Wednesday, April 2, 2014

#IsraelMunoz,19 yr old founder of Chicago Student's Union, on saving public schools on Vimeo

Israel Munoz on Vimeo:



,19 yr old founder of Chicago Student's Union, on saving public schools








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Education Reform Should Be Geared Towards Parents, Not Business | Truth in American Education

Education Reform Should Be Geared Towards Parents, Not Business | Truth in American Education:



Education Reform Should Be Geared Towards Parents, Not Business

Filed in Common Core State Standards by  on April 2, 2014 • 0 Comments
Rex Tillerson CEO of Exxon Mobil Uses bully tactics to advance Common Core.
Rex Tillerson
CEO of Exxon Mobil
Uses bully tactics to advance Common Core.
By Emmett McGroarty & Jane Robbins
Sometimes a combatant in an ideological struggle says something that is refreshing, if disturbing, in its honesty. Such a declaration came recently from Billy Canary, president of the Business Council of Alabama. In explaining why legislators should embrace the Common Core, Mr. Canary said, “The business community is by far the biggest consumer of the product created by our education system.”
How revealing. In 17 words, Mr. Canary encapsulated the education philosophy underlying the national Common Core standards. The education system does not exist to develop citizens fully capable of exercising their liberties and directing government. It does not exist to help children understand others – something that is critical to professionals, entrepreneurs, and all who seek an upward trajectory in life and career. Rather, it is an assembly line spitting out “products.” Those “products” are not unique individuals, but rather cogs in a managed economic machine. And the educational process should be controlled not by the parents, but by the largest “consumer” of the “products” – Big Business.
Mr. Canary’s comment is not an isolated muttering. It echoes the view of Allan Golston, president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s United States program, which has poured an estimated$173.5 million into promoting the Common Core.
In a flailing attempt to secure its human product, a Big Business cabal, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable launched a national advertising blitz targeted at Republicans who might be listening too much to parents. This is nothing new. To save Common Core, Big Business has already tried high-powered lobbying and massive advertising, and made Education Reform Should Be Geared Towards Parents, Not Business | Truth in American Education:
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PSAT for 4-2-14: Speak out, sign up, pencil in Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 4-2-14: Speak out, sign up, pencil in:



PSAT for 4-2-14: Speak out, sign up, pencil in

psat_logoI know it’s Wednesday – springing ahead can do crazy things to the schedule, especially when it’s barely spring, right?

1) Speak out about the AUSL turnaround proposals at three schools. Please share this quick fact sheet about AUSL’s lackluster contributions to student success.

Also, if you can, take time to review these charts from Catalyst showing pretty much the same story. Details about the three hearings this afternoon here.

2) Sign up for the April 9th Parents4Teachers dinner fundraiser honoring the opt out students, parents and teachers. More info here.

3) Pencil in the many excellent forums and events that are coming up:

April 7: Forum at DePaul 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Why our Schools are Still Segregated and What We Can Do About It:  DePaul College of Education hosts a presentation by Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute Education Policy expert.
Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore, RM 161

April 24: Forum at DePaul, 6 – 9 PM

Promoting Progressive, Democratic Education in an era of Standardization: A Visit from Mission Hill Public School in Boston
DePaul Student Center,  RM 120
So much discussion of education practice and policy today is centered on critique – of high stakes testing, value-added measures for teacher evaluation, growth of charters, deprofessionalization of teaching through short alternative programs and other “reforms.” We find that our students are looking for alternatives to today’s current “reform” prescriptions. Mission Hill offers one such example.

April 26th, 10am –Noon

Quality Education for Every Child; How do we get there? Finnish scholar and educator Pasi Sahlberg joins Raise Your Hand for a talk.
You must register for this event on the RYH website. Seats are limited and filling up fast. www.ilraiseyourhand.org
- See more at: http://pureparents.org/?p=21207#sthash.4HztikZK.dpuf

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Top 5 Myths and Lies About Teachers and Their Profession | NEA Today

Top 5 Myths and Lies About Teachers and Their Profession | NEA Today:



