Big Education Ape

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Top Posts This Week 11/24/18 #REDFORED

Top Posts This Week 11/24/18

Posts This Week 11/24/18

TODAY

Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

by mike simpson / 7min

Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization Let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah Think of all that we could sha-are Let’s get together everyday Every way and everywhere And though we haven’t got a lot We could be sharin’ all we’ve got Together ~Haley Mills, From Walt Disney’s The Parent Tra

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land

by mike simpson / 26min

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model There’s a revealing little clip in ‘Waiting for Superman’ —the feel-bad documentary that was designed to damn public education before revealing and promoting its amazing new successor, charter schools . WFS was loaded with such car

WALMART GREED KNOW NO LIMITS: This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State

by mike simpson / 1h

This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State If your reaction was “Wow, Walmart controls A LOT of the country,” you’d be right. This map shows the largest private employer in every state in the U.S., and Walmart is tops in an incredible 22 states. In total, the company employs 1.5 million Americans. Here’s a full state-by-state list for you

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO

by mike simpson / 1h

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos For two years, Democrats watched with fury as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dismantle nearly every significant Obama administration education policy. Now, they’re gearing up to fight back. Lots of them. As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a

Mitchell Robinson: Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog

by mike simpson / 2h

Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog Let’s talk about Teach for America… I think we need to start being very intentional with the language we use when referring to organizations like Teach for America (TfA) and the persons who decide to join them–and having made some of the mistakes I’m about to point out myself, I’m taking the liberty of making the following suggestions: • There are

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 2h

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary The rejection letter was harsh. Page after page, an accrediting agency ticked off all the problems at Virginia College, a large chain of for-profit schools with dwindling enrollment. There would be no seal of approval, the accredit

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson

by mike simpson / 3h

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson I PUT IN WORK AND IT’S ALL FOR THE KIDS [AN NCTE REFLECTION] Just before I got home, I turn on DMX’s “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” because it matches the BPM I need to make it through the length of JFK International Airport corridors. As I get off the umpteenth moving sidewalk, DMX rapped : “I’ve been doing this for 19 years.

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 3h

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization Jeff Bryant reviews the victories for public education in the last elections. The big victories were the overwhelming defeat of voucher legislation in Arizona and the Tony Thurmond’s election over the charter lobby’s candidate Marshal

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by mike simpson / 4h

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom I was [in] a classroom yesterday and all of the kids had Chrome Books. They opened them midway through the class to read a few excerpts the teacher had selected. After the class, the teacher told me that he has a monitor at his desk

YESTERDAY

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

by mike simpson / 1d

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education What can I do to help you? These words are hugely powerful and tragically underused at every level of the education world. In the classroom, teachers have been taught since the dawn of time that they should be clear about their expectations. This is excellent practice; let the student know exactl

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 1d

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations The Sacklers of Connecticut are one of the richest families in America. Forbes recently put their collective wealth at $14 billion. That money was created by Purdue Pharma, which cre

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue

by mike simpson / 1d

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis The theme of my previous post on the 2018 Network for Public Education conference was: How Was I Wrong? Let Me Count Some Ways. As I explained, the 2014 NPE conference in Austin hit a nice balance in terms of messaging and res

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice

by mike simpson / 1d

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them Many individuals, groups, newspapers, and organizations claim that they oppose charter schools. But, revealing ongoing confusion, they also say, often in the same breath, that “there are some good charter schools out there,” that “not all charter schools are rotten,” that

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 1d

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni Dear freshmen lawmakers, We did it! After a fiercely contested election, we have finally begun to turn the tide back toward progressive politics. Midterms usually are sparsely attended, but this year we had an unprecedented turnout

NOV 22

Happy Thanksgiving! I Am Thankful for Great Public Education Bloggers!

by mike simpson / 2d

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-lbM via @dianeravitch Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day. If you are not making dinner, go to a church or homeless shelter to volunteer to serve others. It will remind you of your blessings and good fortune. Former President Obama helped prepare food bags for those in need in Chicago (imagine Trump doing that, I

NOV 21

We're thankful for these Twitter superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education

by mike simpson / 3d

We're thankful for these Twitter superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education We're thankful for these Twitter superstars For those of you who tweet entirely too much (which applies to many of us at Schott!) we've assembled our first annual Twitter list of Education Justice Superstars, individuals who are helping to expand the education conversation online. They’re leading the way, pushing

