UDPATE: $122M school budget adopted, 44 positions less

This is a district in the metro area. There are 3 high schools in their system, I think, with one hosting a magnet program for math/science.

UDPATE: $122M school budget adopted, 44 positions less

Reader View: In U.S., cheating runs rampant - The Santa Fe New Mexican: My View

Is anyone really surprised? Seriously, you'd have to be living in a monastery to have missed the facts.

Reader View: In U.S., cheating runs rampant - The Santa Fe New Mexican: My View

And, along the same lines, schools/districts/states are.... *GASP*... gaming the system. Shocking news? Not to those of us in the trenches. APS is amatuer hour by comparison.

I know the feeling.

 

I felt the same way during testing...

Wow, a district that is not handing over the keys to charter operators

York, PA is in financial trouble. One of the two choices available to them was to go all charter. They recovery board voted overwhelmingly NOT to do that. They looked at the data, like the pundits keep saying, and saw that charters do no better than neighborhood schools. It's not a solution. They will have to come up with a plan for 'internal transformation'. At least they are not going charter. Yet.

What does it take?

This school has run afoul of multiple layers af authority and 'accountability' and yet remains open. All in the name of "choice", perhaps. It is a charter after all. They have fired the (now former) employee who alerted the DOE to financial mishief. She has sued, and they have managed to delay the court proceedings on the grounds that they are the subject of a crminal investigation. Seems like that should make it an easy case to decide, but what do I know? I'm just part of a jury pool.

http://articles.philly.com/2013-05-14/news/39231059_1_joseph-proietta-anna-duvivier-community-academy

AZ conference about VAM

Check it out. They explain why this nonsense can't/won't/doesn't work. BAsically, you can't compare apples to oranges. Not even if you change their names to the same word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7RE6E48118&list=PLMrsYOKrP2J_-cmqi5PpHI4hS_&noredirect=1

Diane Ravitch discusses the same here.

Here's a better idea for teacher appreciation

Amy Prime teaches and writes in Iowa. She has suggestions for her state's governor for making education better. Surprisingly, she does not include 'accountability', 'choice', or any of the other reforms du jour in her list.

http://abetteriowa.desmoinesregister.com/2013/01/21/prime-teachers-not-the-main-problem-with-education-shortfalls/

Online, adaptive testing for Common Core

Let's see. These "tests" are meant to be used to determine the success or failure of students, effectiveness (of lack thereof) of teachers, rank and sort schools, decide school closures, and who knows what else they'll pile on. But, it didn't work properly. How are the kids supposed to maintain composure, keep from panicking, and do their best when the damned thing glitches and hiccups during testing? Can you imagine remaining calm during a medical diagnostic test gone awry? How valid would the findings be? And better, I want to know why we shouldn't go back to pencil and paper. At least there is a minimum of shit to hit the fan that way.

Teachers, find your own perfect harmony and match

“What if there was a way to combine the idea of online dating with human capital in education?”

Apparently, while cruising a dating website, this was the thought of a TFA executive director who started edMatch.com
Yes, you read that correctly. A teacher-school dating service model of job hunting. The website sounds like one of those commercials for online dating sites. It even talks about finding your perfect match based on "seven core dimensions".
Too bad the company doesn't seem te recognize that people are sometimes (often?) less than honest in their online dating profiles, and this will be no different.

http://edushyster.com/?p=2502
http://www.facebook.com/myEDmatch
http://myedmatch.com/about/teachers

Common Core not exactly grassroots effort

Not when Bill Gates is spending millions (150M) to promote and encourage adoption of CCSS. I keep thinking of The Net, which centered on a conspiracy by a top software company to expand its influence and control in the marketplace. This is rather more insidious, I think.

Anyone of a certain age will remember 1984 and Brave New World.
Remember Big Brother? Forget about it. Now you have to worry that Bloomberg is Watching.

incredible

Since when do we allow schools to go broke? Does aanyone find it interesting that this is a majority black district? Ridiculous.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/buena-vista-school-district-closed_n_3240613.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Finally, the Times has taken notice

of the destructive policies imposed by Bloomberg under the guise of 'improvement', NCLB-style. and even more amazing, the editors are CRTICIZING Bloomberg. Wow.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/opinion/education-and-new-york-citys-mayoral-race.html?_r=0

NY Daily News calls out the dummies at Pearson

For a change, the Daily News published something critical of both Pearson and the Schools Chancellor. Usually they are too busy drinking the KoolAid to think for themselves.

