The KIPP Boast « Diane Ravitch's blog

The KIPP Boast « Diane Ravitch's blog:

The KIPP Boast

by dianerav

Jonathan Schorr

I challenged KIPP to take over an impoverished district and to show how their methods could work for all children–the ELLs, the special ed, all kids–not just those whose parents entered a lottery. Jonathan Schorr responded by saying that would be abandoning their original mission. His snarky (and insulting) response appears as a comment on the original post. Schorr works for the billionaire-funded NewSchools Venture Fund.
This is a comment from Parents Across America activist Caroline Grannan in San Francisco, who has written extensively about the parent trigger:
As the blogger who did the first known research exposing KIPP’s eye-popping attrition, I think Linda has it right. 

21st Century “Hybrid” Education | Lefty Parent

21st Century “Hybrid” Education | Lefty Parent:

21st Century “Hybrid” Education

by Cooper Zale

Saw this recent piece in Ed Week, “Hybrid Home Schools Gaining Traction”, highlighting a trend which may turn out to be the new emerging norm for education as we get deeper into this new century. Stated simply using an environmental metaphor, the current “monoculture” of full-time year-round instructional school attendance may be gradually supplanted by perhaps a richer “polyculture”

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Thank You, Neil Armstrong

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Thank You, Neil Armstrong:

Thank You, Neil Armstrong

by Melissa Westbrook

 

 From the AP:
"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in February 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."


Like taking the biggest step in the history of the world?  


Those of us that saw this event on TV will never forget it.  I went out and looked into that dark 

Will KIPP Take the Challenge? « Diane Ravitch's blog

Will KIPP Take the Challenge? « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Will KIPP Take the Challenge?

by dianerav

A comment by Jonathan Schorr (son of the famous Dan Schorr, who was a fearless man of the left, opposed to plutocrats and billionaires and privatizers and their schemes in foreign nations) suggests that KIPP will NOT take the challenge. Jon says that KIPP would abandon their original purpose if they accepted responsibility for an entire impoverished district. Jon says it is wrong to expect KIPP to take on a district. That would betray their “original purpose.” Which, I guess, means to help the lucky few escape from poverty.
I say, if KIPP has the secret sauce for raising the achievement of poor minority youth, then demonstrate that it works in an entire district, not just for the lucky few.
Come on. The eyes of the nation are on you.
You can do it.
Take on a low-performing district and teach us

Schools Matter: Future of SOS Hinges on Repudiation of Common Core

Schools Matter: Future of SOS Hinges on Repudiation of Common Core:

Future of SOS Hinges on Repudiation of Common Core

by Jim Horn

Today Stephen Krashen posted a letter at EPATA by Bess Altwerger, co-founder of Save Our Schools.  In it she makes a strong case for SOS voting to put its full weight forward in opposing, blocking, and dismantling the next high-stakes testing deliver system, the Common Core State [sic] Standards.  

Meanwhile, Corporate Bob and his loyal Webmistress over at SOS continue to churn out more talking points to distribute to the GOP and the DNC.  Can anything be more sadly pathetic and entirely enraging at the same time?!

Try this from the SOS website:

In August 2012, the People met to compose the Education Platforms. For month’s [sic] 

Virginia’s Sub-standard Standards

Virginia’s Sub-standard Standards:

Virginia’s Sub-standard Standards

by Kris Amundson

In an editorial in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, I tell the story of a phone call I received  from a friend when I was a member of the Fairfax County school board.

Her daughter had just received her first-quarter marks, including a C in algebra.

The mother was upset, and she made an appointment to talk with the teacher. Later, she called me to report on that conversation.

The teacher had smiled at her and said, “Really, Mrs. Smith, a C isn’t such a bad grade.”

“It is,” my friend responded, “at our house. And I suspect it would be at yours.”