John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 3d

John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies | Diane Ravitch's blog John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies John Thompson here writes about his reaction to the annual conference of the Network for Public Education, where the implicit theme was that David is beating Goliath, but Goliath just keeps stumbling forward, crushing public schools and advancing privatization, with no evidence of succes

Toward a Consensus Approach to Evaluating State School Finance Systems! (and dumping the others!) – School Finance 101

by mike simpson / 3d

Toward a Consensus Approach to Evaluating State School Finance Systems! (and dumping the others!) – School Finance 101 Toward a Consensus Approach to Evaluating State School Finance Systems! (and dumping the others!) Over the past decade, there has been an emerging consensus regarding state school finance systems, money and schools. That consensus is supported by a growing body of high-quality em

The New Stupid Replaces the Old Stupid (Rick Hess) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

by mike simpson / 3d

The New Stupid Replaces the Old Stupid (Rick Hess) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice The New Stupid Replaces the Old Stupid (Rick Hess) From an interview conducted in 2009 with Rick Hess, then Resident Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute. I have lightly abridged the interview. The original article upon which this interview is based is here . Q: Rick, you recently publ

Truly Public Schools Must Form Engaged Citizens and Then Engage Those Citizens in Shaping School Policy | janresseger

by mike simpson / 3d

Truly Public Schools Must Form Engaged Citizens and Then Engage Those Citizens in Shaping School Policy | janresseger Truly Public Schools Must Form Engaged Citizens and Then Engage Those Citizens in Shaping School Policy This blog will take a week long Thanksgiving break. Look for a new post on November 29. Good wishes for Thanksgiving! In its October 2018 issue, Phi Delta Kappan magazine featur

NOV 20

Mitchell Robinson: Please save me from the wisdom of self-appointed education experts, Part 293 | Eclectablog

by mike simpson / 3d

Please save me from the wisdom of self-appointed education experts, Part 293 | Eclectablog Please save me from the wisdom of self-appointed education experts, Part 293 I read a lot of stuff on education policy, written by a wide range of authors. Some are bright, well-informed, and experienced teachers. Most are not. But this piece here maybe the silliest article on education reform I’ve seen in

CURMUDGUCATION: Should Your Three-Year-Old Attend On-line School?

by mike simpson / 4d

CURMUDGUCATION: Should Your Three-Year-Old Attend On-line School? Should Your Three-Year-Old Attend On-line School? The short answer is, "No." Or maybe, "Hell, no." You may wonder why the subject even needs to be discussed, and the short answer to that is, " Because somebody's already doing it ." By now you've probably heard the new old saying that kindergarten is the new first grade , with acade

My Review of Eve L. Ewing’s “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 4d

My Review of Eve L. Ewing’s “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” | Diane Ravitch's blog My Review of Eve L. Ewing’s “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” The best book about education this year was written by a woman who is a poet, a playwright, a novelist, and soon to be the writer of a Marvel comic about “a black girl genius from Chicago.” Ewing has a doctorate in sociology from Harvard and is now on the faculty of

DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault | janresseger

by mike simpson / 4d

DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault | janresseger DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault Last Friday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released—for a 60-day public comment period—new rules for how schools that receive federal dollars must handle allegations of sexual assault. The Washington Post ‘s Lau

Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems | gadflyonthewallblog

by mike simpson / 4d

Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems | gadflyonthewallblog Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems Democratic gains in the midterm elections were a repudiation of the policies of Donald Trump. Yet holding nearly the same views as Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earned two Pennsylvania state representatives high leadership positi

NOV 19

Toxic Philanthropy Part 1: Surveillance – Wrench in the Gears

by mike simpson / 5d

Toxic Philanthropy Part 1: Surveillance – Wrench in the Gears Toxic Philanthropy Part 1: Surveillance We are living through desperate times: populations dislocated by climate catastrophe and dispossessed by state violence. Many are attempting, unsuccessfully, to navigate economic systems grounded in low-wage, disposable labor and insurmountable debt. The cost of living continues to rise, especial

A White Supremacist Murdered Two At My Supermarket: Kentucky teacher speaks out against racist violence and the school-to-prison-pipeline – I AM AN EDUCATOR

by mike simpson / 5d

A White Supremacist Murdered Two At My Supermarket: Kentucky teacher speaks out against racist violence and the school-to-prison-pipeline – I AM AN EDUCATOR A White Supremacist Murdered Two At My Supermarket: Kentucky teacher speaks out against racist violence and the school-to-prison-pipeline I n October, two Black grandparents were gunned down by a white supremacist in a Kroger supermarket in L

