A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

A Language Policy for a School Bus Ride
No Spanish on the bus!

Ohio Teachers Want Answers from Obama
When will Clintonistas start bringing this up?

States Make Progress on Closing the Expectations Gap
Yay, Achieve, says Roy.

Deconstructing the Social Keiretsu in Education
This sounds like the title of a freshmen seminar at Yale from 1986

Teaching in the 408: These Four Walls
Restless on the West Coast.

   Klonsky broadside does Piton study wrong
Mike Klonsky -- he's the Rush Limbaugh of the Left.

The Love Boat for Policy Wonks
There should be an education version.

Obama once visited '60s radicals
Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

Orating Our Way To Better Schools?

All this talk about Obama's impressive speaking ability -- his use of words, his lines (some borrowed), his oration -- makes me think about -- you guessed it -- school reform.   

And my initial thought, at least, is that we need more actions and less words.  There have been some powerful speakers in education, and some powerful words, but my sense is that action, strategy, and political muscle have played a larger role and are what we need now. 

It's the Clinton argument, you might call it, not the Obama one. 
But is that right?   Perhaps this is just my bias  -- why, as I told my mom the other day, "listening to Obama too much makes me itchy."  I'm moved, but like you I've heard a lot of empty talk about kids and education, so I'm deeply suspicious. 

Can words, no matter how brilliant, increase funding for education, or open the door to bringing in new ideas? Have they?  Or does it take more than that to make real changes?  Read on for more thoughts about oratory and action in the world of schools.  Or, skip all that and tell me what you think.

Getting Just The Blog Posts You Want

I was  feeling excited but a little overwhelmed at first by my BlogNetNews RSS feed.  It was drowning me in new education posts -- so much stuff that I couldn't keep up.  Plus, there was some stuff I didn't want (but you may) -- higher ed, for example.  Who care about that?

But then I found out from Dave the BNN guy that you can customize your feed so that only the stories you want get sent to you (or your RSS reader).  Just click the "sort by" button right under the top ad and choose the feed that you find there. 

Or, if you're really a control freak, go here, click on the "life" tab, then "education" and there you'll see directions on how to customize a feed further -- by key words, particular author within a multi-person blog and/or by various measures of popularity. You can then choose to have it delivered by rss, mobile, hourly or daily email etc.

Of course, there's nothing better than the hand-crafted snarky roundup that I do every day. 

What Would It Take To Get More Education Coverage?

You want to know just how unimportant education issues are in the current political and journalistic scene?  Note that the past week's kerfluffle ("Voucher-bama"?) has so far generated zero interest from the mainstream media (Google News) and not much more from the political blogs.  This at a time when it doesn't take much to get a story going (Michelle Obama "hates America" for example).  Clinton didn't use the voucher thing against Obama last night.  And voucher opponents and Obama supporters may be heaving a sigh of relief.  But don't think that this is an example of journalistic wisdom, either. 

Big [UN Conspiracy] Stories Of The Day

Virtual teachers outperform real thing MSNBC
Virtual characters and digital tutors are helping children and adults develop advanced social and language skills that can be tough to learn via conventional approaches, according to researchers who briefed reporters here last week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Utah lawmakers, fearing UN conspiracy, kill funds for IB program Salt Lake Tribune
Lawmakers decided against helping Utah schools pay for International Baccalaureate (IB) programs after one legislator called IB's philosophy "anti-American" today.

SAT sues test-prep company over 'live' questions CNN.com
The owner of the SAT and PSAT exams sued a Dallas-area test-preparation company Wednesday, accusing it of illegally obtaining copies of "live" test questions that it then used to help students practice.

Much of Recalled Meat Sent To Schools Washington Post
More than a third of the 143 million pounds of California beef recalled this week went to school lunch programs, with at least 20 million pounds consumed, Agriculture Department officials said Thursday.

Stable Prekindergarten Funding Proves Challenging for States EdWeek
State policymakers are still scrounging for more money for pre-K programs despite a pre-K spending growth of $1 billion over the past two years.

Obama Rips NCLB - For Lack Of Foreign Language Instruction

From last night's debate:

"One of the failures of No Child Left Behind, a law that I think a lot of local and state officials have been troubled by, is that it is so narrowly focused on standardized tests that it has pushed out a lot of important learning that needs to take place. (APPLAUSE) And foreign languages is one of those areas that I think has been neglected. I want to put more resources into it."

