Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Operators Are Buying Our Politicians

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Operators Are Buying Our Politicians:


Charter Operators Are Buying Our Politicians

If there's anyone still out there trying to make the case that charter schools really are public schools, answer me this: why are so many politicians trying to exempt charters from the same oversight provisions as publics? [all emphases mine]
A controversial proposal that would deny public access to records of private managers of charter schools has surfaced again in the Pennsylvania legislature after it was rebuffed during the summer. 
Disagreement over the proposed exemption to the state's Right-to-Know law was one of the reasons that a package of charter law changes submitted in late June was shelved until this fall.
The proposal was part of a 53-page amendment inserted into a special education funding 

 

A SEXUAL PAST, OR NO SEXUAL PAST ?- THAT’S THE QUESTION « Teachers Fight Back

A SEXUAL PAST, OR NO SEXUAL PAST ?- THAT’S THE QUESTION « Teachers Fight Back:


A SEXUAL PAST, OR NO SEXUAL PAST ?- THAT’S THE QUESTION

Oh no !  More front page stories about teachers who were fired after revelations that they had previous careers that had sexual elements to them.  Now we have a female  teacher who had a previous career as a model and posed for risqué pictures. A male teacher who was previously employed as a gay porn actor.  Another female teacher who was in porn movies and a female teacher who was selling her “talents” on Craigslist. All were fired after their school districts found out about their previous careers. All the teachers were successful in their teaching careers but were fired once their past was revealed.
Shame on all the administrators who hired these people without ever checking on their previous careers. Isn’t that the first thing you would ask of a new teaching candidate if you were an administrator ? “Did you have a previous career that might in any way be remotely considered to have involved sex or sex appeal?” Doesn’t every administrator ask that when interviewing potential new employees ?  Now all the above cases have resulted in 

Students Last: Worst Womb in New York City

Students Last: Worst Womb in New York City:


Worst Womb in New York City

New York City - As we reported last month, Pearson PLC and New York City's Department of Education announced that utilizing nano technology Pearson scientists had developed a way to administer standardized exams to fetuses. Today the DOE revealed how data from those tests will be used.

At a City Hall press conference, Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott explained that fetus exam results will be used to determine 

Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library

Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library:


Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library

FROM THE COLLECTION

Collection photos
The struggle for racial equality in the 1950s and 1960s is among the most far-reaching social movements in the nation's history, and it represents a crucial step in the evolution of American democracy. The Civil Rights Digital Library promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale. The CRDL features a collection of unedited news film from the WSB (Atlanta) and WALB (Albany, Ga.) television archives held by theWalter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia Libraries. The CRDL provides educator resources and contextual materials, including Freedom on Film, relating instructive stories and discussion questions from the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia, and the New Georgia Encyclopedia, delivering engaging online articles and multimedia.
CRDL is a partnership among librarians, technologists, archivists, educators, scholars, academic publishers, and public broadcasters. The initiative receives support through a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Schools Matter: A suggestion for increasing English proficiency in Korea

Schools Matter: A suggestion for increasing English proficiency in Korea:


A suggestion for increasing English proficiency in Korea


A suggestion for increasing English proficiency in Korea
Sent to the Korea Herald, October 10, 2012

According to one parent, many Korean families pay about a half million won per month (about US $450) for private English lessons for their children. Meanwhile, a Korean provincial government spent 10 billion won (about US $10 million) to support the establishment of new international school. International schools serve a tiny percentage of Korea’s students and charge high fees (“Foreign schools show Korea’s social divide,” Oct. 10).

I have a suggestion: Invest the 10 billion won in English-language public libraries, accessible to everybody, filled with exciting books and magazines that young people really want to read. 

Study after study tells us that the amount of self-selected reading young people do is the best predictor of their scores on standardized English tests. Those who read more for pleasure read better, write better, know more 

Don’t Let Me Down [On Opening Up When Things Go Down] | The Jose Vilson

Don’t Let Me Down [On Opening Up When Things Go Down] | The Jose Vilson:


Don’t Let Me Down [On Opening Up When Things Go Down]


John Pushing Paul Off a Roof
You’re not supposed to know when your student is this close to suicide.
You get up in front of the classroom, get students started on their work, and get into the routine. Whether the routine comes from you or them matters little. The room buzzes for a while as they sit, but when the notebooks come out, the notebook pages ruffle, the pencils scratch, and your shoes tap along the aisles and rows you’ve created in your classroom. As you walk up and down the classroom, you check for understanding. Does the student have their objective and “Do Now” ready? Do they look like they’re thinking about the given solution? Does the solution fit in with what they learned the prior year or yesterday? Are you confident they can actually give their answer if called upon in the middle of class?
You’ll ignore their temperaments for a second because the clouds in the sky have yet to give way to the 

Diane in the Evening 10-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Diane Ravitch on Arts Education


WRITE YOUR LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA TODAY
 

Readers of this blog know that we are collecting letters to send to President Obama by October 17.
Please join us in opposing high-stakes testing and privatization.
We call this action the Campaign for Our Public Schools.
Instructions on where to send your email are here.
Lets begin now to make our voices heard.