Kansas’ next governor says job protections for teachers should be restored statewide | The Wichita Eagle

by mike simpson / 5d

Kelly would ‘welcome’ bill to restore teacher due process | The Wichita Eagle Kansas’ next governor says job protections for teachers should be restored statewide TOPEKA Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly said she would welcome a bill to again provide thousands of public school teachers with statewide due process protections that were eliminated years ago. During an interview Thursday with McClatchy,

Tony Thurmond beats Marshall Tuck in California schools chief race Charter school backers spent millions on statewide races in 2018. They still lost twice| The Sacramento Bee

by mike simpson / 5d

Tony Thurmond beats Marshall Tuck in California schools chief race | The Sacramento Bee Charter school backers spent millions on statewide races in 2018. They still lost twice. When former charter school executive Marshall Tuck called Assemblyman Tony Thurmond to concede over the weekend, it marked another defeat for charter-school advocates in California. Thurmond was elected California’s top ed

CURMUDGUCATION: Is This The End Of Ed Reform Policy?

by mike simpson / 5d

CURMUDGUCATION: Is This The End Of Ed Reform Policy? Is This The End Of Ed Reform Policy? From time to time Mike Petrilli (Fordham Institute) grabs himself a big declaration and goes to town. Last week, the declaration was "We have reached the end of education policy. " He frames this up with references to Francis Fukuyama's book about the end of history, and I don't know that he really ever stic

NOV 18

4-H: Trump agency push to dump LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's firing

by mike simpson / 5d

4-H: Trump agency push to dump LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's firing EXCLUSIVE: How Trump administration pressure to dump 4-H's LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's firing The Trump administration pushed the national 4-H youth organization to withdraw a controversial policy welcoming LGBT members — a move that helped lead to the ouster of Iowa's top 4-H leader earlier this year, a Des Moines Regist

In Kansas, Teach for America Underdelivers and Still Gets Paid $270K | deutsch29

by mike simpson / 5d

In Kansas, Teach for America Underdelivers and Still Gets Paid $270K | deutsch29 In Kansas, Teach for America Underdelivers and Still Gets Paid $270K On November 16, 2018, KMUW.com (NPR in Wichita, Kansas) published an article entitled, “Kansas to Pay Teach for America $270,000 for Recruiting Three Teachers.” $270,000. Three teachers. (But if you count last year, which was pre-TFA-contract, and a

How Facebook Dealt with Crisis: A Tale of Denial | Diane Ravitch's blog

by mike simpson / 6d

How Facebook Dealt with Crisis: A Tale of Denial | Diane Ravitch's blog How Facebook Dealt with Crisis: A Tale of Denial This article was published by the New York Times on November 15. You will learn how Facebook dealt with questions about its slipshod handling of multiple crises. Facebook has the power for great good, connecting people to act collectively as they did in the teachers’ protests l

Help save public education by giving to NPE - Network For Public Education

by mike simpson / 6d

Help save public education by giving to NPE - Network For Public Education Help save public education by giving to NPE Giving Tuesday is November 27. This holiday season please remember to give a gift to save public education by donating to NPE. Right now your tax deductible gift can have twice the impact. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor who deeply believes in the importance of pub

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Light Up Night Hangover Edition (11/18)

by mike simpson / 6d

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Light Up Night Hangover Edition (11/18) ICYMI: Light Up Night Hangover Edition (11/18) Last night was my town's big Light Up Night parade, which includes a huge parade (well, huge by our standards) fireworks, and cold children. But I still have some reading for you. Remember-- sharing is caring. If People Talked To Other Professionals The Way They Talk To Teachers A painful

Public advocate beats charter supporter for California schools chief - The Washington Post

by mike simpson / 6d

Public advocate beats charter supporter for California schools chief - The Washington Post Public advocate beats charter supporter for California schools chief It was the most expensive race for a state superintendent. By Valerie Strauss November 17 at 6:08 PM Finally, more than a week after the vote, there is now a winner in the race for California’s superintendent of public instruction after th

NOV 17

Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

Let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah
Think of all that we could sha-are
Let’s get together everyday
Every way and everywhere
And though we haven’t got a lot
We could be sharin’ all we’ve got
Together

~Haley Mills, From Walt Disney’s The Parent Trap

The public school classroom is a sacred community. How students socialize in school will be how they interact with each other as adults. Online learning drastically changes classroom dynamics. Students miss important humanization and learning skills when schools focus too heavily on technology.

