schools Supe To Tackle a New ChallengeUpdate: On May 1, 2015, Tony Smith will become Illinois’ state superintendent of schools, due chiefly to the support of a Republican governor who insists the school system needs a “transformational” leader. The hire is

3 by mike simpson / 2h 

Lewis supports national teachers strike | Chicago

Lewis supports national teachers strike | Chicago: Lewis supports national teachers strikeChicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis and Diane Ravitch, president of the Network for Public Education. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said Sunday that she would support a national teachers strike.“I do. But I don’t want to organize it,” she said with a laugh while

33 by mike simpson / 2h 

Same Script, Different Scandal | Matt Farmer

Same Script, Different Scandal | Matt Farmer: Same Script, Different ScandalA tenacious journalist does some digging and uncovers highly suspect -- perhaps criminal -- conduct by a top CPS/Chicago Board of Education official.Board members are unable to cobble together any explanation for the conduct that will pass the straight-face test, despite having a team of well-paid communications specialist

1 by mike simpson / 2h 

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Accuses Unions Of Manipulating Elections

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Accuses Unions Of Manipulating Elections: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Accuses Unions Of Manipulating ElectionsCHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner Saturday accused lawmakers who accept campaign contributions from public employee unions of engaging in a “conflict of interest,” railing against the influence of organized labor in determining state workers’ salaries and bene

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

National experiment in school choice, market solutions produces inequity | Get Schooled

Opinion: National experiment in school choice, market solutions produces inequity | Get Schooled: National experiment in school choice, market solutions produces inequityAn educational researcher once expressed skepticism to me that successful practices at one school could influence what occurs at a school down the road. The problem, he told me, is that education tends to be insular and best pract

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

dmaxmj | Life, education, and politics, not necessarily in that order.

dmaxmj | Life, education, and politics, not necessarily in that order.: A lobbyist for studentsAt the end of this intro is a rewrite, edited down in the neighborhood of a couple hundred words, of this original post. This shorter version appeared in the Cortland Standard on April 24th (page 6). Most important to me is that news media of all formats step up and begin to acknowledge that the “opt out

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

Yes, To Be Clear, I Am Anti-Testing, Anti-Grading | the becoming radical

Yes, To Be Clear, I Am Anti-Testing, Anti-Grading | the becoming radical:YES, TO BE CLEAR, I AM ANTI-TESTING, ANTI-GRADINGSince the early to mid-1990s, I have actively practiced and preached de-testing and de-grading as an educator.So, to be clear and not as some ploy to be provocative or to slip into hyperbole, I am solidly anti-testing as well as anti-grading.That stance is based on a very simpl

1 by mike simpson / 4h 

How Sweet It IS…to be Phalen Leadership Academy | gaylecosby

How Sweet It IS…to be Phalen Leadership Academy | gaylecosby: How Sweet It IS…to be Phalen Leadership Academy 2015-4-28 IPS_PLA_1321 AgreementI just had to make you all aware of the sweetest deal in the history of sweet deals.  Next week IPS will be briefed (Tuesday night at 6pm) and vote (Thursday night at 6pm) on a contract with Phalen Academy to take over the operations of school 103, on Indy’s

1 by mike simpson / 5h 

Thanks to Vincent Precht I got to Watch The NPE Conference Live and It was A Gas!

Thank You Vincent PrechtI am a teacher, writer, filmmaker and live streamer. I have produced live stream events for United Opt Out featuring addresses by Diane Ravitch and Karen Lewis and am making a documentary, which includes interviews with Noam Chomsky, Jesse Hagopian and many others. Published in the New York Times, Seattle Review, TriQuarterly and elsewhere, I have written award winning shor

7 by mike simpson / 5h 

Land Shark Alert: 'Odd couple' battles it out for senate seat - ContraCostaTimes.com

'Odd couple' battles it out for senate seat - ContraCostaTimes.com: 'Odd couple' battles it out for senate seat WALNUT CREEK -- It's hardly your typical political matchup -- pitting a missionary's daughter backed by Planned Parenthood and nearly every major Democratic lawmaker against a close confidant of Gov. Jerry Brown, who is counting on independents and Republicans to carry him to Sacramento.

