Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: TOMORROW! JOIN THE CTU PROTEST AGAINST BUDGET CUTS!

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: TOMORROW! JOIN THE CTU PROTEST AGAINST BUDGET CUTS!:

TOMORROW!

by Mike Klonsky

Join parents, students and educators from across the city to demand that Chicago puts our schools first! Fight the budget cuts and help win for our students. Please invite LSC members, parents and students from your school!

CHICAGO BOARD OF ED MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
Board of Education – 125 S. Clark8:30 a.m. STAND UP FOR OUR SCHOOLS!

          CLASSROOMS NEED RESOURCES!
10:30 a.m. Board meeting beginsStand up for your students, your colleagues, yourselves.

Click here to RSVP

Budget detail shows almost all districts returning to prerecession funding levels SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

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Budget detail shows almost all districts returning to prerecession funding levels
By Kimberly Beltran
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Gov. Jerry Brown’s finance department has released estimated payment amounts for districts based on the new education funding system adopted earlier this month by the Legislature as part of the 2013-14 state budget.

Under terms of what’s being called a “compromise” on Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula, districts will receive an average of about $537 more per student than was proposed in May by the governor.

In addition, some 40 districts whose budgets would not have increased to pre-recession 2007-08 levels under the earlier proposal will receive ‘economic recovery payments’ to avoid them losing money under the plan.

“We’re extremely pleased with the outcome,” administration spokesman H. D. Palmer said. “The essential architecture of the governor’s formula is maintained (base grant/supplemental grant/concentration grant), and the economic recovery target payments will ensure that almost every school district receives at least their pre-recession funding level, adjusted for inflation, once the formula is fully implemented.” 

Brown had initially proposed a formula in which districts would receive an equal, per-student base grant amount, as well as supplementary funds for every disadvantaged child – English learners, low-income students and foster 

SBE rejected just 3 percent of district waivers in 2012
By Tom Chorneau
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Last year at this time there were mounting concerns that too many school districts would be excused from meeting a new mandate for transitional kindergarten because of ongoing fiscal hardships.

But a look back at the numbers and types of waivers granted by the California State Board of Education in 2012 shows those worries were unfounded – the board denied nine of 13 applications for relief and the remaining four were withdrawn. Almost all of that activity took place early last summer and seemed to set the tone for the year.

Where the board did use its authority to waive virtually any part of the state’s Education Code was to give districts latitude when it came to meeting class-size requirements. Just as it has since the onset of the recession, the board granted 88 waivers in 2012 from fiscal penalties districts would otherwise have faced for having student-teacher ratios above state benchmarks.

The other large basket of waivers the board approved last year were given to districts enrolled in the Quality Education Investment Act – a program that came out of a court settlement and offered struggling schools extra state support on the condition of meeting several performance and administrative goals.

QEIA schools have been required to reduce class sizes by five students from a base year (either 2006 or 2007) or 

Math, Science, Literacy, and Empathy Are Not Mutually Exclusive — Whole Child Education

Math, Science, Literacy, and Empathy Are Not Mutually Exclusive — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Math, Science, Literacy, and Empathy Are Not Mutually Exclusive

June 25, 2013 by Start Empathy

Post written by Sharon Lazich for Ashoka's Start Empathy Initiative, a whole child partner organization

In February President Obama laid out an ambitious agenda to invest in our young people, calling for early childhood education for every child in America. In his own words:

"Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on—by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, and form more stable families of their own."

The President is absolutely right that the sooner a child begins learning, the further he or she is predicted to achieve professional and personal success. However, it's important not to limit those skills to science, literacy, and math. Emotional intelligence is critical, too, and should be woven into the rich tapestry of a student's education.

Studies increasingly link social and emotional intelligence with career and life success—and these must be cultivated early in a child's development. For example, we know that a child who masters empathy at the age of four is less likely to bully ten years later, and that, for students, having one supportive relationship with an adult outside the family can be the difference between success and failure when they grow up. This evidence is not anecdotal either.

Joshua Freedman, one of the founders of the Six Seconds EQ Network, and author of At the Heart of Leadership, is a worldwide advocate for this integration of what he dubs "head + heart + hands." As stated on the Six Seconds website, "The research is abundantly clear: social and emotional factors are the drivers or 

Oregon Save Our Schools: Dr. Crew's Office: To Serve the Governor or the Public?

