Skip to main content

Home/ ADMS707/ Group items tagged democracy

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Victoria Schnettler

Re-Thinking normative democracy and the political economy of education - 1 views

www.jceps.com/index.php

adms707 politics Carr Paul democracy

shared by Victoria Schnettler on 28 Jan 11 - No Cached
  • Victoria Schnettler on 28 Jan 11
     
    Discusses the use of reinvigorating the field of study of democracy within the classroom to actualize democracy in the educational system.
REL N

A Board's Eye View : Education Next - 0 views

educationnext.org/aboardseyeview

ADMS707 Niemeyer Boards reform

shared by REL N on 17 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • “Code of Conduct for School Board Members.” This was intended, wrote the superintendent, in recommending the code, “to set standards for how the Board interacts with itself.” Sounded like sex to me. But the preoccupation with board member behavior was the result of the long-standing tension between the democracy represented by elected officials who oversaw the schools and the professionalism of those hired to run them. The superintendent was definitely attempting to tip the balance in favor of the pros. “We will not attempt to exercise individual authority over the district’s operations, staff, or personnel decisions,” read one of the rules he was proposing for us. Another: “We will not express individual judgments about the performance of the superintendent or staff. . . . We recognize the value of the chain of command. When approached by staff, constituents or the public, we will channel all inquiries to the administrator.” I e-mailed the superintendent, “Is this a joke?” He called and laughed lamely.
    • REL N
      REL N on 17 Feb 11
       
      "... the preoccupation with board member behavior was the result of the long-standing tension between the democracy represented by elected officials who oversaw the schools and the professionalism of those hired to run them."
  • “We should let people know we are looking for quality, of course, but not to the point of advertising outside official channels.”
  • the board never reviewed other major expenditures, such as the installation of a new computer system.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • I asked the superintendent how a new asphalt parking lot was installed at the Greenport School without board approval–or even a bid or a notice or a need. He informed me that a bid wasn’t necessary for a job worth less than $10,000.
  • no clarification of what any of this meant–or cost. Don’t ask. “Mandated” was the knowing word from veteran board members.
  • almost 16 percent of the children in the school district were disabled, almost double the national average.
  • more than 350, were either “emotionally disturbed,” “learning disabled,” or “speech impaired.” These were the kind of catchall categories that allowed a district to dispose of many problem children–in Hudson those children were mostly black–with expensive baby-sitting.
  • over the next several months as I learned that the district had been running a deficit for several years. In fact, the state comptroller’s office, which oversees the fiscal integrity of all state and local government agencies, had conducted its own audit and found the same thing: “overexpenditure of budgetary appropriations and the overestimation of revenues.” Money was being moved around, from one fund to another, which was also against the rules, the comptroller noted. And when auditors had asked for records, they couldn’t be found.
  • the school board was not where the biggest battles would be won or lost.
  • The teacher union president, normally a regular presence at school board meetings, stopped coming so that he wouldn’t have to answer my questions about what was being done to improve things that his teachers controlled. (He had already stopped responding to my phone calls and letters.)
  • the debate was as much cultural–and racial–as educational,
    • REL N
      REL N on 17 Feb 11
       
      The author was frustrated that the board refused to discuss the academic mediocrity in the schools and then he realized that "the debate was as much cultural-and racial-as educational,...."
  • “Mandates” and laws sprouted acres of explanatory weeds–most of them unnecessary. No one ever read the original “mandate.”
  • no one seemed to know why the “Parent/Family/Community Involvement Policy” was necessary, but it was assumed that it was required by some Oz-like authority, passed through the policy-writing machinery at some school board association office, and sent to us for our “approval.”
  • No one else on the board expressed any hint of having read it. And I was beginning to discern a pattern: the more written, the less understood.
  • REL N on 17 Feb 11
     
    A concerned parent joined the local school board in hopes of improving the academics. After 6 frustrating months he resigned from the board believing that "the school board was not where the biggest battles would be won or lost."
Roger Mancastroppa

WHAT IS GOOD GOVERNANCE? - 0 views

www.unescap.org/...governance.asp

adms707 politics democracy Reform

shared by Roger Mancastroppa on 28 Jan 11 - Cached
  • Roger Mancastroppa on 28 Jan 11
     
    "Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society."
Roger Mancastroppa

A New "Washington Consensus" is Born - 1 views

educationnext.org/w-washington-consensus-is-born

adms707 politics Reform education democracy states

shared by Roger Mancastroppa on 31 Jan 11 - No Cached
  • Roger Mancastroppa on 31 Jan 11
     