Personalized learning, the way it is defined and set up, where students work mostly alone online, is an anti-socialization experiment that could haunt us for years to come.

Schools which emphasize personalized learning are realizing a gap is created when it comes to student communication. See Ed. Week’s “Sometimes Personalized Learning Feels Impersonal.”

Technology has much to offer, but it should not replace real teachers and classroom dynamics. Technology is a tool.

NPR’s recent personalized learning piece “The Future of Learning: Well It’s Personal” alludes to how tech shortchanges students.

In the report, Jade Davis an expert in emerging technologies in education, and the director of digital project management at Columbia University Libraries says:

I think of kids with machines that have algorithms attached to them that move them Continue reading: Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model

There’s a revealing little clip in ‘Waiting for Superman’—the feel-bad documentary that was designed to damn public education before revealing and promoting its amazing new successor, charter schools. WFS was loaded with such cartoon animations, weak analogies and essentially irrelevant video captures from TV shows and industrial films from the bad old days (meaning always) when public education utterly failed students.This particular clip shows groups of students on conveyer belts being transported to their destinies as either well-educated ‘leaders’ or, alas, farms and factories, based on the schools they attend.

The belabored point being: a better education (now available by lottery!) would save kids—just like Superman does— from what, generations ago, were considered the natural outcomes of their station in life. Education—not parent income—as magic carpet to a materially good life.

I am heartily sick of reading about the also-inherited, traditional ‘failings’ of public education. I don’t want to read another column about the Committee of Ten and how, 125 years ago, they got it all wrong and now we’re stuck with a useless curriculum and ineffective instruction techniques. I don’t want to hear about the factory model of schooling and how clueless, timid, non-disruptive folk are running public schools like egg crates, isolating teachers and students in age-related cohorts, unwilling to innovate.

Ten to one, the proposed solution involves a whole lot of expensive technology, to ‘individualize’ or ‘personalize’ education for each and every child. But this isn’t a blog about kids and endless screens and profit-making and using unfair metrics to compare students’ memorization skills.

It’s about the concept that much of what happens in school, right now, with students in batches and the same curriculum and instruction being delivered to all 4th graders, CONTINUE READING: Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land

WALMART GREED KNOWS NO LIMITS: This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State

This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State

This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State

If your reaction was “Wow, Walmart controls A LOT of the country,” you’d be right. This map shows the largest private employer in every state in the U.S., and Walmart is tops in an incredible 22 states. In total, the company employs 1.5 million Americans.

Here’s a full state-by-state list for you to peruse. Who’s #1 in your state?

Alabama: Walmart, 38,041 employees

Alaska: Providence Health & Services, ~4,000 employees

Arizona: Walmart, 33,910 employees

Arkansas: Walmart, 53,310 employees

California: University of California, 190,000-plus employees

Colorado: Denver International Airport, 35,000 employees

Connecticut: Yale New Haven Health System, 22,193 employees

Delaware: Christiana Care Health System, 11,100 employees

Florida: Walmart, 108,321 employees

Georgia: Walmart, 59,371 employees

Hawaii: University of Hawaii, 10,106 employees

Idaho: St. Luke’s Health System, 14,538 employees

Illinois: Walmart, 54,698 employees

Indiana: Walmart, 39,667 employees

Iowa: University of Iowa, 24,598 employees

Kansas: Walmart, 20,938 employees

Kentucky: Walmart, 30,181 employees

Louisiana: Walmart, 36,992 employees

Maine: Hannaford Supermarkets, ~8,500 employees

Maryland: Johns Hopkins Institutions, 51,725 employees

Massachusetts: Partners Healthcare, 68,000 employees

Michigan: University of Michigan, 48,060 employees

Minnesota: Mayo Clinic, 34,562 employees

Mississippi: Walmart, 24,898 employees

Missouri: Walmart, 43,203 employees

Montana: Walmart, 4,776 employees

Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 16,157 employees

Nevada: MGM Resorts International, 55,200 employees

New Hampshire: Walmart, 8,284 employees

New Jersey: Wakefern Food Corporation, 35,000 employees

New Mexico: University of New Mexico, 33,390 employees

New York: State Univesrity of New York system, 90,033 employees

North Carolina: University of North Carolina system, 74,079 employees

North Dakota: Sanford Health, 10,581 employees

Ohio: Walmart, 50,481 employees

Oklahoma: Walmart, 34,014 employees

Oregon: Providence Health & Services, 21,000-plus employees

Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 61,000 employees

Rhode Island: Lifespan system of hospitals, 14,000 employees

South Carolina: Walmart, 32,267 employees

South Dakota: Avera Health, 12,187 employees

Tennessee: Walmart, 41,487 employees

Texas: Walmart, 171,531 employees

Utah: Intermountain Healthcare, 38,000 employees

Vermont: The University of Vermont Medical Center, 7,860 employees

Virginia: Walmart, 44,621 employees

Washington: Boeing, 71,036 employees

West Virginia: Walmart, 12,321 employees

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin, 39,000 employees

Wyoming: Walmart, 4,699 employees

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO
House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos

For two years, Democrats watched with fury as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dismantle nearly every significant Obama administration education policy.

