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Teachers grading parents-a good read

from Candy...Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done, and I would not feel comforatble grading someone else as there are too many variables at play that I may not even know about....however, some type of voluntary request for feedback from teachers seems reasonable.

School Board members are still focused on student achievement over charter schools, performance pay etc. Hess article attached.

School Board members are still focused on student achievement over charter schools, performance pay etc. Hess article attached.

Does this article assume that all parents have the wherewithall and the resources to navigate this terrain?

Doritos High School....is that where you would like to attend, where your high school memories will be formed? The push and allowance of corporate sponsorship of schools are a response to impending and repeated education budget cuts.

"Some Republicans are so skeptical of the federal role in education that they want to abolish the Education Department." Obama wants to replace the federal metric of adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, with more flexible measures that reward student growth. Yet it remains unclear how the government would force improvement of low-performing schools while getting out of the way of those that excel. Obama wants to replace the federal metric of adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, with more flexible measures that reward student growth. Yet it remains unclear how the government would force improvement of low-performing schools while getting out of the way of those that excel.

Researchers at the University of Colorado have raised some concerns about the methods used by the economics team hired by the L.A. Times to apply a value-added metric to teachers' test scores. The central debate is over which variables to control for when running a value-added analysis.

In New York, students are deemed "college ready" when they score at or above a certain level on the high school Regents Exams (their version of the SOL's). I took a quick look at the high school biology exam from 2001(I admit-not a scientific analysis at all), and apparently fact memorization is what you need to be successful in college.

GOP proposes numerous cuts in federal education spending. Significantly reduces or eliminates programs that the President proposed in his recent State of the Union speech.

While not technically about education, this article relates to the concept of connectivism and what we are teaching our students in our schools.

$5000 for no cursing initiative...really? We can't even get new textbooks!

states reform governance - Liam Goldrick's take on Andy Rotherhams's TIME article

Parents' job loss prompts students to worry that they may need to leave a key support systems--their school.

Interesting comparison between schools in US and Singapore. Singapore built a well-functioning society because top officials "applied ... lessons [learned at the Kennedy School at Harvard] vigorously."

Mounting evidence shows that business-type/market-based reforms are not delivering anticipated results.

Ruling: Fired D.C. teachers must be offered jobs, back wages Yeah, due process is kinda important...

Maybe DC can use her share of the profits from "Waiting for Superman" to pay for this!

Such a contrast to Virginia. Here you can be let go during your first three years in a school system with no explanation whatsoever.

I think Texas, like many states, are finding it more and more difficult to cut school budgets without letting go of personnel. They cannot skate around the issue any longer. In the words of the spokeswomen for the Texas Association of School Administrators, "There's no fat left."

The punishment does not fit the crime, but if there is such a strong correlation between zip code and achievement, who can blame a Mom for trying?

I disagree with two of the comments in the article... The first was made by the City Council President: ""The young lady was wrong, she should not have tried to take her kids to another school system,..." I do not think she should have falsified the records; however, I do not think that it was wrong to try to find a way to get equal access to a quality education for her children. I also disagree with Don Domenech's interpretation of SES data. While research has found a correlation/relationship between SES and student achievement, I think his statement that "the correlation between student achievement and zip code is 100 percent," is misleading. The average student achievement may be higher in more affluent zip codes but that does not mean 100% of the students perform better. There are still students who struggle or drop out. I think the data speaks more to the family SES. It is true that better facilities and access to more materials and technology provide a higher likelihood of academic success, but I think that some of the student's personal/home factors have a bigger influence. If you send a child who is hungry, has to take care of siblings and/or work to help support the family to an affluent suburban school, that student will not automatically perform better. There are no absolutes and I feel his statement that "The quality of education you receive is entirely predictable based on where you live," is misleading. The "quality" of some of the "inputs and processes" may be better but because success in education is complex and dependent on more than simply the school, the outcomes are not guaranteed based on zip code.

This article takes a macro look at what education might look like in a post NCLB world. The fact that we are even talking about a post NCLB world seems like a fundamental shift to me.

Post-NCLB sounds great, but I do wonder what will come next! The "Close-but-no-Cigar Race to the Top" may become mandatory! Yikes!

This article describes the disconnect between federal education policy focused on math and reading (and rote memorization in other subjects) and Obama's calls for greater emphasis on science education.