Top 5 Myths and Lies About Teachers and Their Profession

April 2, 2014 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories
By Tim Walker
Well-funded misinformation campaigns succeed in part by leaving no rock unturned in the quest to discredit whatever person or institution they are targeting. In these cases, is there any meaningful difference between a hoax, myth, rumor or an outright lie? Not really, because they all serve to discredit and undermine, regardless of intent.
For more than ten years, public schools have been assaulted by a barrage of destructive policies that have been fueled by the widespread dissemination of misinformation. It begins with corporate cash flowing into new think tanks and advocacy groups, or films like “Waiting for Superman” and“Won’t Back Down.” And it all eventually trickles down to the neighbor a few doors down who asked you, “I support public schools and I love my own child’s teacher, but, gosh darnit, why is that bad teachers can never be fired and what’s so bad about being held accountable?”
Needless to say, the conversation over public education needs to change course but is still largely bogged down in the morass of distortions and warped opinions
Education psychologist David C. Berliner and education professor Gene V. Glass hope to help clear a path with their new book, 50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools. Berliner and Glass take on and dismantle every half-truth, falsehood and bad idea that has undermined our schools, using logic and credible data to make their case.
“The mythical failure of public education has been created and perpetuated in large part by political and economic interests that stand to gain from the destruction of the traditional system,” the authors write in the book’s intro. “Many citizens conception of K-12 public education in the United States is more myth than reality. It is essential that the truth replace the fiction.”
NEA Today will be running excerpts from 50 Myths and Lies over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, here’s a summary of Berliner and Glass’ response to some of the myths pertaining specifically to teachers and their profession.
Myth 1: Teachers Are the Single Most Important Factor in a Child’s Education
Great public schools depend on having first-rate teachers. Teachers work very, very hard. Their days are spent not only providing instructional and emotional support, but also performing countless other tasks to benefit their students   Top 5 Myths and Lies About Teachers and Their Profession | NEA Today:

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Officials’ private e-communiqué not subject to open records act :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Officials’ private e-communiqué not subject to open records act :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:



Officials’ private e-communiqué not subject to open records act

by Tom Chorneau



(Calif.) Reversing a prior decision, an appeals court ruled this week that private communications sent on personal electronic devices and saved on private data systems are not subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act.
At issue was a request to the city of San Jose made in 2009 by a Silicon Valley environmental activist looking for e-mails, text messages and other electronic communication between city council members and the mayor related to a popular downtown shopping and entertainment development.
Even though the council had recently adopted a resolution specifically including communications sent between city officials on personal devices as subject to the Public Records Act, the city only provided communications sent and received from city-owned accounts and refused to provide anything from private accounts.
City attorneys had argued that communications sent on private devices is not a public record, as defined by state law, even if the content relates to public business, because the communications are not in the possession of the city.
City officials also warned that any other interpretation would create enormous problems surrounding privacy rights of city officials. And there is the issue of the new burden it would place on public agencies to seek out which communications are and which are not subject to disclosure.
A superior court judge rejected those arguments last spring, ruling that communications sent to or received by city officials even on their private electronic devices regarding public business are public records regardless of their format or storage location.
Now, however, the appellate court has reversed that decision.
According to a news brief issued Tuesday by the Sacramento-based Lozano Smith law firm, the 
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LCFF and LCAP / California State PTA

LCFF and LCAP / California State PTA:



IT'S AN EXCITING TIME FOR OUR KIDS AND OUR SCHOOLS!














Have you heard? There's a new school funding law called the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula). It's a new way for schools to focus on student success.
LCFF requires school districts to involve parents in planning and decision making.
It also:
  • Shifts spending decisions from the state to your local school district.
  • Requires your school district to focus on the eight key areas that help all students succeed.
  • Provides extra funding for students with greater challenges.
  • Gives your district more flexibility for how to spend its money to improve local schools.
LCFF is a huge opportunity for parents to shape the vision for your children's education and make it happen!
Now is the time to seize the moment for parent engagement -- guest column by Colleen, A.R. You, President, California State PTA

GET THE FACTS

Get the facts about LCFF and the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). Click to download and share with parents, teachers and your school community.
Listen to our recent Radio Disney broadcast about LCFF with California State PTA President Colleen A.R. You, Children Now President Ted Lempert and Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ramona Bishop.











FAMILY ENGAGEMENT – MAKE IT HAPPEN

To support school districts and parents in the development of family engagement goals and activities as part of their newly required Local Control and Accountability Plans, California State PTA together with National PTA released an updated version of the PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Assessment Guide.
The PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Assessment Guide is based on extensive research over the past 20 years. It was developed with the guidance and support of prominent education leaders and practitioners in the field of family engagement across the country. It provides specific goals for each of six accepted family engagement standards, as well as indicators for measuring whether those goals are being met.
PTA recommends that every school district's LCAP seek to address each of the standards and that the various indicators be used to facilitate local conversations among parents and educators about how best to build stronger family-school partnerships and measure progress based on the priorities and needs of the community.

