Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Why School Choice Fails - NYTimes.com

Why School Choice Fails - NYTimes.com:

Why School Choice Fails

Washington

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IF you want to see the direction that education reform is taking the country, pay a visit to my leafy, majority-black neighborhood in Washington. While we have lived in the same house since our 11-year-old son was born, he’s been assigned to three different elementary schools as one after the other has been shuttered. Now it’s time for middle school, and there’s been no neighborhood option available.

Meanwhile, across Rock Creek Park in a wealthy, majority-white community, there is a sparkling new neighborhood middle school, with rugby, fencing, an international baccalaureate curriculum and all the other amenities that make people pay top dolla

CPS Closings Spark Outcry - Chicago News Cooperative

CPS Closings Spark Outcry - Chicago News Cooperative:

CPS Closings Spark Outcry

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education team made its first attempt at improving struggling schools last week, and the negative reviews came quickly. State legislators and community leaders called the proposed closing or restructuring of 21 schools “very troubling” and said administrators were violating the intent of a new state law.

Chicago Public Schools designated 10 schools for turnaround — a controversial process in which existing staff members are fired and changes are made in the school’s curriculum and learning climate. Four elementary schools will be closed, two high schools will be phased out, and six schools, one of which will also begin phasing out, will share buildings.

About 7,800 students will be affected by the proposed changes, and more than 600 teachers and other employees could lose their jobs. All the designated schools are on the city’s South and West Sides.

Legislation signed in August by Gov. Pat Quinn requires the district to follow a strict timeline for school closings



All Education Matters: Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicide

All Education Matters: Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicide:

Debt (The Student Loan Crisis) and Suicide

I've written about and have been researching the relationship between student loan debt and suicide for well over a year. A fellow activist sent me this clip that dramatizes the crisis in a powerful way. Sadly, I heard from a mother recently who told me that her son killed himself in part because of the debt he owed. (More on that later).

In the meantime, check out this amazing short film. One person commented, "Fuck Sallie Mae!"

Quick Thanks: Your Remarks Regarding My Interview On The Brian Lehrer Show

I am glad that I was able to speak about the student lending crisis on The Brian Lehrer Show this past week. I want to publicly thank all of you who complimented my analysis of the situation. Interestingly enough, I almost missed the interview. That morning, I was feeling under the weather, so I slept in (that's not normal for me). However, I happened to check my email and saw that the show had written to me an hour earlier; they urged me to get in touch with them. So, I did just that, and minutes before the discussion about Occupy Student Loan

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - Pepper spray safe? We still don't know #ows

tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - Pepper spray safe? We still don't know:

PEPPER SPRAY SAFE? WE STILL DON'T KNOW

This article originally appeared at The Sacramento Bee on December 4, 2011.

The pepper-spraying of 11 peaceful protesters at the University of California, Davis, provides an opportunity to reopen questions long ignored. Is oleoresin capsicum, the key ingredient of pepper spray, known to be safe? And if so, why have the authorities never performed the health risk assessments that were required by law when the weapon was introduced in 1992? Are they afraid of anything?

I was a state senator who worked on the issue when the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment was charged with conducting health studies during a three-year period in the 1990s. When the incident last month at UC Davis became a shocking global image, I checked wit

Fatherhood In Patterns | The Jose Vilson

Fatherhood In Patterns | The Jose Vilson:

Fatherhood In Patterns

There’s only two ways to really look at every decision you make as a father: either you’ll do it just like you’re father or nothing like him. That goes for everything in life, because the any choice in life we make is binary. With all the exposure I have to children via my godson, nephews, and my own students, I’ve gotten a good grasp of the ins and outs of what it takes to be a full-fledged father. Some of my colleagues remark that we ought to have licenses for parenthood, and I almost tend to agree. As a baby-raiser, you’re a gaga-interpreter, a butt-wiper, a food-hunter-then-preparer-then-feeder-cleaner-repeater, a gyrator-stirrer-shaker-human-bassinet, sleep-deprivation-survivor, and model for every sound that comes out of this little human. It’s a tremendous responsibility that takes almost as much time as living itself, and fatherhood administered properly, is a gift

The Turnaround Timeline Simplified | The Classroom Sooth

The Turnaround Timeline Simplified | The Classroom Sooth:

The Turnaround Timeline Simplified

In Chicago, and nationally, if schools don’t “work” we close them down or turn them around. If we take a look at why they do not “work” however, we see a pattern of strategic decision-making:

1) Chronically under-resource a school.
2) Declare it a “failure” after when you have a couple years of test-score results.
3) Throw it away and tell the students and educators to go elsewhere.
4) Re-open the building as a charter school with a $1 lease the following year.

Chicago attorney and edu-journalist Matt Farmer recently reported on th

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN

Top Content this Week - The Educator's PLN:

Top Content this Week

Top Content

Rank
1A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4v

A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4v

Added by Thomas Whitby on November 22, 2011
2Learning Styles Don't Exist

Learning Styles Don't Exist

Added by Thomas Whitby on April 11, 2010
3Finland - An Inconvenient Truth

Finland - An Inconvenient Truth

Added by andy mellor on December 3, 2011
4TED Talk: Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

TED Talk: Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

Added by Thomas Whitby on November 23, 2011
5No One Writes Alone: Peer Review in the Classroom, A Guide For Students

No One Writes Alone: Peer Review in the Classroom, A Guide For Students

Added by Thomas Whitby on October 20, 2011
6Educational IPad Apps

Educational IPad Apps

Posted by Thomas Whitby on November 23, 2011
7The Outsiders

The Outsiders

Posted by Kaitlyn Martin on February 28, 2011
8Are you writing your own courses or buying them already made?

Are you writing your own courses or buying them already made?

Posted by Diane Gihring on August 3, 2011
9a tool to record your Skype Calls!

a tool to record your Skype Calls!

Posted by Erin Klein on November 15, 2011
10Can I have my cake and eat it? Is there a social network with an academic portfolio element?

Can I have my cake and eat it? Is there a social network with an academic portfolio element?

Posted by Richard Nelson on November 9, 2011
11My Website

My Website

Posted by Anat Goodman on November 1, 2011
12Different Ways to Team

Different Ways to Team

Posted by Terry Sheehan on November 14, 2011
13Math remediation and acceleration programs

Math remediation and acceleration programs

Posted by Mitchell Swords on November 16, 2011
14Nuestra escuela

Nuestra escuela

Added by Gérard Gatoux on November 28, 2011
15Edchat Twitter List

Edchat Twitter List

Posted by Shelly Terrell on November 11, 2009
16Need volunteers to take a survey on iPads for my Master's

Need volunteers to take a survey on iPads for my Master's

Posted by Kyle Calderwood on October 26, 2011
17Assistive Technology Tools For Struggling Readers

Assistive Technology Tools For Struggling Readers

Posted by Michelle Proulx on November 13, 2011
18Comprehension Strategy Approach

Comprehension Strategy Approach

Posted by Melanie Hutchinson on November 1, 2009
19RSA Animate - The Divided Brain

RSA Animate - The Divided Brain

Added by Thomas Whitby on November 28, 2011
20My I-pad helps to change dreaded assessments into teaching again!

My I-pad helps to change dreaded assessments into teaching again!

Added by Irene Tortolini on November 30, 2011