Now, they’re gearing up to fight back. Lots of them.

As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a range of issues such as her rollback of regulations aimed at predatory for-profit colleges, the stalled processing of student loan forgiveness and a rewrite of campus sexual assault policies.

“Betsy DeVos has brought a special mix of incompetence and malevolence to Washington — and that’s rocket fuel for every committee in a new Congress that will finally provide oversight,” said Seth Frotman, who resigned as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s top student loan official earlier in protest of Trump administration policies likely to be examined by Democrats.

Even in a Republican-controlled Congress, DeVos had a strained relationship at times with some committees. Her main priorities, such as expanding school choice, were largely ignored as lawmakers hashed out government funding bills. Now she will have to answer to House Democrats wielding gavels, several of whom have long worked on education issues and have been among her most vocal critics. Continue reading:House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO

Mitchell Robinson: Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog

Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog
Let’s talk about Teach for America…

I think we need to start being very intentional with the language we use when referring to organizations like Teach for America (TfA) and the persons who decide to join them–and having made some of the mistakes I’m about to point out myself, I’m taking the liberty of making the following suggestions:

• There are no TfA “teachers”–teachers decide to enter the profession earlier than the summer after they graduate with a BA in economics from Tufts, or a BS in business from Harvard. Real teachers often make that decision in elementary or middle school, then make their college choice by determining what university has the best teacher preparation program, and applying to that institution.

I now refer to the people that go the TfA route as “edutourists”–because they think playing at being a teacher will be fun, and look good on their resumes when they apply to business school, or law school, or for an internship on Capitol Hill. The vast majority of TfA edutourists have no intention of remaining in the classroom for more than a year or two, and have “bought in” to the notion that TfA experience is best seen as a “stepping stone” to other, “more important” career choices. That’s simply not how teachers view teaching.

I often hear that criticizing TfA is ok, but that it’s unfair to be critical of the young college grads who join the organization seeking a quick entry to the classroom. While I understand that opinion, I think it’s time to start holding these young persons to a little higher standard. It’s not ok to join a group with a neo-liberal, anti-teacher, anti-union agenda, and then claim you want to be a teacher for some vague sort of social justice related reason. If you’re smart enough to get into an Ivy League school, you should be smart enough to figure out what TfA’s real goals are.

You don’t get to call yourself a “teacher” just because you spent some time on the other side of the desk in a classroom. The title of teacher isn’t one that you give yourself, or that can be appointed Continue reading: Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary

The rejection letter was harsh.

Page after page, an accrediting agency ticked off all the problems at Virginia College, a large chain of for-profit schools with dwindling enrollment. There would be no seal of approval, the accreditor declared, no imprimatur necessary to participate in the federal student loan program that is the lifeblood of most colleges and universities.

But it turned out that Virginia College — and other for-profit schools — had a friend in high places.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has led a rescue squad for the nation’s for-profit colleges. Step by step, she has dismantled an Obama-era crackdown on the industry, and she plans to deliver a set of regulations next year that many expect to again boost the industry.

Critics say these schools, which enroll 2.3 million students and range from small trade schools to large multistate enterprises such as the University of Phoenix, prey on vulnerable students, leaving them with huge debts and questionable credentials. Defenders say they offer critical options, especially for students not in traditional four-year programs, and were unfairly singled out for scrutiny by the Obama administration.

“If it’s the right fit for the student, then it’s the right education,” DeVos said in a speech this summer.

DeVos’s systematic rollback of regulations on these schools reflects the broader Trump administration agenda. The administration has undone environmental rules meant to control carbon emissions and unraveled pieces of the Affordable Care Act. At rallies this fall, President Trump regularly bragged about regulatory retrenchment.