LEARN MORE – GET ENGAGED

This a huge opportunity for us as parents to shape the vision for our children's education and make it happen. Now is the time to engage!
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4/2/2014 – A ‘Fair Shot’ Agenda For Education

4/2/2014 – A ‘Fair Shot’ Agenda For Education:



Education Opportunity Network -






4/2/2014 – A ‘Fair Shot’ Agenda For Education

April 2, 2014
THIS WEEK: The Public School Brand … Common Core Lost Opportunity … Charter Schools And Inequity … Obama’s Boldest Civil Rights Reform … Who Is ‘College Material’?

TOP STORY

Time For A ‘Fair Shot’ Agenda For Education

By Jeff Bryant

“There’s an issue rife with populist discontent that Democrats have left out of the Fair Shot agenda: K-12 education … If Democrats want to put forth and fight for a compelling agenda for education they need to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans who espouse the current doctrine of testing, failing, closing, and privatizing … Democrats should have something better than “hope” to ensure they’re not the ones who deserve to get tossed.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

The Biggest Public School Problem Might Be the Brand

Takepart

“Most people believe that charter and private schools are preferable alternatives to traditional public schools … Yet private schools are often outperformed by their public counterparts … Charter school performance also fails to match public perceptions … What accounts for the split between popular perception and actual results … is marketing … Exclusivity also plays a part … The media has a role, as well … Knowing this, we might conduct fewer conversations about an ostensible crisis in public education … and, instead, concentrate on the importance of cultivating positive reputations among the vast majority of public schools that are doing just fine.”
Read more …

The Lost Opportunity Of The Common Core State Standards

Phi Delta Kappan

Education research expert Kevin Welner writes, “The Common Core standards themselves are fine … But the unfortunate reality is that whatever its potential benefits, the actual Common Core package will almost certainly exacerbate the policy failures of the past decade … Test-based accountability policies still advocated by politicians disregard the opportunity side of the equation … Many well-intentioned and smart people are working to advance the Common Core and make it successful. But unless and until our politicians reverse course and focus on closing opportunity gaps, the Common Core will be part of the problem.”
Read more …

What Applying To Charter Schools Showed Me About Inequality

The Atlantic

A parent in the Washington D.C. public schools system writes, “School choice is much less about choice than it looks … When the good being transferred and traded is something that should be a baseline public good for all students, the market solution starts to run into trouble … A system of lotteries can still tilt in favor of families with sufficient resources and free time to get around town and apply to as many as possible … Lotteries also reward families who can afford to live close to high-performing charter schools … Attempts to adjust the lottery unquestionably threaten the ethical neutrality of the school choice model … It opens the door to charges of inequity … In the absence of a school system that provides access to an excellent education for all students … we shouldn’t confuse a Band-Aid for a solution.”
Read more …

Relaxing Zero Tolerance In Schools Could Be Obama’s Boldest Civil Rights Reform

The Conversation

Education professor Paul Thomas writes, “The recent government initiative on discipline in schools could salvage the hope that education reform can turn in the direction of better equity for all students … The Obama administration is calling for an end to harsh discipline policies, such as zero tolerance, that ‘disproportionately affect minorities’ … Just as many of the current education reform commitments – such as those related to high-stakes testing, grade retention, charter schools, and Teach for America – are failing to address, and often intensifying, educational inequity, the discipline policies in US schools represent patterns that must be corrected. Although the Obama administration appears unwilling to change course on academic reform policies, a call for addressing discipline inequities could serve as a turning point that fulfills the claim that education reform in the 21st century is the civil rights issue of our time.”
Read more …

College Material Or Not: Who Should Decide?