Oregon Save Our Schools: Dr. Crew's Office: To Serve the Governor or the Public?:

Dr. Crew's Office: To Serve the Governor or the Public?

by Oregon SOS

Oregon Save Our Schools met with Dr. Rudy Crew last year, a few months after he was hired in Oregon.  We wanted to open a dialogue with him to share concerns of the voice of the public to include parents, teachers, and community members.  After meeting for over an hour, which Dr. Crew and his staff graciously stayed longer than what was scheduled, it was obvious that the voice of the public was not in his job expectations.  It was clear that his job was to push and support the education reform plans put out by Governor Kitzhaber and the OEIB.  It was a true disappointment, but it was also a reveal as to the agenda put forth by those in power, and that the public was at best, an irritant.  Below is a reflection of one of our members, Tom Olson, from that meeting.  -- Oregon SOS

by Tom Olson

Right after our 90 minute "dialogue" with Crew shortly after he arrived, several of us decided to launch a poll contest. The question was: "Guess how long he'll stay in this job?" The answers clustered around 2 years.  He 

Diane in the Evening 6-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Anyone Can Teach, Right?

by dianerav

Dennis Hong has written an essay that is spreading like wildfire across the Internet.
It is called “The Hardest Job Everyone Thinks They Can Do.”
He used to be a molecular biologist. When he told his friends about his frustration with a failed experiment, no one told him how to do it right.
Then he became a teacher.
Now everyone knows his job–or thinks they

Oh, Those Overpaid Teachers in Tennessee!

by dianerav

A reader posted this comment:

I am a teacher in TN. I have 6 years of experience and a masters degree, and I don’t make even 40k a year. Our district already has a performance incentive program – the top level of merit pay, which I did earn last year, was $2,000 – about $1600 after taxes. Insulting. In fact, many teachers earned it. So what are they doing for this 

What My Mother Knows and Sanders Doesn’t

by dianerav

Angela Danovi’s mother taught in the Memphis public schools for 29 years. She just retired.
Angela knows how many lives her mother changed, how many daily acts of kindness shaped her students.
And she knows that William Sanders, the statistician who invented value-added modeling or VAM, has never 

How Pre-K Has Changed for the Worse

by dianerav

A teacher comments:
Arne Duncan cannot be taken at his word.
I sometimes teach things in Pre-K that I taught in K against what I know is right. My administrators want to see graphs, charts, accountable talk and levels of depth of knowledge.
When I hear the K teachers giving lessons on nouns and pronouns, verbs and adjectives (yes using that 

Wisconsin Invests in Super-Rich TFA

by dianerav

The Wisconsin legislature allocated $1million to pay Teach for America to send 70 we teachers to Wisconsin schools.
It gets tiresome to say this again and again: Teach for America is a wealthy organization that sends ill-trained recruits to teach in under-resourced districts. These poorly trained young people, with no experience as teachers 

North Carolina Legislature Puts a Few Limits on Charters

by dianerav

North Carolina’s SB 337 has been revised to add just a few limits to charter autonomy. There will not be a separate charter-friendly board to authorize charters; that responsibility will remain with the state board, which will likely be tilted towards charters anyway.
The original bill would have allowed all charter teachers to be uncertified. Currently, 75% of charter teachers in K-5 must be certified. The new bill drops that to 50%, instead of zero.
Charter teachers will be subject to criminal background checks. That’s a relief. And charters will be expected to 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 15 minutes ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] New Charter Study Shows Improvement, Raises Questions by dianerav CREDO, the organization at Stanford University that analyzes charter performance, released the results of its latest national study. Its earlier report (2009) showed disappointing results for charter schools, with only 17% outperforming traditional public schools. This was especially disappointing for the Walton Family Foundation, one of the main backers of CREDO. The new study shows that charters... more »

Pitiful --- Vallas and Pryor “performance” on the witness stand in the Bridgeport superintendent case - Wait, What?