At the Education Department, DeVos has long believed the federal government should exercise as little control as possible over the nation’s schools, and she has spent a large chunk of her tenure undoing the work of her predecessors. She has revoked guidelines on affirmative action and transgender students, and is expected to cancel guidance regarding racial bias in school discipline. Continue reading: Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson

I PUT IN WORK AND IT’S ALL FOR THE KIDS [AN NCTE REFLECTION]

Just before I got home, I turn on DMX’s “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” because it matches the BPM I need to make it through the length of JFK International Airport corridors. As I get off the umpteenth moving sidewalk, DMX rapped:

“I’ve been doing this for 19 years.
Cats wanna fight me? Fight these tears.
I put in work, and it’s all for the kids,
But these cats done forgot what work is.
They don’t know who we be,
Looking, but they don’t know who they see …”

Headline reads: “Typical NYC Guy Sheds Half a Tear Before Dealing with Queens Traffic.”

This idea we call “professionalism” has so many of us holding our tongues and acting out of character. For instance, we have misinterpretations of a framework meant ostensibly to wrest control from control as praxis. I have my critiques of the Danielson framework, but I’m not a fan of using dimensions of a rubric to play games with someone’s passions and duties. This and many more elements are the burdens I don’t wish upon future students and educators, but here we are. When higher-ups hold schools under hostage for the express purpose of keeping appearances and test scores up, we lose any number of social and cultural norms that makes schools palatable to our kids.

If we don’t give students opportunity to express themselves, why should we expect them to perform? The same goes for our educators and parents.

So when we find spaces to convene, like the National Council of Teachers of English Convention, we savor the moment to share experiences with colleagues who want to teach students, regardless of subject area. These institutional spaces might feel “too white.” Large education conferences are merely a reflection of the profession as a whole. But, unlike so many other conferences, the NCTE experience leans on rock-star educators and pop culture authors aligned to their work. Jason Reynolds and Elizabeth Acevedo flow naturally with the plethora of teachers who created classrooms collections based on their works. NCTE can invite Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Daniel Jose Older, and Marley Dias and still have folks who could equally take those keynote slots and have them in the exhibit fall or a workshop instead. Their benches are deep with talent in a way that other conferences aren’t.

Which made this year interesting because they also invited a science / hip-hop pedagogy guy and a current math classroom teacher to keynote as well.

Hundreds of white educators (and the rest of us, too) stood at attention when Christopher Emdin’s Continue reading: I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization

Jeff Bryant reviews the victories for public education in the last elections.

The big victories were the overwhelming defeat of voucher legislation in Arizona and the Tony Thurmond’s election over the charter lobby’s candidate Marshall Tuck in the Califotnia race for state school superintendent, despite Tuck’s more than 2-1 funding advantage.

And there were many more victories, especially in governors’ races.

In gubernatorial races across the Midwest, Democrats ran and won with strong oppositional messages against school privatization.

In Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer won a governor’s seat formerly occupied by Rick Snyder after campaigning to “end the [Betsy] DeVos agenda in Michigan,” close for-profit charter schools in the state, and propose additional oversights for charters.

In Minnesota, Democratic challenger for an open governor’s seat Tim Walz, a former public high school geography teacher and football coach, pledged to block any proposed voucher programs. He won decisively.

In Illinois, Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker defeated incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, while pledging to end the state’s education tax credit voucher program, which already diverts public tax dollars to pay for private school tuition for 5,600 students….

In what is perhaps the most startling of charter school turnarounds, Continue reading: Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom

I was [in] a classroom yesterday and all of the kids had Chrome Books. They opened them midway through the class to read a few excerpts the teacher had selected. After the class, the teacher told me that he has a monitor at his desk that allows him to see what each of the kids is looking at on their computer. I don’t spend a lot of time in classrooms – I was in this one for something unrelated – but I thought this monitoring system was interesting. I’ve since found out that it is fairly common in some school districts. I wondered if you’ve encountered this and, if so, what your thoughts are about teachers having this ability to peer in on their students? It seems useful in the sense that you want to be sure students are following along. But it also feels like one more thing a teacher has to worry about. Another teacher told me he doesn’t use the system because he feels like it’s an invasion of privacy.

I received this note from a reporter working for a national newspaper. The reporter wanted to ask me what I thought about this all-too-common issue in classrooms where each student has a device–or what used to be called 1:1 computers. The reporter raises the issue directly as a clash between two values teachers highly prize: insuring students are doing what teachers directed them to do with their devices and respecting the privacy of individual students.

