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Erin Power

Teacher turns 'crazy idea' into new school - CNN.com - 1 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html

School Administration Colorodo Teachers Unions

shared by Erin Power on 10 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Kim Ursetta
  • Denver, Colorado'
  • want to start a new kind of school," she said, a union-sponsored public school led by teachers, not a principal
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • We've been doing schools the same way in this nation for 150 years, so if we don't step up, then nothing is going to change
  • bility ranks among the top barriers blocking the nation's children from receiving the best education possible.
  • A board-certified, 16-year teaching veteran, Ursetta, 38, believes the lack of teacher flex
  • Although they follow school board-approved curriculum and standards, instructors can easily rearrange lessons to "make better sense for the kids" -- making better connections between different subject matter, Ursetta said.
  • The lack of quality school leadership is a big reason that experienced teachers leave their schools,
  • Race to the Top also aims to give a boost to charter schools -- special public schools that are given more independence in order to encourage innovation.
  • To qualify for Race to the Top, the rules call on states to create "data systems" linking student success with teacher performance.
  • National Education Association
  • members fear it opens the door to measuring teacher performance by how students score on tests.
  • "What we're really against is using a single [student ] test on a single day" to assess teacher performance, said NEA Executive Director John Wilson. "What we're more accepting of are multiple indicators," and teacher performance "observed in classroom should count as the major part of evaluation."
  • many teachers are reacting coolly to Race to the Top because they "feel like it's too much like No Child Left Behind and are looking for something different.
  • Dubbed Race to the Top, the program is essentially a contest pitting states against each other to win a share of $4.35 billion in grant money from congressional stimulus legislation.
    • Erin Power
      Erin Power on 10 Sep 09
       
      I think this is an interesting concept that we (as future teachers) should consider. Most of the teachers I've spoken to feel that schooling is not done the most efficient or successful way. Why not consider other options? The thing I love most about this article is that this school came about someone, Ursetta, simply thinking that way - what could other options be? Then Ursetta looked at the steps she had to make and brought it into actuality.
    • Erin Power
      Erin Power on 11 Sep 09
       
      This source relies on interviews and studies conducted by CNN. A teacher could use this site to remember to be inventive in their approach to administration. This is valuable to social studies teachers so they constantly keep rethinking and questioning how to teach
  • Erin Power on 10 Sep 09
     
    This article talks about a Colorado school which has gotten rid of administrators and is run solely by teachers
Joellen Kriss

'Race to the Top' - we expected better - 0 views

www.sfgate.com/...article.cgi

Reforms Race to the Top Obama Policy

shared by Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09 - Cached
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
       
      Strong start, right out of the gate!
  • From the perspective of a classroom teacher, reform must be rooted in classroom practice and supported by research.
  • Public education faces complex problems and won't be fixed by simplistic solutions. Standardized tests can be a useful tool among others to assess student learning. But it is too narrow of a measure on which to base a student's grade, let alone gauge a teacher's performance.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • States must enact a laundry list of federally mandated "reforms" to qualify for the competition. Duncan and Obama call this initiative "Race to the Top."
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
       
      Hittleman talks about how they'd looked forward to education law that helped, and race to the top doesn't look that much different from NCLB
  • funding mandates are controversial because they have never been shown to improve student learning.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
       
      Totally on target with the fact that there's so much more to education than tests and standards.
  • No Child Left Behind, an education law that focused on one-size-fits-all standardized testing.
  • A portfolio that includes multiple-choice tests but also essays, research projects, homework and classroom presentations gives a much more complete picture of student achievement.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
       
      A very well rounded argument, bringing in all of the factors outside of the classroom that affect learning.
  • Likewise, to judge teacher effectiveness solely on student test scores ignores a range of factors outside a teacher's control, including support (or lack of it) in the home, changes in the student's situation from year to year, or even whether the student happened to be sick on the day of the test.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
       
      At the end of the day, teachers want reforms that WORK, made by people who know about teaching from first hand experience.
  • We are for reforms that work, which include standards-based and common curricula that have multiple source assessments; student data available for classroom teacher use based on a comprehensive approach; smaller class sizes; new teacher mentoring; and peer assistance and review. What we oppose are reforms based on the latest bright idea that has caught the eye of a politician or pundit with no experience teaching.
  • Joellen Kriss on 18 Sep 09
     
    Marty Hittelman offers one of the most comprehensive, well rounded opinions on the current policy reforms being enacted. It covers everything, which might be something I think because I agree with it all, but just read it. It's pretty good.
Erin Power