Teacher appreciation

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/may/07/national-teacher-day-instead-mug-teachers-want-tru/

Here's what would help- quit treating me like a garment working in a Bangladesh sweatshop.

BAD NEWS FOR GA TEACHERS

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/may/07/governor-signs-bill-linking-teacher-evaluations-st/

Under this half=baked legislation, at least 50% of the evaluation/ranking must be based on test scores. How's that for "multiple measures"?

And what about other people in the same situation?

Here, we've been treated to regular, even daily updates about this patient. Nothing personal, but there were at least two other patients at the same time she was in ICU, with the same infection, who got no press. How many others have had to have amputations for this, but aren't benefitting from 'bionic' prosthetics?
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/us/georgia-aimee-copeland/?hpt=hp_t2

Why is this not getting any ink in general press?

All I hear/read is the scandal of the hour. Thhis is buried somewhere.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/moon-explosion/

yay, Carol Burris

This brave principal is speaking up and will not be silenced.
http://roundtheinkwell.com/2013/05/18/why-the-ny-vam-measure-of-high-school-principals-is-flawed/

self-preservation, in conflict

The Hasidim are trying to preserve their culture, but so are the immigrants trying to preserve their opportunities and futures. Each feels that the other is a threat or burden.
http://nymag.com/news/features/east-ramapo-hasidim-2013-4/

Teachers silenced

Here is why we NEED unions/professional organizations/whatever. Here is why we NEED due process protection. To keep experienced veterans from being railroaded. http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/concord/2013/05/teachers_association_president.html

And you ask why teachers remain silent adn anonymous?

Here's why: speaking out, openly, can get you fired.

http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-joplin-school-districts-charges.html

Remember, this is one of the benefits of doing away with due process protections ("tenure") and unions. Living in a right to work state means you can lose your job because someone doesn't like your opinion. (Remember, opinions are like assholes... everybody has one.)

And this is the best example of utter ignorance and stupidity I've seen in years:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fahad-hassan/teacher-pay_b_3135114.html?utm_hp_ref=@education123
You have NO knowledge of what the conditions are like. You have no experience on the subject. So SHUT UP about it. You have nothing useful to say.

No matter what BP says in their commercials,

Louisiana Gulf fisherman can see the difference.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/27/us/gulf-disaster-fishing-industry/index.html

Interesting that they did not appear to interview an aquatic biologist or environmental scientist.
That said, it doesn't take a lot to figure out some of this. Insect populations are down- the aquatic habitats that many of them need in early stages are contaminated. Crab catches are down- well, they feed on all sorts of little critters in the marshes, where the insect larvae and nymphs are not surviving, leading to a food shortage for the crabs, who then are either not surviving or not growing to catch size. It's a food web, folks, and when you take one of the elements out of the web, you disrupt the feeding patterns of the other organisms in the web. Not rocket science.

New milestone

A student called me "Bitch" today. In fromt of his peers. Ten feet from the Assistant Principal. He disguised it as a sneeze into his arm, but we all heard it. As if I'm too stupid to get it.
Either I've done something right, or I've done something terribly wrong. Remember that the word bitch is code in our society.
He's way overdue for disciplinary action, but TPTB won't do it.

so much for the talent search

Apparently, success is not best achieved by seeking out the 'best and brightest' (think TFA), but by creating an environment where everyone can perform at their highest level. OMG, you mean it rests on the shoulders of the managers/administrators to actually DEVELOP the 'talent' they seek!? Damn, who would have thought....
Now I have a couple of new books to add to my list of titles to find and read.
http://shankerblog.org/?p=8146

It's Greek to me, too

No, ma'am, you and your son can't sit together on the plane

Absolutely, if she had left her son in the airport for that long the police would be involved. If he'd been left in her car, she would be arrested on the spot. In a mid-flight emergency, how is she supposed to watch out for him? Rely on someone else to do it enstead? Idiotic.

Gee, I wonder

why we would need product placement on standardized tests?
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/learn_abc_ibm_VZNV1GuerwMfPVezW2BuRP

So, when did Rhee know there was a cheating problem?

Besides the obvious, that is?