The Washington Post

Welner joins award-winning principal Carol Burris to write, “We can all agree: college is not for everybody. But should school officials and top-down policy makers decide based, for example, on Common Core college readiness test scores, or should the decision be left to parents and students after schools have given them meaningful, enriching, equitable opportunities to learn? … History tells us that schools should not be in the business of foreclosing children’s options … When schools sort in this way, it is the disadvantaged children who are directed toward lower-tier tracks … To say in a supposedly neutral way that not all students will go to college is disingenuous without first acknowledging something else: that what’s really being said is that we should accept that college is for the already advantaged … High schools have an obligation to do their best to prepare students for college and career; preparation for both has more overlap than often assumed.”
Read more …
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4-2-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):






Abandoned LA Unified schools coming back to life — but how?
Oso Elementary School After more than 30 years, the West Valley may be closer to having four more schools. What kind of schools remains to be seen. Community members are invited tomorrow night to a meeting at Woodlake Elementary School to learn more about the the future of the elementary schools — Oso, Collins, Highlander and Platt Ranch Elementary — that were abandoned in the 1980s due to a massi
1 by Vanessa Romo / 1h 


Common Core Standards: Our new map tracks states’ movements
Via Education Week | By Catherine Gewertz  Today’s post marks a turning point in our coverage of the common standards: the revision of our widely followed map of state adoptions. Indiana made us do it. As you probably already know, because my intrepid colleague Andrew Ujifusa reported it last week, Indiana has become the first state to officially reverse its adoption of the Common Core State Stand
6min 


Rachel Johnson has experience, if not cash, for school board race
Rachel Johnson In keeping with the start of the baseball season this week, let’s use a baseball analogy: Rachel Johnson has a Hall of Fame batting average in running for office. Since 2001 when she was first elected as the City Clerk of Gardena, Johnson has run four successful campaigns for elected office — a second term for City Clerk, then three separate races for Gardena City Council. Her only
2 by Vanessa Romo / 0min hide  //  save
Morning Read: LAUSD wasting $100,000 of food daily
Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools And so it goes on hundreds of campuses in Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, which serves 650,000 meals a day. Students throw out at least $100,000 worth of food a day — and probably far more, according to estimates by David Binkle, the district’s food services director. LA Times LAUSD investigates as Sunny Brae Element
2 31min  
4-1-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Deasy at USC: Vergara is the next big civil rights caseJohn Deasy, with fellow panelist, Susan Estrich More than two months ago LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy took the stand as the first witness for the plaintiffs in Vergara v California, a lawsuit challenging teacher protections. He testified for t
by mike simpson / 21h 




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4-2-14 The Whole Child Blog — What Do You Think We Need from Education — Whole Child Education

High-Morale Schools: Readying Students to Take on the World — Whole Child Education:




What Do You Think We Need from Education?
As we continue our discussions on "Choosing Your Tomorrow Today" and "The Future of Schooling" as part of ASCD's Whole Child Symposium, let's add another question to ponder: What do you think we need from education? In the United States, historically, the purpose of education has evolved according to the needs of society. Education's primary purpose has ranged from instructin
by Whole Child Sympo... / 46min 


THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Lora M. Hodges

High-Morale Schools: Readying Students to Take on the World

April 2, 2014 by Lora M. Hodges
Post written by Lora M. Hodges for Northeast Foundation for Children/Responsive Classroom, a whole child partner organization.
Morale can be hard to define, but you know it when you see it. When you walk into a school and everything immediately feels calm, safe, respectful, rich with learning, you know you're standing in a school with high morale.
That's exactly how you'd feel if you were to walk in to one of the many schools in the nation using the research-based Responsive Classroom approach. You'd see and hear teachers showing patience, kindness, and respect toward each other and toward students. You'd observe engaging lessons in classrooms. Throughout the school you'd hear adults using positive language and drawing forth positive behaviors from students. You'd get the clear sense the adults like their jobs and the children want to be at school.
This is positive school culture. This is high morale. And this is indispensable to students' school success.

WHAT MAKES FOR HIGH MORALE?

So how do schools using the Responsive Classroom approach build this exceptional school culture? The answer is their leaders support teachers in developing teaching competencies—specifically, competencies in three key teaching domains: promoting academic engagement, building a positive learning community, and 




4-1-14 The Whole Child Blog — Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global Curriculum — Whole Child Education
Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global Curriculum — Whole Child Education: Building Bridges to El Salvador: A Model Global CurriculumPost written by Kerry Dunne and AnitaCristina Calcaterra We are so proud of the Arlington, Massachusetts, global education unit of study on our sister city of Teosinte, El Salvador! But before you read about it from us, please let three of our 4th graders te
by mike simpson / 19h 
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