When President George W. Bush talked about the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” this is exactly what he 

High Stakes Testing: Thy Name is DIBELS | United Opt Out National

High Stakes Testing: Thy Name is DIBELS | United Opt Out National:

High Stakes Testing: Thy Name is DIBELS

by admin

Parents, please feel free to use this letter written by Morna McDermott McNulty, administrator for United Opt Out National. Morna is opting her children out of DIBELS. Read to find out why. This is also our action for the week of August 26, 2012 – share this letter far and wide. Email it to all of your friends with young children. Send it to your child’s teacher. We must continue to educate and encourage others to take actions which will place the focus where it belongs – on high quality teaching and learning for all children.

Dear ______,

(Child’s name) will not be participating in the DIBELS assessments this year. The teachers at ______ are experienced, knowledgeable and caring educators. It is my firm belief that they can identify more effective and meaningful ways to assess my children’s reading abilities and needs. While I understand that Baltimore County states that it requires DIBELS to be completed by every child, I am aware that it is my Constitutional right to request their nonparticipation in practices which I believe to be harmful. My concerns over the harmful nature of DIBELS is grounded in decades of research conducted by the most respected and nationally recognized scholars in the field of literacy.

Here is what they have to say about DIBELS:

The “skills” children need to pass DIBELS and similar tests are the result of reading. The use of DIBELS and its cousins encourages test preparation in the form of skills training, which is a confusion of cause and effect.

Practicing reading nonsense words quickly, in preparation for the DIBELS test, will not contribute very much to helping children learn to read. In other words, practicing reading nonsense words quickly, in preparation for the DIBELS test, will not contribute very much to helping children learn to read. But the experience of reading comprehensible and interesting texts will result in the ability to read, as well as develop the capacity to read nonsense words quickly. Good readers can easily read the boxed list of nonsense words presented with the story, whether they have had extensive skills training or not.

The correlation between DIBELS scores and subsequent reading-test performance is spurious. Both are the result of the experience of real reading.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
Los Angeles, Calif.

—

The whole test can be downloaded by anybody, even a computer-smart kid. So abuses are possible, and, as I hear from teachers, quite common. The stakes are high for all concerned to raise DIBELS scores. And that’s not 

Screenings and Panel Discussions of Film “Won’t Back Down” to be Held at DNC and RNC | StudentsFirst.org

Screenings and Panel Discussions of Film “Won’t Back Down” to be Held at DNC and RNC | StudentsFirst.org:

This year's Democratic and Republican national conventions will feature screenings of "Won't Back Down"

YOU CAN SEE “WBD” AT DEM CONVENTION TOO

by dianerav

“Won’t Back Down"

Rhymes with 

"Stand Your Ground"

and is brought to you by those great folks at

ALEC

This year's Democratic and Republican national conventions will feature screenings of "Won't Back Down" – a new major studio motion picture to be released on September 28th. The screenings will be hosted by StudentsFirst – a bipartisan national grassroots education reform movement – and partners at both conventions. The screening at the Democratic National Convention will be co-hosted by Democrats for Education Reform and Parent Revolution. The screening at the Republican National Convention will be co-hosted by the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

The film tells a powerful story of parenthood, friendship, hope and courage. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis portray determined mothers – one of them a teacher – who will stop at nothing to transform their children’s failing inner city school.  Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy and a system mired 

 
IT IS A RULE: YOU CAN'T BE AGAINST PEOPLE AND FOR CORPORATIONS AND CALL YOURSELF A DEMOCRAT...EVER!

 Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers 

Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better) 

Other Astroturf lobbying groups

Just Like Michelle Rhee's

 Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better) 

A Blue-Collar Girl in a White-Collar World | Lefty Parent

A Blue-Collar Girl in a White-Collar World | Lefty Parent:

A Blue-Collar Girl in a White-Collar World

by Cooper Zale

I am republishing this piece written by my daughter Emma and originally published on Daily KOS (click here to see on Daily KOS)…
I am (and to some extent, have always been) a writer, but my desire to become a novelist did not emerge until after I’d made the choice to drop out of high school and become an “autodidact” (someone who is self-taught — see My Experience With Unschooling). All I knew then was that being in a traditional school setting made me terribly unhappy (for reasons that could fill a separate blog piece) and that I’d always had a knack for creative writing. I had no idea what was in store for me, venturing out into the wilderness, leaving everything I was expected to believe about school behind.
I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it, either, if my parents hadn’t been so supportive and my brother hadn’t already blazed the trail before me (see leftyparent’s blog — Pulling Eric out of School). I met some form of resistance from almost everyone else, having come from two generations of college graduates, a world where all 