I answered the reporter’s email with a hastily constructed paragraph:

Yes, what you describe is common in districts where school provides devices to each student. The rationale is for the teacher to be aware of the level of student understanding of the lesson (often students send in their homework and assignments to Dropbox or a similar storage software so teachers can identify if students are on right track or not. Teachers having this software are able to give individual attention when needed. Such monitoring does not occur in those schools where devices are available to each student when they bring their own device to school—called BYOD. Does it invade privacy? To some it appears so but schools are tax supported institutions charged to achieve educational goals. Prior to the ubiquity of these devices, first-rate teachers would walk around the Continue reading; Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Friday, November 23, 2018

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

What can I do to help you?

These words are hugely powerful and tragically underused at every level of the education world.
In the classroom, teachers have been taught since the dawn of time that they should be clear about their expectations. This is excellent practice; let the student know exactly what you want from her. If she has trouble meeting that expectation, be certain that you are explaining the expectation clearly. And then ask the student, "What can I do to help you?"

It may well be that the student won't be able to tell you. That's okay. Just asking the question signals a shift in your classroom dynamic; instead of a setting in which the teacher demands performance from a student, who is on her own to produce the required signs of learning, the Seven Words reframe the classroom as a place where the teacher and student are teamed up to conquer learning obstacles together. Students benefit from knowing they aren't alone in the struggle, and teachers are reminded that students are their partners, not their obstacles (a view promoted from teacher accountability systems that say, "You have to get good scores out of your kids, or else.") It's worth noting that computerized personalized [sic] learning systems cannot ask this question in any meaningful way.

The Seven Words are also powerful for building administration. Sadly, may teachers have never, ever had a building principal ask the question. Instead they hear "Make your test numbers" or "Follow the proper procedures" or "Here's one more program I expect you to use in your class." There are plenty of expectations, but far too few building principals consider their job top include helping teachers meet those expectations. Some administrators pride themselves on an Open Door Policy ("Any teacher can come talk to me any time she wants") and some principals roam the building, popping into classrooms to see what's going on. But I'll bet there are few teachers in this country who have ever had a principal walk into their classroom, sit down, and say, "I just wanted to ask what I can do to help you with your work." Without something that explicit, some teachers will never believe it's okay for them to ask their boss for help with anything, ever.

The Seven Words would help at the policy level, too. We've been subjected to decades of school "reform," ongoing attempts to make schools better. And yet, as policy makers discuss various fixes and programs and policies, they rarely take the step of going to actual classroom teachers and asking, "What can we do to help you?" When teachers are allowed in the room at all, they are usually carefully handpicked teachers who will be friendly and agreeable.

Of course, the Seven Words are rarely used with teachers at the policy level because so many players at that level are there to sell something. They have decided on their own that No Child Left Behind or Common Core or Race to the Top or Competency Based Education or Any Amount of Ed Tech Whizbangery will fix things before they so much as look at an actual classroom teacher. But even after such policies are adopted, policy makers could say, "Okay, we've decided you're going to Continue reading: CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations

The Sacklers of Connecticut are one of the richest families in America. Forbes recently put their collective wealth at $14 billion. That money was created by Purdue Pharma, which created and marketed OxyContin. That drug has been responsible for thousands and thousands of deaths. The Sackler Family name is emblazoned on major museums and universities. Jonathan Sackler is a major funder ipof the Charter School Movement. He founded ConnCAN and 50CAN. His daughter Madeline Sackler made a movie about the miraculous Eva Moskowitz.

But now legal authorities are targeting the Sacklers for their role in the opioid crisis.

The Guardian has the story here.

Members of the multibillionaire philanthropic Sackler family that owns the maker of prescription painkiller OxyContin are facing mass litigation and likely criminal investigation over the opioids crisis still ravaging America.

Some of the Sacklers wholly own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the company that created and sells the legal narcotic OxyContin, a drug at the center of the opioid epidemic that now kills almost 200 people a day across the US.

Suffolk county on Long Island, New York, recently sued several family members personally over the overdose deaths and painkiller addiction blighting local communities. Now lawyers warn that action will be a Continue reading: Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis

The theme of my previous post on the 2018 Network for Public Education conference was: How Was I Wrong? Let Me Count Some Ways. As I explained, the 2014 NPE conference in Austin hit a nice balance in terms of messaging and research that allowed us Davids to defeat the corporate reform Goliath. I was slow in facing hard facts about privatizers and mostly focused on civil ways to confront opponents in the search for truth.