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

Setting the record straight:  "Right-wing Dems" foiled again on Voucher-Bama, says Klonsky.

Obama and Clinton: Educational Policy Differences:  Besides on vouchers, that is.

"i'm hot for education":  Josh Benton comes to terms with himself.

If You Can't Beat 'Em...:  Union local gives it up and joins the parade, says EIA.

Tied Down:  The Kette promos a Russo-Rotherham throwdown at AERA.

Deconstructing a "Social Keiretsu":  Edbizzbuzz goes all 80's on us with his analysis of the school reform mafia. 

Slow Down On NCLB Rewrite, Coalition Says

The Forum On Ed Accountability wants the Senate to slow down and let people look at their proposed revisions before marking anything up (still March 3, anyone?).  Click below for what the FEA has to say.  No word yet from the Committee on a markup date, or whether they're going to release anything more for folks to look at. 

Given the Miller experience last Fall, I can't imagine they'd want to put out a discussion draft or give folks so much time to load and fire.  But they can't do nothing -- that leaves too much room for Spellings to do the easy stuff and leaves them with an unbalanced agenda of leftovers.  (You want to tighten up on restructuring, for example, at the same time you ease up on schools that "just miss" AYP.) Plus which, there's the whole issue of maintaining turf. 

Previous Posts:
 How Spellings Strategy Could Screw Up Future NCLB Changes
 Rumored March 3rd Senate Markup For NCLB
 New NCLB Language Out From Kennedy-Enzi
 NCLB Now?

More Math And Reading, Less Of Everything Else

Not as much news coverage or blogging about the new CEP report on instructional time as last year:

Reading, math eat up class hours Baltimore Sun
The report released yesterday by the Center on Education Policy shows that some school districts increased math and reading time by as much as 150 minutes a week, while cutting time for social studies, science, music and art by one-third.

More Time for Math and Reading Equals Less for Other Subjects EdWeek
The findings offer further evidence that the No Child Left Behind law has led to sizable shifts in the curriculum.

Blog Posts:
CEP Adds Fuel to Fire of Curriculum Debate
Test Prep Mania in Our Schools: Who’s Really to Blame?

Big Stories Of The Day

Cabinet secretary spells out testing during visit
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told a group of Kansas educators Wednesday the additional testing mandated by No Child Left Behind was worth the stress.

College Board sues test-prep company EdWeek
The owner of the SAT and PSAT exams sued a Dallas-area test-preparation company Wednesday, accusing it of trying to give its customers an unfair edge on the tests by illegally obtaining "live" copies to help students practice.

Cash Awards in Ohio Found to Lift Students’ Scores EdWeek
Federal pressure to improve student test scores prompt school districts to pay students for improved performance.

In the Bronx, a class with conservation at its core CSM
At the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation, the zoo is more than a field trip – and fieldwork covers topics from temperate forests to river turbidity.

Federal Report Counts Youngsters’ Deaths from ‘Choking Game’ AP
Federal health officials have issued a warning about the dangers of the “choking game” after determining that at least 82 youths have died in the past 12 years. 

The "New" Business Of Education

The business of education isn't new to anyone who's been reading this blog, but if you want some new news to chew on about how the education world works behind the scenes, there's a nice new set of articles about the business side of things that's been posted on PBS's Nightly Business Report.   This includes segments like: Standardized Testing, Tutoring Services, Charter Schools, Educational Technology, Investment Opportunities.

Check them out. Let me know if you make any money. 

Valentine's Day Drawing Gets Student Paper Pulled

"The drawing in question ran under the hot-pink headline "Have a happy Vagina Day!" The paper's editor-in-chief, 15-year-old Richard Edmond, said he was trying to raise awareness of violence against women with a lead story about playwright Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues."  (School newspaper drops a V-bomb)

Knowing that some of you are squeamish, and considering the time of day, I'm putting the picture of the front page in question below. Click at your own discretion.