Playing Games with Data in Louisiana

Yesterday I wrote a post about how the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education was pulling a few fancy tricks to inflate the scores of charter schools. This makes it easier to claim that they are incredibly successful (when they are not) and persuade the Legislature to add many more.
But it turns out that Louisiana is even slicker than Pennsylvania when it comes to playing games with the data. One of our readers, whom I deduce is or was an employee of the Louisiana Department of Education, has the 




23 Texas Districts Get Test Waivers

A group of Texas superintendents have been developing a different vision of what education ought to be. Different from the test-and-punish approach of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top.
With the full-blown revolt against high-stakes testing in Texas, the superintendents now have a chance to show their stuff.
At the last session, the Legislature gave permission for a small number of districts to development a new 




Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 10-9-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 11 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Write Your Letter to President Obama Today by dianerav Readers of this blog know that we are collecting letters to send to President Obama by October 17. Please join us in opposing high-stakes testing and privatization. We call this action the Campaign for Our Public Schools. Instructions on where to send your email are here. Lets begin now to make our voices heard. Hats Off to Tacoma! by dianerav I asked readers to tell me about good school districts that manage to offer a good education despite the testin... more »

LAUSD principals agree to use student test scores in their evaluations - LA Daily News

LAUSD principals agree to use student test scores in their evaluations - LA Daily News:


LAUSD principals agree to use student test scores in their evaluations

New Center: Concerns About Online Options for Special Ed. Students - On Special Education - Education Week

New Center: Concerns About Online Options for Special Ed. Students - On Special Education - Education Week:

On Special Education


New Center: Concerns About Online Options for Special Ed. Students

Leaders of a new center designed to expand students with disabilities' access to online courses said in just a few months of work, they have some serious concerns about those students' participation in e-learning.
"Our preparatory investigations have already raised a number of concerns that we think are urgent enough to report even now," wrote Don Deshler of the Center for Research on Learning, David Rose of the Center for Applied Special Technology, Bill East of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, and Diana Greer of the Center for Research on Learning, in an open letter written this month.
In their letter directed at teachers, parents, students, product developers and policy-makers, the principal investigators of the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities said their initial steps have uncovered a number of issues, including:
  • Complaints as parents and others raise concerns about how students with disabilities are served in online learning environments.
  • Inconsistent policies from 

New Online Waiver System - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education)

New Online Waiver System - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education):


State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces
New Web Tool to Save Schools Time and Money

Waiver Request System

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced the California Department of Education's (CDE) Waiver Office has created a new Web tool that allows local school administrators to submit state waiver applications online.

"This move to online waiver applications will save paper, save money, and save time, both for local school districts and the state," Torlakson said. "It's one more step we can take to work more efficiently with local school districts. And when you consider that we process more than 1,000 waivers a year, the savings will be substantial."

The CDE receives about 1,000 requests each year from districts seeking an alternative to the requirements of the stateEducation Code, including those related to class size, instructional time, and testing.

Until now, applying for a waiver often required school administrators to gather a great deal of information and fill out multiple forms that had to be mailed and emailed to the CDE. Now, school administrators can go online to the Waiver Request System, submit a password and start submitting information, greatly reducing the time involved.

The CDE's Web site also offers school administrators updated guidance to help move the waiver submission process along. This includes Web pages on frequently asked questions, the State Board of Education's waiver calendar, waiver contacts, data elements necessary for a waiver, list of requirement attachments, and examples of Education Code that administrators seek to strike. The new Web guidance also contains links to waiver reports that are submitted annually to the State Board, Governor, and Legislature; as well as links to the most current State Board of Education waiver policies.

For more information on these new developments, please visit the CDE Web page on Waivers.
# # # #
Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Beware of false prophets… (i.e. "Special Master" Adamowski’s Plan for New London) - Wait, What?