Previously, I overestimated how much of Goliath’s failure was due to the arrogance of power. Today’s Silicon Valley Robber Barons’ hubris can match that of their 19th century counterparts, but their control of data makes them uniquely dangerous. As the latest NPE presentations enlightened me on what is working for us Davids as we successfully resist Goliath, I was mostly struck by the evidence that he only continues to exist for the purposes of privatization, profits, and the monetization of data.

Fortunately, the 2018 NPE conference was extremely positive, so I can move beyond my errors to a post which provides an overview of a) what I learned and b) some ideas on future messaging.

When kicking off the conference, Diane Ravitch recalled the height of Goliath’s political assault, and the 2008 and 2010 Time magazine covers featuring Michelle Rhee’s broomstick and “Rotten Apples,” or teachers who need to be swept from the profession. She said the NPE should create an annual “Rotten Apple” award, and how she would have nominated Arizona legislator Eddie Farnsworth for it. Farnsworth sold his charter schools for up to $30 million to a board which he named.

My Rotten Apple vote would go to the entrepreneurs who sell online learning for pre-k students.

My runner-up would be the mandate which contributed to the West Virginia walkout. Teachers were penalized $500 per year if they didn’t download an app that would count the steps they took each day.

I learned the most from Ravitch’s explanation of how school reform would collapse without the continued infusion of corporate money. She followed up with the question: Why do they keep infusing money into charters?

The answer, it is now clear, is that they are monetizing data. Pearson testing company thinks it knows more about the children they test than their parents do. As Leonie Haimson has shown, Goliath has bought 400 Continue reading: Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue

Big Education Ape: John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/11/john-thompson-goliath-king-of-zombies.html

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them

Many individuals, groups, newspapers, and organizations claim that they oppose charter schools. But, revealing ongoing confusion, they also say, often in the same breath, that “there are some good charter schools out there,” that “not all charter schools are rotten,” that “charter schools are not a ‘panacea’ but can be part of the solution,” that “charter schools may provide a good alternative for at least some students,” or that “charter schools should be given a chance” (even though they have been around for more than 25 years). Such contradictory statements are not uncommon, keep many intellectually disoriented, and undermine social progress.

Typically, such forces effectively describe several damning and indicting problems inherent to charter schools, usually enough for the average rational person to rapidly conclude that charter schools should be eliminated immediately, but then instantly equivocate and insert some statement directly or indirectly supporting charter schools. This normalized indecisiveness has been haunting people for years because the analysis, outlook, and consciousness behind it are limited and outmoded.

Even though there is no justification for the existence, let alone expansion, of nonprofit and for-profit charter schools in America, it is nearly impossible to find forces who resolutely answer the call of history to oppose the entireneoliberal concept and practice of charter schools from beginning to end. Instead of defending public schools unequivocally and rejecting all attempts to loot them, we get hedging and ambivalence; lots of fence-riding, often cast as a “balanced view” or “reasonable position.”

Objectively speaking, pay-the-rich neoliberal schemes like charter schools will continue to harm thousands of public schools in many ways, especially as they continue to multiply freely. They will continue to damage society and the economy as well, mainly due to widespread crimes, scandals, waste, fraud, corruption, and racketeering. Charter schools will also continue to under- Continue reading: Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni

Dear freshmen lawmakers,

We did it!

After a fiercely contested election, we have finally begun to turn the tide back toward progressive politics.

Midterms usually are sparsely attended, but this year we had an unprecedented turnout. A total of 23 states had double-digit percentage-point increases compared with their 1982-2014 midterm election averages.

And the result is one of the largest and most diverse groups of freshman Congresspeople ever!

We got rid of a ton of incumbents – 104 lawmakers won’t be returning to Washington, DC, in January, making this the third-highest turnover since 1974.

And those taking their place will be largely female. Out of 256 women who ran for U.S. House or Senate seats, 114 have won so far (Some races are still too close to call), according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That makes the 116th Congress the largest class of female lawmakers ever.

Moreover, this incoming group will be incredibly diverse.

We have Jahana Hayes, a nationally-recognized teacher, who will be the first Black Congresswoman from Connecticut. Ayanna Presley, the first black Congresswoman from Massachusetts.

Angie Craig will be the first out LGBTQ Congresswoman from Minnesota. Chris Pappas, the first openly gay Congressman from New Hampshire.

Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland from Kansas and New Mexico will be the first Native Continue reading: Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog

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Saturday, November 24, 2018

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Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land

WALMART GREED KNOWS NO LIMITS: This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO

Mitchell Robinson: Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Friday, November 23, 2018

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog

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