Obama "Clarifies" On Vouchers

Oops.  I guess Obama didn't all say what we heard him say in Milwaukee:

“Senator Obama has always been a critic of vouchers, and expressed his longstanding skepticism in that interview,” says the statement. “Throughout his career, he has voted against voucher proposals and voiced concern for siphoning off resources from our public schools. The misleading reports that have been circulated about Senator Obama’s position took excerpts of an interview out of context.”

That, or he realized that his comments were going to endanger his (currently slim) chances of an NEA endorsement, end up in a Clinton speech, or come up on the Sunday talk shows. 

Via the Core Knowledge Blog.   

DFER: Obama To Vouchers:  Drop Dead
MM: Obama's Damage Control on Vouchers

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

Teacher bloggers: Don't forget who does the real work here -- but Will Okun should be included.

Glover park, $2,617,982 - a UFT Slush Fund for Clinton?:  Clinton and the UFT both pay Howard Wolfson a LOT of money.

Once More Into The...?  Where others see a clubhouse, Andywonk sees only differences. (However, there are still flashes of bloggy brilliance.  To wit:  "I'm cutting this post by 56 percent over previous ones on the same subject.")

What will the Ivy Leagues really get you?  "Not much, apparently."

Test Prep Mania in Our Schools: Who’s Really to Blame?  EdTruster Karin C. says it's not NCLB's fault, after all.  Personally, I blame it on global warming.

Questioning the Notion of Online Predators PBS blog picks up on media hype re online predators. 
It's the teachers you need to watch out for.

Surveillance Cameras Violate Fourth Amendment, Appeals Court Rules:  Someone tell Mark Walsh that this isn't blogging -- this is news!

What Think Tanks [Don't] Do

This post from Tom Toch (How We Deal) is all about what the Ed Sector doesn't do.  It isn't for or against any legislation, doesn't sign onto pledges, doesn't do fee for service work or advocacy, and doesn't take any money without disclosing where it gets it. A funder reading this list of don't might wonder what it was getting for its money.  Where and when have they and other think tanks demonstrated their supposed independence from each other?  What about political , legislative, and campaign activities that funders are paying for but don't get into reports and papers?  The real question is what the Ed Sector and organizations like it actually do, not what they don't do.

"I Have Been An Unwilling Participant In The Destruction Of Young Lives."

Are teachers responsible for what they do to kids "because they have to"? Do kids care whether it's the teacher or some outside force at work? Chicago teacher Will Okun has a new blog post out (‘They Schools’) about, among other things,  the sometimes terrible things that teachers do to urban youth, most of it involuntarily.  Okun quotes a teacher who says, "I have been an unwilling participant in the destruction of young lives. Simply being witness and not speaking out daily makes me feel the soulful guilt of a thief." He also links to a very political (and very foul-mouthed) video called They Schools, by Ded Prez, which is perhaps one of the angriest screeds from a student's perspective that I've seen in a while. 

Watch at your own risk. May be NSFW.

Obama "Borrowed" Lines About Supporting Charters & Being Open To Vouchers

No, he didn't (far as I know).  But wouldn't it be funny -- and a great relief to folks who hate vouchers but want to support Obama -- if some of the lines that have been lifted from MA Gov. Deval Patrick were those ones about Obama being open to vouchers and supportive of charters?  Then Obama's progressive supporters could heave a sigh of relief -- but their candidate probably wouldn't be as appealing to independents and moderates. 

Big [Beef] Stories Of The Day

Schools Scramble Menus After Big Beef Recall NPR
The largest beef recall in U.S. history has sent school districts scrambling to clean out their freezers and shake up their menus. Melissa block talks with Marsha Metzger, nutrition director for the Fort Wayne Community School District.

Parents Rise Up Against A New Approach to Math Washington Post
In Prince William and elsewhere in the country, a math textbook series ["Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," a Pearson School series] has fomented upheaval among some parents and teachers who say its methods are convoluted and fail to help children master basic math skills and facts.

NCLB Restructuring Found Ineffectual Ed Week
In a report that raises questions about school restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act, a national research and advocacy group says that few of the hundreds of failing California schools that enter restructuring each year pull their test scores up enough to exit the process.

Flagging Economy Propels Financial Education EdWeek
Concerns about the foundering economy are helping to highlight the need to improve students’ understanding of money matters.

Misidentifying Obama's Campaign Education Aide

Heather Higginbottom is many things, including policy adviser to Barack Obama on education and other domestic issues. 