Pitiful --- Vallas and Pryor “performance” on the witness stand in the Bridgeport superintendent case - Wait, What?:

Pitiful — Vallas and Pryor “performance” on the witness stand in the Bridgeport superintendent case

by jonpelto

Yesterday, Paul Vallas and Stefan Pryor took the stand in the case about the fact that Paul Vallas lacks the educational and legal standing to serve as Bridgeport’s superintendent of schools.

The case was brought by former Connecticut Judge Carmen Lopez and a Bridgeport parent.  Their legal team is headed by the renowned trial attorney, Norm Pattis, as well as attorneys Kevin Smith and Dan Erwin.

After weeks of trying to delay the case, the attorneys for Paul Vallas and the City of Bridgeport reversed course and agreed to allow the case to go forward.

Among the initial witnesses was Paul Vallas and Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.

After watching the testimony, the word “pitiful” is the primary description that comes to mind.  Despite being under oath, the two education reformers simply regurgitated their 

Georgia State GOP Committee Passes Resolution Against Common Core | Scathing Purple Musings

Georgia State GOP Committee Passes Resolution Against Common Core | Scathing Purple Musings:

Georgia State GOP Committee Passes Resolution Against Common Core

by Bob Sikes

From Marietti Daily Journal reporter Lindsay Field:

MARIETTA — The chess match over Georgia’s involvement in a controversial program  to create nationwide educational standards got deeper over the  weekend.The State Committee of the Georgia Republican Party adopted a  resolution Saturday that recommends the state withdraw from participation in the  Common Core standards and the national tests that are tied to them. It  also asks the Legislature to prohibit state officials from entering into any  agreements that would cede local control over education to the federal  government. Also banned under the resolution would be the collection, tracking  and sharing of student and teacher data with schools or agencies outside the  state.The Common Core standards initiative started more than five years  ago as an effort by private and government forces to establish a nationwide set  of educational standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade,  starting with English and math. Standards are expected later for science and  social studies.But critics worry that Common Core has become President  Barack Obama’s attempt to federalize education. Obama has tied his federal “Race  to 

FLDOE Charter School Superiority Study Contradicted By CREDO – Florida Charter Schools “Lagging”

by Bob Sikes

Orlando Sentinel reporter Leslie Postal has skimmed through the much ballyhooed Stanford CREDO Institute and found that Florida’s charter schools aren’t measuring up to public schools.

The average charter school student in Florida loses the equivalent of seven days of learning in reading compared to the average student in traditional public schools, according to an updated national charter school study by researchers at Stanford University.Charter school and traditional school students are on par in math………But the study noted that charter school students have “markedly different learning gains” across the 27 states included in the study, even with demographic differences were taken into account……In 11 states, such as Louisiana and Tennessee, charter students gained more in both reading and math than counterparts in traditional schools. But Florida was not among those, with its charter students lagging in reading and doing no better in math. The study noted, however, that differences in states’ overall academic achievement would influence whether the differences in days of learning made an actual difference to particular children.

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 6-25-13: Sign Xian’s petition to return the public schools to the public

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 6-25-13: Sign Xian’s petition to return the public schools to the public:

PSAT for 6-25-13: Sign Xian’s petition to return the public schools to the public

by admin

The good news is that my son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby and have signed a contract on a new house in Chicago.
The bad news is that as of yesterday, there is no neighborhood elementary school in their area.
As someone who has fought for high quality schools for every child in Chicago for 25 years, I find this a hard pill to swallow.
It seems that the whole city has been fighting back, but we still lost 50 schools. To add injury to injury, school budgets are being cut as much as 20% or more for the coming year.
People are angry and not sure what to do next. Sometimes it just helps to express our collective anger. Try signing this petition put together by the wonderful CPS teacher Xian Barrett.

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Key Provisions of the Voting Rights Act

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Key Provisions of the Voting Rights Act:

Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Key Provisions of the Voting Rights Act

by L. Jablonski

This law covers many pages. But the heart of the act is plain. Wherever, by clear and objective standards, states and counties are using regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote, then they will be struck down. If it is clear that State officials still intend to discriminate, then Federal examiners will be sent in to register all eligible voters. When the prospect of discrimination is gone, the examiners will be immediately withdrawn. 