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

Martin R. Castro, civil rights chairman, criticizes school districts not enrolling undocumented kids - Newsday

Martin R. Castro, civil rights chairman, criticizes school districts not enrolling undocumented kids - Newsday: Civil Rights Commission Chairman Martin R. Castro criticizes schools not enrolling undocumented childrenMartin R. Castro, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in an undated photograph. Photo Credit: U.S. Commission on Civil RightsCHICAGO - A top federal civil rights official

by mike simpson / 6h 

How school reform stacks up against Grade 5 Common Core test standards. (Hint: not well.) - The Washington Post

How school reform stacks up against Grade 5 Common Core test standards. (Hint: not well.) - The Washington Post: How school reform stacks up against Grade 5 Common Core test standards. (Hint: not well.)Scott Levy is a parent of children with attend New York state public schools. From February 2014 through February 2015, he was a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, d

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

Opinion: Why competitive model fails schools. No one should lose in education. | Get Schooled

Opinion: Why competitive model fails schools. No one should lose in education. | Get Schooled: Why competitive model fails schools. No one should lose in education.An academic essay by two education researchers published on this blog sparked discussion around the country and promoted strong responses, two of which I shared.The authors of the piece comparing the school privatization program in Chil

1 by mike simpson / 6h 

“What Would You Do?” | educarenow

“What Would You Do?” | educarenow: “What Would You Do?”Posted on April 26, 2015 | 1 CommentIt’s not unusual for me to get push back from friends and others that goes something like this. “You give lots of criticism, and no answers.  What would you do?”I hate it when that happens.  For a number of reasons.One reason is that what these questioners are really asking is, “What is the solution that you

1 by mike simpson / 7h 

STARTING NOW! Closing Keynote and Call to Action Chicago’s Very Own Karen Lewis #‎NPEChicago

Big Education Ape: Schoolhouse Live NPE 1 THE NETWORK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE #‎NPEChicago: Karen Lewis The Queen of SoulWatch live streaming video from schoolhouselive at livestream.comI am a teacher, writer, filmmaker and live streamer. I have produced live stream events for United Opt Out featuring addresses by Diane Ravitch and Karen Lewis and am making a documentary, which in

16 by mike simpson / 7h 

Alex Caputo Pearl speaks to LAUSD Board June 24, 2014

Published on Jun 24, 2014Labor Partners Update: UTLA President-elect Alex Caputo Pearl calls on LAUSD Board for follow through on restorative justice, class size reduction and teacher salary restoration. "We're losing great teachers." "Making sure we recruit and retain educators is not just about salary, it's also about respect." "We've got to do something about the housed

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Jersey Jazzman: More Bad Reformy Testing Metaphors

Jersey Jazzman: More Bad Reformy Testing Metaphors: More Bad Reformy Testing Metaphors We've got a twofer this morning from the reliably reformy Star-Ledger editorial board [all emphases  in this post are mine].There are many reasons why PARCC boycotts are a big mistake. The exam is like an MRI for education. It can tell us where kids are failing and help diagnose the problem, even when it's hidde

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Rolling teachers’ strike in Washington State | Seattle Education #NPECHICAGO

Rolling teachers’ strike in Washington State | Seattle Education: Rolling teachers’ strike in Washington StateTeachers on the steps at the Capital Building in Olympia, WA on April 25, 2015Seattle Teacher Jesse Hagopian Explains That Proposed State Budget Would Benefit Neither Teachers Nor StudentsAlso see This just in: The Seattle Education Association membership representatives voted to support a

1 by mike simpson / 8h 

Something's Wrong With Both Standardized Tests And The 'Opt-Out' Movement - Forbes

Something's Wrong With Both Standardized Tests And The 'Opt-Out' Movement - Forbes: Something's Wrong With Both Standardized Tests And The 'Opt-Out' Movement All of these reports about the “opt-out movement”—where parents choose not to have their children take the federally mandated standardized tests—are a bit disturbing. The debate seems to have spiraled out of control. We all seem caught in a p

1 by mike simpson / 10h 

SUNDAY, APRIL 26 NPE 2015 Annual Conference Schoolhouse Live Schedule All 3 Channels

Schoolhouse Live: LIVE FROM CHICAGO SUNDAY, APRIL 26SCHEDULE: SUNDAY, APRIL 26 (Central Time) For more information visit The Network for Public Education9:00-NPE 1: Schools of Opportunity                NPE 2: How to Have Conversations with Teach for America Supporters         NPE 3: Knocking Down the Barriers Together: College Access for All10:25-NPE 1: Diane Ravitch, in Conversation with AFT's R

by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

False threats feed opt-out movement

Idle threats feed New York opt-out movement: False threats feed opt-out movementTest prep costs more than any lost aid from low testing numbers An April 13 poll asked parents, "Will you still opt your child out of state tests, even if it includes consequences such as increased oversight or loss of state aid?"The misleading question signaled that there are fiscal consequences for schools.