But she's apparently not the person depicted in Hot For Education 2008 (see here). 

Many, many apologies for that. I'm duly embarrassed -- and surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Here is the "real" Higginbottom.  Or so someone with her email address tells me.

The Un-Tippable Chair

You already know how to put tennis balls on the bottoms of chairs to keep them from squealing and screeching all the time. 

Now someone's invented an un-tippable chair to keep kids from leaning back and thwapping their little noggins on the floor when they fall over. 

It's a new alternative to making kids sit on the floor, trying to get everyone's attention back when they're laughing at a classmate who's fallen, or taking a student to the office when they really get hurt.

Watch Out For Teachers (& Student Profiles). Not Internet Pervs

Here are a couple of articles that support my notion that it's teachers and other real-world adults not strangers on the internet that most parents should be worrying about.  (Plus, what their kids put on their own profiles.):

Internet-Predator Concerns Overblown, Researchers Say The Seattle Times
A lot of parental worries about Internet sex predators are unjustified, according to new research by a leading center that studies crimes against children.  

Schools Let Sex Abuse Cases Slide (first in a series) The (Portland) Oregonian
While school administrators were aware of his inappropriate behavior with students, years passed before Joseph Billera, a charismatic middle school band teacher, was arrested and convicted for raping two students and molesting two others.

Former teacher sentenced in sex case MSNBC
A former middle school teacher was sent to prison for six years Tuesday for having sexual encounters with five teenage boys. Authorities said Allenna Ward, 24, met 14- and 15-year-old boys at the school where she taught as well as at a motel, a park and behind a restaurant.  

 

Holding Think Tanks Accountable

There is a ton of posting and commentary flying around about whether think tank folks are overly chummy with each other -- see reader responses at Eduwonkette and edbizzbuzz. 

There are a lot of smart people working on education policy these days, and they can hang out together and serve on each other's boards all they want, far as I'm concerned. But from what I have seen in recent years especially, not enough of them are holding themselves or each other accountable for the quality and impact of their work.   (Ironically, while talking about accountability and competition.)

Folks who think they're part of a club don't compete with one another, tend to defend each other against outside criticism, refrain from scrutinizing each other's ideas, and neglect focusing squarely on the quality of their ideas and their success at getting them adopted and implemented. [This has long been one of my issues with Andy Rotherham, who consistently refuses to take on other think tank folks -- even Republican ones.]

If think tank work isn't really generating transformative ideas or real-world policies and program adoption, then I think eventually funders will  find something else to do with their money.  One idea that Dean elaborated on recently would be to reconceive think tanks as marketers -- no need to generate research -- leave the advocacy to folks who do advocacy, and use consulting firms like BCG or Alvarez to get things done on the ground. What do you think?

Big [Obama] Stories Of The Day

Is Obama for or against vouchers?
Scott Elliott explains it all to us.

If a Student of Yours Plagiarized, What Would Be the Punishment?
Michele goes all schoolmarm over the borrowed Obama speech.

McCain on Vouchers: Accountability for All?
Forget NCLB, says The Hoff.  Let's talk politics!

Three Presidencies Will Decide U.S. Education Policy
Charlie for president!

Funding Frenzy
She says she's not out to villainize anyone.

Memories: Teachers in Charge
Ah, yes, those were the days.  Weren't they?

EDINO8, Hot In '08?

Understandably miffed at having their logo -- but not their faces -- used in yesterday's 2008 roundup of education hotties, the folks at EDIN08 sent along this picture to remind everyone that they're hot, too. 

Dig around here and you can probably find more.  Like this, for example:

How Spellings Strategy Could Screw Up Future NCLB Changes

It's no big news that EdSec Spellings has the notion to revamp NCLB with or without a formal reauthorization, but this story from CQ (Bush Mints a Legacy) gives us some new details to chew on.  In particular, the piece points out that state plan approval could be used, along with directives and pilots and waivers we already know about.  Plus Spellings' secret weapon:  Acting Assistant Secretary of Education Douglas Mesecar (pictured).  However, if the USDE gives away the store -- implementing consensus items and offering states and districts sweeteners -- then it makes it all that much harder for Congress and a new President to get the other, harder stuff done in 2009.