Beware of false prophets… (i.e. "Special Master" Adamowski’s Plan for New London) - Wait, What?:


Beware of false prophets… (i.e. “Special Master” Adamowski’s Plan for New London)

Principals approve new evaluations but object to workload - latimes.com

Principals approve new evaluations but object to workload - latimes.com:


Principals approve new evaluations but object to workload

 L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy at a Los Angeles School Board meeting in Feb.
School officials on Tuesday formally approved a one-year agreement for evaluating principals in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but the head of the administrators union also asserted that principals will be overburdened by a new teacher-evaluation system.
The new evaluation system for principals, which will incorporate student-achievement data, was ratified by the Board of Education after previous approval by the administrators union.
“We appreciate the collaboration with the district’s bargaining team during negotiations,” said Judith Perez, 

Walking in Their Shadows: ED Officials Team Up with Principals | ED.gov Blog

Walking in Their Shadows: ED Officials Team Up with Principals | ED.gov Blog:


Walking in Their Shadows: ED Officials Team Up with Principals

EducationIn celebration of National Principals Month, dozens of senior ED leaders and staff members are visiting schools today, tomorrow and Thursday across the country as part of an organized effort in which federal education officials are shadowing school leaders.
These shadowing visits, in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals and New Leaders for New School, will offer Department staff a glimpse into the daily work of principals, while also providing principals with the opportunity to discuss how federal policy, programs, and resources impact their schools.
To complete the week-long partnership effort, principals and ED staff who participated in the job shadowing will join Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Friday afternoon for a debrief discussion to reflect on their experiences and lessons learned. Earlier this year, ED officials shadowed fifty teachers across the country as part of Teacher Appreciation Week.
Stay tuned for stories from our participants and see a complete list of who is participating and at what location.
Cameron Brenchley is director of digital engagement at the U.S. Department of Education

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pro-Charter Forces Now over $8M

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Pro-Charter Forces Now over $8M:


Pro-Charter Forces Now over $8M

Kind of takes your breath away.  Of course, it isn't like the donors are any big surprise.  There's:

Bill Gates - he's thrown in another $2M (he's at about $3M but that doesn't count the money he threw to get 1240 on the ballot)

Alice Walton (of Wal-Mart) - must really love charters in Arkansas and Texas because she put in another $1.1M (that makes about $1.7M altogether)

A U.S. congressman from Colorado, Jared Polis

DeShaw - --> "a global investment and technology development firm"

An interesting couple, Anne Dinning and Michael Wolf, from NYC who have helped create Turnaround for Children, a non-profit that helps low-performing schools with high-needs students (wonder if they help all those low-performing charters).  What's interesting is here's 

BEX IV Update

From Superintendent Banda today:


·         Arbor Heights Elementary: Replace existing building with new/expanded facility by 2019. The school will be at an interim site starting in 2017. We understand the building is in need of replacement, but we will not have enough cash flow from levy funding to move this project up within BEX. However, we will analyze the pros and cons of other funding options to hopefully start this work sooner.

·         Bagley Elementary: Modernize and build an addition by 2020.

·         Fairmount Park building: Open this existing building with necessary upgrades, add classrooms and a 

The No on Intiative 1240 campaign needs YOU! | Seattle Education

The No on Intiative 1240 campaign needs YOU! | Seattle Education:


The No on Intiative 1240 campaign needs YOU!


From People for Public Schools:
We are definitely in full “on the ground” campaign mode now – and we’re really rolling up our sleeves and getting to work!  There are several ways to get involved this week so please jump on in, the water’s great!!
1.  Phone bank – TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 10th, 5:30-8:00 pm. at our Seattle office 1914 N. 34th Street, Suite 209.  We have a great group coming, but can still use more volunteers.
Also, mark your calendars with the following scheduled phone banking dates: Tuesday, Oct 16th and Wednesday Oct 17th, Wednesday Oct 24th, Tuesday Oct 30th, and Monday Nov 5th.  They will all be held at our offices, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
2.  Doorbelling -  We are starting with our targeted voters, and will kick off our efforts this weekend at Orca K-8, 5215 46th Ave S, Seattle WA 98118 by the playground.  Call  206 853-7594  that day if you have questions. Locations will vary in the future. Please try to make it to a few shifts. And bring you friends!
Other scheduled future dates for doorbelling, so you can plan ahead:
Sat Oct 13, two shifts: 10:00 a.m.-12:00, 12:00- 2:00 p.m.
Sun Oct 14, one shift:  3:00 pm- 5:00 p.m.
Sat Oct 20, two shifts: 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 pm. 12:00 pm – 2:00 p.m.
Sun Oct 21, one shift:  3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Sat Oct 27, two shifts: 10:00 a.m.-12:00, 12 – 2:00 p.m.
Sat Nov 3, two shifts:  10:00 a.m.-12:00, 12 – 2:00 p.m.
3.  Signs – anytime you want to pick up yard signs, swing by our office. Phone ahead  (206) 545-1240 .
4.   Donate to the campaign – we are facing enormous financial resources on the other side, and every penny counts.
5.  Spread the Word – Follow us on Facebook & Twitter.


Initiative 1240: Don’t be charter fooled, the song

For more videos, go to Educationrumination.

Join the Campaign for our Schools: Write a letter to President Obama | Parents Across America

Join the Campaign for our Schools: Write a letter to President Obama | Parents Across America:




Join the Campaign for our Schools: Write a letter to President Obama