Reauthorization of ESEA: Why We Can't Wait -- Secretary Arne Duncan's Remarks at the Mo... - 1 views

www.ed.gov/...09242009.html

Education Policy Duncan

shared by Erin Power on 27 Sep 09 - Cached
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      What a conundrum this is...
  • People want support from Washington but not interference. They want accountability but not oversight. They want national leadership but not at the expense of local control.
  • And now that I'm here I'm even more convinced that the best solutions begin with parents and teachers working together in the home and the classroom.
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • Many teachers complain bitterly about NCLB's emphasis on testing. Principals hate being labeled as failures. Superintendents say it wasn't adequately funded.
  • And many parents just view it as a toxic brand that isn't helping children learn.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      I like how he/his speech writers recognize here that schooling is something that belongs to the states. It seems like he's saying that the federal government is just stepping in for a moment, until things start going well.
  • Until states develop better assessments—which we will support and fund through Race to the Top—we must rely on standardized tests to monitor progress—but this is an important area for reform and an important conversation to have.
  • it places too much emphasis on absolute test scores rather than student growth—and it is overly prescriptive in some ways while it is too blunt an instrument of reform in others.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      SUPER DUPER BINGO! NCLB encourages hig TESTING standards, but not LEARNING standards!! Good for you Arne (that's what he wants his staff to call him...in case you didn't know.)
  • NCLB is that it doesn't encourage high learning standards. In fact, it inadvertently encourages states to lower them. The net effect is that we are lying to children and parents by telling kids they are succeeding when, in fact, they are not.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      This is one of the issues in my practicum schools and one of the big debates there right now.
  • They are simply not ready for college-level work when they leave high school.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      ...because the goals are and always have been, decent, but the means, are and always have been, bad (to keep it clean.)
  • In my view, we should be tight on the goals—with clear standards set by states that truly prepare young people for college and careers—but we should be loose on the means for meeting those goals.
  • We don't believe that local educators need a prescription for success. But they do need a common definition of success—focused on student achievement, high school graduation and success and attainment in college.
    • Joellen Kriss
      Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
       
      But do they really?
  • Before we do, however, we want to hear from you. We want your input.
  • We don't need another study. We must stop simply admiring the problem. We need action.
  • And so the work of reauthorizing ESEA begins in states and districts across America—among educators and policy makers, parents and community leaders. This work is as urgent as it is important.
  • And yet we are still waiting for the day when every child in America has a high quality education that prepares him or her for the future.
  • Our shared goals are clear: higher quality schools; improved student achievement; more students going to college; closing the achievement gap; and more opportunities for children to learn and succeed.
  • Let's build a law that respects the honored, noble status of educators—who should be valued as skilled professionals rather than mere practitioners and compensated accordingly.
  • Joellen Kriss on 27 Sep 09
     
    Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's speech at the Monthly Stakeholders meeting this past week. It's a part of a series of town hall style meetings that the secretary is holding with those who have a stake in the policy they will be shaping: teachers, parents and others. The speech is interesting mostly because, what he's calling for sounds great to me, but I wonder if there's any possibility of anything this reasonable ever happening. Secretary Duncan seems like an ok guy (didn't know he is a former superintendent) but I still wonder what the next big thing is going to turn out to be and how/if it's going to help.
  • Erin Power on 05 Oct 09
     
    The Duncan speech we were talking about in class
Maria Mahon

Obama Puts Spotlight on Education Grants - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com - 1 views

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...-spotlight-on-education-grants

grants obama resources

shared by Maria Mahon on 09 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Under the draft criteria for the competition, states must not prohibit the use of student achievement data in evaluating teacher performance.
    • Maria Mahon
      Maria Mahon on 09 Nov 09
       
      With such huge amounts of money at stake, schools will be forced to use student achievement data in evaluating teacher performance.... how much more will this lead to "teaching to the tests"?
  • Maria Mahon on 09 Nov 09
     
    Obama gave a speach on Wednesday to talk about the Race to the Top competition - a competition in which states compete for $4.35 billion in education grant money.
Laura Wood

Learning Matters | Learning Matters - 1 views

learningmatters.tv/...60

Michelle Rhee Paul Vallas New Orleans John Merrow Education reform blog podcast news npr interviews

shared by Laura Wood on 28 Aug 09 - Cached
  • watch this 6-minute video
    • Laura Wood
      Laura Wood on 28 Aug 09
       
      This video ROCKS! and has tons of information
  • Laura Wood on 28 Aug 09
     
    WATCH THE 6 MINUTE VIDEO ON THIS PAGE! Learning Matters has a ton of resources from blog interviews with Diane Ravitch and Herb Kohl on the new "Race to the Top" incentive program to podcasts with Michelle Rhee (DC) and Paul Vallas (New Orleans)
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