UPDATE:  Is Assistant Sec higher or lower than Deputy Sec?  I forget (don't care).  In any case, congrats, condolences to Mesecar The Missile, per the email below. It's not how long you're there, remember, or whether you get anything done, but rather the title you have when you leave.  The rest is like your GPA -- no one remembers, no one cares. 

EdWeek Lets It All Hang Out

Following the lead of the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, and other outlets that initially tried to make folks pay for content but then decided to go the free/advertising route, EdWeek.org announced some changes last week that will make many of you happy (Free Content). 

Not everything's free, but a lot more than in the past -- most notable the site's AP education stories and weekly Editor's Picks. 

Big Stories Of The Day

 Bush Mints a Legacy Politico
However, the administration still has its sights on salvaging No Child for its legacy dossier — and has adopted some ingenious executive backdoor strategies for ensuring that key provisions get changed before Bush leaves office.

As graduation rates go down, school ratings go up Eureka Alert
A new study by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin finds that Texas' public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act, directly contributes to lower graduation rates.

Judgment day for L.A. teacher union officials LA Times
The band of left-wing, dissident back-benchers that took over the city teachers union three years ago faces a verdict this week on its revolution. United Teachers Los Angeles is holding elections, the results of which will affect not only teachers but also school-reform efforts and city politics.

Dallas-Fort Worth teachers flock to quicker, cheaper master's program Dallas Morning News
An unusual new graduate program is signing up Texas teachers who seek to earn a fast, inexpensive master's degree.

Around The Blogs

TIME Magazine on Teachers and the Candidates
Roy touts EDINO8.

“Two Million Minutes” well meaning, misleading
Education's Michael Moore movie comes under attack.

"One Size Fits All" = "I Buried Paul"
Charlie mocks a popular NCLB myth, and links to a video.

Gorillas split on teaching of evolution in Florida
Best headline of the day. 

Real Work by My Smart Daughter
Turns out there is no name for the division symbol.

A Web of Intrigue
Seriously.  I've written about this for years now to no avail. 
Is it that there are so many more blogs now?  Or is it the chart? 

Clinton "Jihad" Against Vouchers

Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader for pointing out the crazy comment from Senator Clinton that closes Elizabeth Green's Obama recent voucher story (Obama Open to Private School Vouchers): 

"Asked the same voucher question by the Milwaukee paper, Senator Clinton had a strong response, saying she opposes vouchers because they hurt public schools and could also open up the possibility of using taxpayer dollars to finance dangerous schools including training grounds for "jihad."

Here's Green's source:  Clinton covers range of subjects.  However, this view from Clinton may not be new,  Above is a clip of Clinton talking about religious discrimination and vouchers that says much the same thing.  I think it's from last summer.   Here's a reference going back to 2006.

Now I'm no legal expert, but this outcome seems pretty unlikely.  Clinton sounds like she's just really upset that Constitutional arguments against vouchers have been undermined and wants us to know of the evils of not separating church and state.  Or she's just reminding folks that Obama went to a madrassa as a child (joke!).

Former Contributor Making Splashes At The Times

Former contributor Amanda Millner-Fairbanks is showing up more and more on the pages of the New York Times -- most recently with this article about the only city bus that goes directly to a specialized high school (Bronx Science), and the kids who rely on it.  A former teacher and recent graduate from Columbia, she used to coordinate and edit the "HotSeat" interviews for this site.  It's great to see her succeeding on a much much bigger stage. 

Hot...For Education (2008)

It's not concern for the kids that energizes school reform efforts.  It's the good teeth, the charm, and the outfits that bring in the foundation dollars and get the negotiations done.

With that in mind, the third annual "Hot...For Education" issue is finally out.

No, there are no painted-on bikinis or six-pack abs. (Maybe next year?) As you will see, "hot" is defined broadly here -- think "multiple measures." Among the selected include those who are good looking, those who have had a great year, those who are particularly passionate about school reform, or some mixture of the above.For example, one of the "honorees" is no longer with us, in the traditional sense.  Another of the honorees doesn't exist, in the traditional sense.

As always, your suggestions and comments are welcome -- pictures, too.  Who did I miss?  What did I get wrong?  Remember, previous honorees aren't eligible.  Neither are folks who don't have a picture I can find on Google images.