1 by mike simpson / 23h 

The Impact of Poverty, Race on Educational Opportunity: materials | #‎NPEChicago

The Impact of Poverty, Race on Educational Opportunity: materials | Parents Across America: The Impact of Poverty, Race on Educational Opportunity: materialsOn Sunday, April 26, PAA presented a comprehensive workshop on “The Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity” at the Network for Public Education conference. In addition to our power point presentation, we shared pr

1 by mike simpson / 23h 

The Opt Out End Game - Lily's Blackboard

The Opt Out End Game - Lily's Blackboard:The Opt Out End GameApril 25, 2015 by LilyCategories: Education, School Reform, TestingTags: opt out, TestingI’ve got a friend in New York who wants me to call on every parent in America to Opt Out of state mandated standardized tests which are, of course, the mother’s milk of the No Child Left Untested federal testing feeding frenzy.The links in the chain

3 by mike simpson / 23h 

Big Education Ape: Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 4/25/15 #‎NPEChicago‬

Special Nite Cap - Catch Up on Today's Post 4/25/15Special Nite Cap CORPORATE ED REFORMNot everyone made it to Chicago this weekend -- but you can still be part of the action via the Livestream that will broadcast on as many as three channels. All the keynotes and many of the workshops will be available live, starting Sunday at 9:00 am central time at   www.schoolhouselive.org Please tweet with th

7 by mike simpson / 23h 

Thanks to Vincent Precht I got to Watch The NPE Conference Live and It was A Gas! #‎NPEChicago

Thank You Vincent Precht

I am a teacher, writer, filmmaker and live streamer. I have produced live stream events for United Opt Out featuring addresses by Diane Ravitch and Karen Lewis and am making a documentary, which includes interviews with Noam Chomsky, Jesse Hagopian and many others. Published in the New York Times, Seattle Review, TriQuarterly and elsewhere, I have written award winning short stories. I have been a public school teacher for 29 years. The biggest moments of my life were having a son and 40 years earlier meeting the Beatles.

Vincent Precht http://bit.ly/1GwPEPv
schoolhouselive.org

Vincent Precht http://bit.ly/1GwPEPv

schoolhouselive.org

CURMUDGUCATION: The Resistance Meets on Weekends

CURMUDGUCATION: The Resistance Meets on Weekends:

The Resistance Meets on Weekends

 There is a great deal to try to absorb about this weekend's meeting if the Network for Public Education, and my brain is a little stretched as it is.


Some of it will take time, because the Drake Hotel is beautiful, but its hamster-driven wi-fi system and my not-exactly-cutting edge tech are not getting along well at all. In some ways I did better at following last year's conference from home. I am also a little gobsmacked by the number of people who know me. I knew that a number of people read some of what I put up, but I'm not sure how many people really, really read me. It's both amazing and humbling.

I have met so many of my own blogging heroes and I could use another couple of days to track down and talk some more (I still haven't got exchange more than a couple of words with the extraordinary Mercedes Schneider.) 

But time is limited, and my exceptionally wonderful wife and will have to jet out of here right after I do my own song and dance later.

Because the resistance meets on weekends.

It is extraordinary and heartening to see and hear and meet all these folks from all across the country and so many different settings. It is also extraordinary that all of these voices for public education have actual jobs. Other jobs. 

The reformsters have, collectively, a massive, hugely well-funded full time staff. The guys at the think tanks don't have to do their position papers later in the evening after they grade those third period assignments. The lobbyists for the corporations don't have to squeeze visits to legislators into their lunch hours. Even folks like the bureaucrats at the USED or the people in some state education offices, the people who should be working for public education, aren't-- too many of them are devoting their professional lives to dismantling it.

The reformsters work at it every day. That's what they do, full time, often for pretty good pay (which means they can also do it untroubled by thoughts about how to pay for braces and college loans). 

But the teachers and parents and even students who work to preserve and protect America's awesome public education system for the most part already have a full time job. They aren't paid to do this. They aren't paid to blog, organize, speak up, write letters, make phone calls. They all do it in addition to their regular work. 

And so the resistance meets on weekends.

Not since a bunch of colonial farmers picked up their squirrel guns to fight one of the biggest professional armies in the world CURMUDGUCATION: The Resistance Meets on Weekends:

Tester pushes overhaul of No Child Left Behind testing policy | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana

Tester pushes overhaul of No Child Left Behind testing policy | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana:

TESTER PUSHES OVERHAUL OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND TESTING POLICY

(U.S. Senate) - After hearing directly from Montanans that annual federal testing is robbing students of a high-quality education, Senator Jon Tester is pushing Congress to let teachers teach and let students learn.