And, under this act, if any county anywhere in this Nation does not want Federal intervention it need only open its polling places to all of its people.

~  President Lyndon Johnson, Remarks on the Signing of the Voting Rights Act (Aug, 1965)

In a 5-4 vote, the United States Supreme Court today issued a ruling that struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, landmark legislation prohibiting race-based discriminatory voting practices by states, subject to federal government oversight and enforcement.

As we discuss in our junior U.S. history classes, the Voting Rights Act ended nearly a century-long-record of voter suppression tactics such as poll taxes and literacy tests largely aimed at African Americans.   Specifically, the Act prohibits states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or 

Arne Duncan tells newspaper editors how to report on Common Core:

Arne Duncan tells newspaper editors how to report on Common Core

By Valerie Strauss, Published: June 25, 2013 at 4:19 pmE-mail the writer

It seems that a big part of Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s job now is giving impassioned defenses of the Common Core State Standards, which he did Tuesday to a convention of American news editors (some of whom may not have even known it needed defending).

A few months ago, Duncan told Chamber of Commerce leaders that they had to be more supportive of the Common Core because it was coming under withering attack from the left and right, and some states were reconsidering implementing the standards. On Tuesday, he gave another defense to the editors as well as some tips on how to report the story:

So do the reporting. Ask the Common Core critics: Please identify a single lesson plan that the federal government created, or requires of any school, teacher or district.

Ask if they can identify any textbook that the federal government created, endorsed, or required for any school, teacher, or district in their state.

Ask them to identify any element, phrase, or a single word of the Common Core standards that was developed or required by the federal government.

If they tell you that any of these things are happening –– challenge them to name 

Common Core foes spreading misinformation, Duncan says

by Lyndsey Layton

Education Secretary Arne Duncan planned a robust defense on Tuesday of the Common Core standards, new academic standards in reading and math that have been adopted by 45 states and D.C.
The standards, which are rolling out in most states and will be in place by 2014, have been attacked in recent months by conservatives and tea party activists, who say they amount to a federal intrusion into local school systems.
Read full article >>

TODAY's Education Research Report 6-25-13

Education Research Report:

Language Intervention Levels Playing Field for English Language Learners

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 hours ago

A new approach to teaching pre-kindergarten could take a bite out of the achievement gap and level the playing field for America’s growing population of English language learners, according to a recently published study by researchers at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development. “We are excited that we have helped teachers develop ways of teaching that result in such remarkable gains among children,” David K. Dickinson, professor of education and one of the project's leaders, said. “Our teachers are committed to continuing using the approaches that are workin... more »

SPATIAL TRAINING BOOSTS MATH SKILLS

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 hours ago

Training young children in spatial reasoning can improve their math performance, according to a groundbreaking study from Michigan State University education scholars. The researchers trained 6- to 8-year-olds in mental rotation, a spatial ability, and found their scores on addition and subtraction problems improved significantly. The mental rotation training involved imagining how two halves of an object would come together to make a whole, when the halves have been turned at an angle. Past research has found a link between spatial reasoning and math, but the MSU study is the fi... more »

Kids’ Reading Success Boosted by Long-Term Individualized Instruction

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 hours ago

Students who consistently receive individualized reading instruction from first through third grade become better readers than those who don’t, according to new research published in *Psychological Science*, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. These findings come after a three-year study that followed several hundred Floridian students, who received varying amounts of individualized instruction, from first to third grade. “Our results show that children need sustained, effective instruction from first through third grade if they are going to become proficient r... more »

Study finds improvement in the overall performance of charter schools since 2009

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 5 hours ago

*"Gains" include slower declines than traditional public schools 71% (math)-75% (reading) of charter schools aren't doing any better than traditional public schools 31% of charter schools significantly weaker in math "Gains" fueled by closing of the worst charter schools* A new, independent national study finds improvement in the overall performance of charter schools, driven in part by the presence of more high-performing charters and closure of underperforming charter schools. The National Charter School Study 2013, released by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CRE... more »