    "This week has witnessed the emergence of a new Washington Consensus, apparent in President Obama's education-obsessed State of the Union address, a bipartisan conference call with key Senate leaders, and a supportive column by the country's most widely read conservative."
Roger Mancastroppa

A Battle Begun, Not Won - 0 views

educationnext.org/a-battle-begun-not-won

ADMS707 reform education school politics Federal NCLB Accountability democracy states

shared by Roger Mancastroppa on 06 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Roger Mancastroppa on 06 Feb 11
     
    These discussions are interesting. Mr. Finn and company seem to only see things through a particular paradigm. It is surprising, but it is interesting.
Roger Mancastroppa

Does Whole-School Performance Pay Improve Student Learning? - 0 views

educationnext.org/e-pay-improve-student-learning

ADMS707 reform education school democracy

shared by Roger Mancastroppa on 06 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Roger Mancastroppa on 06 Feb 11
     
    The article reflects a study we looked at in 704. The study results were poorly written and due to the limitations of the system, etc., it seemed poorly prepared and implemented. That said, some relevant data emerged.
stephlennon

Ohio Case: The 'Rosa Parks Moment' For Education? - 2 views

www.npr.org/...osa-parks-moment-for-education

adms707 federal democracy education Lennon

shared by stephlennon on 04 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • stephlennon on 04 Feb 11
     
    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?
  • REL N on 04 Feb 11
     
    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.
Roger Mancastroppa

Pennsylvania School Scraps Segregation Project - 0 views

www.care2.com/...ol-scraps-segregations-project

ADMS707 education reform School states democracy

shared by Roger Mancastroppa on 11 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Roger Mancastroppa on 11 Feb 11
     
    This seems fascinating to me. I'm shocked that they thought this might work. I think it alludes more to the "return to values" of the conservative movement in this country than anything else. To me, this has the feel of a conservative, religious movement that has made its way back into a school division. This reemergence of "older" value systems might simply be a fear response to how out of control our empire has become and the repercussions of the wealth disparity on the domestic front.
  • Tara McDaniel on 11 Feb 11
     
    Definitely...because life is segregated, so why not schools???#$%^
REL N

Jack Jennings: Get the Federal Government Out of Education? That Wasn't the Founding Fa... - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.com/...rnment-education_b_819814.html

shared by REL N on 25 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • the answer isn't to eliminate federal involvement in education. That would be a wrong-headed move that ignores our country's history and would contribute to the decline of the United States. It's also a battle that has been fought and lost before because the stakes are simply too high.
  • Federal involvement began more than 225 years ago, even before George Washington was president, when Congress passed two laws -- the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 -- to create and maintain public schools in the expanding United States.
  • The specifics of federal land grants were outlined in each of the federal acts for admitting these states.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • the achievement gap narrowed between adolescent white and black students. And the percentage of children with disabilities who attended public school rose from only 20 percent in 1970 to 95 percent in 2007.
  • three-fourths of all college student aid comes from federal sources, whether through the tax code, direct grants or subsidized loans.
  • These indirect subsidies of education through the federal tax code total at least $21 billion for post-secondary education, and at least $17 billion for elementary and secondary education. These amounts are almost as significant as the direct grants made by the federal government to support education.
  • "Getting the federal government out of education" would endanger the progress made by -- among others -- children with disabilities, African-American children, and women and girls
  • The achievement gap between U.S. students and their international peers deprived the national economy of as much as $2.3 trillion in 2008, according to the McKinsey Quarterly.
  • How can the country raise academic achievement if 14,000 local school districts are each making their own decisions on most key aspects of education?
  • Over the course of American history, the national government has aimed to better educate the citizenry as a basis for democracy and economic prosperity. Today, our nation must act with greater, not less, unity to improve schools.
  • REL N on 25 Feb 11
     
    Those who can afford to pay for all private K-12 and college expenses for their children may not care if the Federal government is involved in our education system. All the rest of the country needs to take heed and acknowledge the need for continued and expanded federal involvement. Without sounding flippant... do you suppose that those who might be leading the charge to get the Federal government out of education and make draconian cuts in social programs under the guise that tax burdens are too high and individualism trumps social justice are the same millionaires and billionaires who fund the tea party et al.? Sadly, the "regular folk" who are falling for that rhetoric do not recognize that they are paving their own way to..... [let's just say poverty].
Georggetta Howie

Arundhati Roy- Detergent Analogy - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

ADMS707 Democracy Howie Policy

shared by Georggetta Howie on 19 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Georggetta Howie on 19 Apr 11
     
    Great Dialogue
1 - 11 of 11
Showing 20▼ items per page