Tester, a former public school teacher, today introduced a bill to remove the annual testing requirement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and replace it with fewer federal tests.

NCLB, which went into effect in 2002, requires yearly Language Arts and Math testing of public school students in grades three through eight, and once in high school. Before NCLB, schools were required to test once in elementary, middle and high school.

Tester argued that annual federal testing eats up valuable classroom time and requires teachers to ‘teach to the test,' instead of tailoring their lesson plans to the individual needs of their students.

"Students shouldn't be spending most of their time in school filling out bubbles, Tester said. "That's not the kind of education that fosters critical thinking or creativity. Students shouldn't be learning for the test, they should be learning for life."

The need to adopt grade span testing was brought to Tester's attention by Missoula Education Association President and teacher Melanie Charlson.

"As a 25-year veteran educator who taught prior and post NCLB, I find Senator Tester's bill a welcome relief to the senseless Test Stress classroom educators and students have endured for 15 years," Charlson said. "The instructional time lost to expensive, mandatory tests is shameful. Returning to grade span testing is a reasonable solution. Time to actually teach to each students needs will be allowed. I applaud Senator Tester for his action in correcting the NCLB debacle."

Tester's bill comes as Congress prepares to debate reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and is supported by School Administrators of Montana (SAM) and the National Education Association (NEA).

"SAM believes that any mandated programs of testing must be fully funded and include fully funded research-based intervention programs that help students reach benchmarks," said SAM executive director Kirk Miller. "With that, SAM supports Senator Tester's bill for grade band testing using student growth over a period of time to be measured and returning the use of the testing data to local school districts for improving instruction and raising student achievement."

"We commend Sen. Tester for stepping up and speaking out for kids with the introduction of this very important legislation," NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said. "The Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act recognizes the growing problem with too much testing and proactively putting forward a commonsense proposal that would again allow educators to inspire students and their natural curiosity, imagination, and desire to learn."

Tester's Student Testing Improvement and Accountability Act is available online HERE. Tester pushes overhaul of No Child Left Behind testing policy | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana: 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy:

Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy

I am a member of the Network for Public Education, a group started by elder education statesperson, Diane Ravitch.  One of our members sent this message today; I ask you to consider helping with input to elected officials on an issue around student data privacy for higher education.

What we are asking for is an e-mail to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee.  The deadline was last Friday but it has been extended to the end of the day (EST) tomorrow, Monday the 27th.  Sample e-mail at the end of this thread. Send them to consumerinformation@help.senate.gov 

Synopsis:

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee published three "white papers" on March 23, and solicited comments by April 24 in anticipation of a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

One of the white papers dealt with the question of consumer information and data collection. A coalition of 27 "data advocacy" groups jointly responded to the paper by calling on Congress to lift the "unit record" ban, a move that would allow the federal government to capture, permanently store, mine, and possibly distribute the education records of every student attending a college or university receiving federal funding (regardless of whether the student received funding or not).

Connecting "human capital" data--long a dream of social engineers who approach education as a planning activity--would require a national "unit record" system which would collect and warehouse all education records from all colleges and link individual student records to post-attendance wages, unemployment system, military service, court records, incarceration records, etc. 

If you followed the inBloom story, you know that the Gates Foundation has been a major proponent of developing a unit-record system in higher ed, and has acted through multiple grantees, most notably the Data Quality Campaign, to push for its adoption. 

The idea of a federal unit-record system was first raised more than a decade ago, only to be affirmatively rejected by Congress, which in 2008 imposed a permanent ban on the construction or maintenance of such a system by the Department of Education. 

Unfortunately, the same legislation that banned a federal unit-record system authorized the states to create their own "State Longitudinal Data Systems" (SLDS), provided that they comply with FERPA (an impossibility at the time, since FERPA did not accommodate the disclosures involved). In January 2009,  the stimulus bill dumped $500 million into the lap of governors who were interested in building SLDS (46 were) and in November of that year the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund regs declared that FERPA regs Seattle Schools Community Forum: Urgent Action Needed on Student Data Privacy:

Diane Ravitch in conversation with NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García and AFT’s Randi Weingarten at the Network of Public Education annual conference

Diane Ravitch in conversation with NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García and AFT’s Randi Weingarten at the Network of Public Education annual conference at the Drake Hotel.