Value of education rises in crisis but investment in this area is falling

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 hours ago

The jobs gap between well-educated young people and those who left school early has continued to widen during the crisis. A good education is the best insurance against a lack of work experience, according to the latest edition of the OECD’s annual Education at a Glance. Unemployment rates are nearly three times higher among people without an upper secondary education (13% on average across OECD countries) than among those who have a tertiary education (5%). Between 2008 and 2011, the unemployment rate for the poorly-educated rose by around 4 percentage points, while it increased b... more »

Let’s Begin with the Letter People® has no discernible effects on oral language or phonological processing

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 hours ago

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has an updated report on the preschool literacy programs Let’s Begin with the Letter People®. Let’s Begin with the Letter People® is an early childhood literacy curriculum that uses 26 thematic units (each of which covers a letter of the alphabet) to develop children’s language and early literacy skills. A major focus of the program is phonological awareness, including rhyming, word play, alliteration, and segmentation. The WWC found that Let’s Begin with the Letter People® has no discernible effects on oral language or phonological processing and... more »

Doors to Discovery™ has potentially positive effects on oral language and print knowledge

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 7 hours ago

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released an updated report on a preschool literacy programs, Doors to Discovery. Doors to Discovery™ is a preschool literacy curriculum that uses eight thematic units of activities to help children build fundamental early literacy skills in oral language, phonological awareness, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, writing, and comprehension. The eight thematic units cover topics such as nature, friendship, communities, society, and health. Each unit is available as a kit that includes various teacher resources. The What Works Clearinghouse... more »

How School and District Leaders Support Classroom Teachers’ Work With English Language Learners

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 10 hours ago

This study examines the ways in which school and district leaders create systems of support for classroom teachers who work with linguistically diverse students. The authors attempt to uncover the intentional supports leaders put in place for classroom teachers and how this may be part of a broader teaching and learning effort. Through a qualitative case study of four districts serving different populations of English Learner (EL) students, the authors examine school and district leadership actions aimed at helping teachers provide instruction that is responsive to EL learning nee... more »

Quality Matters More Than Quantity for Word Learning

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago

Several studies have shown that how much parents say to their children when they are very young is a good predictor of children’s vocabulary at the point when they begin school. In turn, a child’s vocabulary size at school entry strongly predicts level of success throughout schooling even into high school and college. A new study by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania now shows that early vocabulary improvement is likely to have more to do with the “quality” of the interactions in which the words are used rather than the sheer quantity of speech directed at young child... more »

Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago

This article examines the effectiveness of a technology-based algebra curriculum in a wide variety of middle schools and high schools in seven states. Participating schools were matched into similar pairs and randomly assigned to either continue with the current algebra curriculum for two years or to adopt Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (CTAI), which uses a personalized, mastery-learning, blended-learning approach. Schools assigned to implement CTAI did so under conditions similar to schools that independently adopt it. Analysis of posttest outcomes on an algebra proficiency exam finds... more »

Mindfulness Can Increase Wellbeing and Reduce Stress in School Children

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago

Mindfulness -- a mental training that develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel -- could reduce symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children, according to a new study published online by the *British Journal of Psychiatry. * With the summer exam season in full swing, school children are currently experiencing higher levels of stress than at any other time of year. The research showed that interventions to reduce stress in children have the biggest impact at this time of year. There is growing evidence that mind... more »

Student Engagement—Essential for Success in School—Is More Complex, Changeable Than Previously Thought

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 5 days ago

*“Enhancing student engagement has been identified as the key to addressing problems of low achievement, high levels of student misbehavior, alienation, and high dropout rates.” – Pitt professor Ming-Te Wang* A student who shows up on time for school and listens respectfully in class might appear fully engaged to outside observers, including teachers. But other measures of student engagement, including the student’s emotional and cognitive involvement with the course material, may tell a different story—one that could help teachers recognize students who are becoming less invested ... more »

Bullying and suicide among youth is a public health problem

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 5 days ago

*Expert research from CDC panel provides details and clarity, reports the Journal of Adolescent Health* Recent studies linking bullying and depression, coupled with extensive media coverage of bullying-related suicide among young people, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assemble an expert panel to focus on these issues. This panel synthesized the latest research about the complex relationship between youth involvement in bullying and suicide-related behaviors. Three themes emerged: 1) Bullying among youth is a significant public health problem, with wides... more »