You Can See “WBD” at Dem Convention Too « Diane Ravitch's blog

You Can See “WBD” at Dem Convention Too « Diane Ravitch's blog:

You Can See “WBD” at Dem Convention Too

by dianerav

“Won’t Back Down"

Rhymes with 

"Stand Your Ground"

and is brought to you by those great folks at

ALEC

StudentsFirst, Parent Revolution, and Democrats for Education Reform are  hosting a screening of the film “Won’t Back Down” at the Democratic National Convention. It is not on the official program, so I hear.
This is the film celebrating the parent trigger, the law started by the billionaire-funded Parent Revolution in California and since adopted by the far-rightwing group ALEC as model legislation to encourage parents to seize control of their public school and hand it over to a charter school operator.
http://www.studentsfirst.org/page/s/dnc-signup
Join Us for a Screening of Won’t Back Down at the DNC
You and your guests are cordially invited to a pre-screening of Won’t Back

The Film That Should Be Screened at Dem Convention

by dianerav

When the Democrats hold their national convention, this is the film that should be shown:
During the Democratic Convention, I’d like to be invited to a viewing of the documentary, The Inconvenient Truth About Waiting for Superman. I’d like to see a similar panel of Democrats speaking afterward against privatization of our public schools and on behalf of teachers and students.
What a great idea! “The Inconvenient Truth About Waiting for Superman” was produced by teachers and parents in New York City.
It was made by the Grassroots Education Movement, whose symbol is an RR (Real Reformers).
Can anyone out there set up a screening for real Democrats who support public education and oppose privatization?

Charter schools' cheating scandal teaches a disheartening lesson - latimes.com

Charter schools' cheating scandal teaches a disheartening lesson - latimes.com:

Charter schools' cheating scandal teaches a disheartening lesson

Decisions surrounding L.A. Unified's now closed Crescendo charter school chain indicate the adults were thinking more about themselves than about the students.

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In March 2011, John Allen, left, Crescendo charter schools' founder, walks out of a board of directors meeting and into closed session amid jeers and boos. (Los Angeles Times / March 4, 2011)

By Sandy Banks

August 24, 2012, 8:32 p.m.

I planned to write an upbeat column about education this weekend, something to put us in a good mood as the kids begin a new school year: Test scores are rising, new schools are opening and plastic foam trays have been banned from lunchrooms.

But when I read Times reporter Howard Blume's article Saturday, about the fallout from a charter school cheating scandal, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

It seems we're stuck on stupid

Union leaders have Chicago teachers wanting more - Chicago Tribune

Union leaders have Chicago teachers wanting more - Chicago Tribune:

Union leaders have Chicago teachers wanting more

Rank and file's expectations may make contract talks more difficult

August 24, 2012|By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Joel Hood and Kristen Mack, Chicago Tribune reporters

• •  

• •  103

After nine months of firing up its members for a possible strike amid rancorous contract talks, Chicago Teachers Union leaders may be hard-pressed to secure a deal that satisfies members.

"If you're preparing teachers for a strike, you have to create a sense of militancy and a sense of expectation," said Rod Estvan, education policy analyst with disability rights group Access Living. "Once you create that sense of expectation, you may have created thresholds below which you cannot go."

At a meeting last week, riled-up union delegates yelled "Strike!" as officials read a list of the district's proposals, which include 2 percent raises for each of the four years of a contract.

The delegates loudly gave union President Karen Lewis authority to file a 10-day strike notice. But no notice has been filed as of this weekend, meaning school will start on time when the bell rings for most Chicago Public Schools students Sept. 4.

Teachers have a practical reason for not wanting to be on strike the first day of school. To secure health insurance, teachers have to work at least one day in a month.