At least January of 2009, at which time she had a district official who was working on "the erasure study". That is how it is described in the so-called 'lost memo' which has finally been provided to John Merrow (PBS, The Education of Michelle Rhee, Frontline) by an anonymus source.
Let's be clear here, it's the same kind of pattern of evidence that is the basis of 35 criminal indictments in the Atlanta Public Schools, announced in early April. Highly improbable rates of 'wrong-to-right erasures' were observed. Someone was given the task of studying the issue. At least two audits (dog-and-pony shows, or shell games, take your pick) were carried out, with a minimum of direct information from teachers, and without looking at test documents. Not surprisingly, they found nothing to substantiate suspicions. Well, that's like asking me if I ran that red light. I'll say no. If you take me at my word, without checking the red-light camera, or talking to witnesses who were at the corner, then you are an idiot and have earned the label. That's basically what happened in DC. That's also what happened in the first 'investigation' in Atlanta. Until Governor Perdue (not Deal, but Purdue before he lost the election) appointed an outside, unbiased commission to REALLY look into it. They did a thorough job, unlike the prior team which hit miltiple schools in a single day an proudly announced that they found nothing. It has been slow going since then, with almost 180 educators coming under suspicion, and now 35 indicted. When will DCPS take this seriously?

BRandenberg connects the dots

He notes that 100 years ago, a gorup of wealthy people with a social agenda (keep down the 'less desirable' classes and control the workers) supported the develpoment and use of new tests of intelligence. Supposedly the tests gave incontrovertible proof that certain ethnic groups were inferior.
Sort of like how kids in some neighborhoods will always come up short in the absence of resources, experiences, and adeqquate support.
http://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/billionaires-public-insanity-and-racism-there-is-in-fact-a-connection/

wow, what a pair

this guy is priceless. He wants to make money 'managing' public pension funds, while at the same time is cofounder and board member of Students First. Students First, you may have heard, is AGAINST defined-benefit pensions for public employees like teachers. Remember Students First? It's Michelle Rhee's new gig. Where she accuses public school teachers of riding the gravy train at a fee of $50,000 plus travel expenses while also collecting a salary in excess of 100 grand. I can only hope to one day be so honestly and accountably employed...  What a matched set of hupocrites!

But, which games?

Researchers at UC Berkeley have done studies that appear to show students can learn from video games. So, which games did they use? My kids could use lots of  practice to develop their proportional reasoning, one of the skills mentioned in this article.

someone should rip off his bandaid

Dennis Walcott is a real piece of work. He's the NY schools chancellor, Bloomberg's second-choice (after the uncertified, unqualified Cathy Black) replacement for the Wizard of Chambers Street, Joel Klein. Apparently he has no more of a clue than his predecessors. He is practically bragging that test scores will drop as Common Core rolls out, claiming that it's time to rip off the bandaid. Whose bandaid is he ripping off, I'd like to know? Is he referring to kids, or teachers? And does he not realize that whichever one he's after, it will affect the other group? Complete idiot.

Bring your own device?

In Litchfield, CT, the school board pulled the plug on BYOD in grades K-6. I don't agree with the reasoning; there are much better reasons to restrict this. But, i do question the usefulness of this as the latest shot in the arm for 'engagement' in the classroom.

But, can the programming be fine-tuned?

There is new software, brought to us by the EdX folks, that supposedly uses artificial intelligence to grade essays and short-answer items, thus freeing up instructional time for more worthy endeavors. My question: If I'm looking for specific elements in an essay or short-answer, can the software be tweaked for that? Otherwise, it's generic and useless in many instances.

Steubenville, 2.0?

In Torrington, CT, two 17 year-olds and two 18 year-olds have been arrested for statutory rape. It appears they had intercourse with two 13 year-old girls. The case has exploded in the local press and in social media, as the teen culture holds the two under age girls responsible for the choices made by the much older 'boys' who've been arrested. Adults are mystified by the perspectives of the young people who are defending the accused. The victims are being blamed for ruining the lives of the accused, as if these guys had no say in what they did. Before it was even brought up in the Times article, my mind automatically called up the recent coverage of the Steubenville rape case. From what I see so far, at least 3 of the 4 defendants are football players, and one of them has other charges pending separate from the rape. But the girls who reported him are presumed at fault? Torrington High School students, friends and teammates took to social media in the wake of the arrests of Gonzalez and Toribio, attacking the victims in the cases via Twitter. Sickening.
But wait, there's more of this disgusting drivel. Seems the police have publicly made statements that seemed to minimize the facts, at least as stated in the arrest warrants. These are the people that your 13-year old daughter has to rely on if an older boy gets hold of her.