Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, December 13, 2020

#DecolonizingThanksgiving – Parenting for Liberation

#DecolonizingThanksgiving – Parenting for Liberation
#DecolonizingThanksgiving




On the heels of Thanksgiving (aka Thanks-taking), decolonizing this holiday means we tell the truth about the violence this country has inflicted towards indigenous peoples, while also standing in solidarity with and honoring the ongoing struggle for native sovereignty. 

As we prepare to gather in safe & virtual ways with family and friends, the conversation may come up about the history of Thanksgiving. As parents for liberation, we want to ensure we tell our little ones the truth about colonialism and other oppressions. We’re revisiting podcast Episode 14 “Colonialism and Other -Isms” featuring Professor Tiffany Lanoix for ways to break down complex topics in age-appropriate ways.

Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post

Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post
Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary



At least a dozen names have been batted around as possible secretaries of education for President-elect Joe Biden, with no clear choice emerging. But one woman in particular is the subject of intense lobbying, both pro and con.

Lily Eskelsen Garcรญa, who stepped down as president of the National Education Association in September, has been endorsed by groups including the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which notes that she would be the first Latina to serve in the position.

But Garcรญa also is facing attacks from advocates for children with disabilities as well as from supporters of education reform policies that were popular in the Obama administration but have fallen out of favor in the Democratic Party.

The jockeying comes as the Biden transition team works to settle on an education nominee who will satisfy teachers and their unions while not alienating Democrats in the reform camp.

“The challenge for the Biden administration will be to appoint a secretary who is supportive of teachers and their unions but not opposed to innovation and change,” said Pedro Noguera, the dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

While public attention is fixed on Garcรญa, several people familiar with the transition discussions say that she is not a front-runner and that there is no consensus internally about who should get the nod.

Several people said Biden would like to choose a woman of color, as he works to assemble a diverse Cabinet. And Biden, a union supporter, told teachers unions during the campaign that he would choose someone who has been an educator, raising expectations of K-12 teachers that he would choose  CONTINUE READING: Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post

Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog
Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education




Arthur Camins has had a fruitful career as a teacher, science educator, and technology expert. He writes here about the kind of education he hopes his grandchildren will have.

He begins:

Persistent inequity and underfunding, especially after decades of emphasis on test-based accountability and privatization, largely unopposed increases in racial and socioeconomic segregation, and four years of leadership by an active opponent of public education bring us to a moment of choice for K-12 public education in the United States: Change or give up on the needs of most of America’s children.

I usually write what I hope are persuasive essays about education policy and other social justice issues. However, the divisiveness of the last election demonstrates that we can’t argue or campaign our way to lasting fundamental change through presidential elections.  The change we need begins with building relationships through shared multiracial conversation and struggle.  

Today, I offer my hopes for my two grandchildren and the rest of the children with whom they will grow up and live CONTINUE READING: Arthur Camins: My Hopes and Dreams for My Grandchildren’s Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Matters: Before you vote to approve the new DCPS contract you should really consider these things.

Education Matters: Before you vote to approve the new DCPS contract you should really consider these things.
Before you vote to approve the new DCPS contract you should really consider these things.


Teachers pivoted to online learning in a weekend. They have risked life and limb during the pandemic too. So what has DCPS done for them? Doubled down on testing, stolen planning time, and offered them a bad faith contract, all while sitting on nearly 70 million dollars. Please consider a few things before voting.

The district has nearly 70 million in reserves, something like 15 million over what they are contractually required to do.

The district said it was spending 500k a month on emergency maintenance, something it will not have to do anymore. 

If there were no COVID or bill 641, money for this year was already allocated. The one good thing that the state did was hold schools harmless and give them as much as last year. This means we would have gotten our steps or performance pay.

New teachers and newer teachers will get their raise sooner or later; that's going to happen. So why not continue to fight for better working conditions like equitable planning and doing away with unpaid faculty meetings. 

New and newer teachers should also realize that someday, some will be veterans, and they will wish they CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Before you vote to approve the new DCPS contract you should really consider these things.

Will PA Schools Ask Parents to Oversee CDT Testing at Home? | gadflyonthewallblog

Will PA Schools Ask Parents to Oversee CDT Testing at Home? | gadflyonthewallblog
Will PA Schools Ask Parents to Oversee CDT Testing at Home?




Should parents be asked to administer on-line tests to their own children at home?

Back in May someone at Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) had an idea.

Since a global pandemic had shuttered classrooms, no children were being forced to take the multi-billion dollar testing company’s products.

Federally mandated assessments like the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) and Keystone Exams – which are made by DRC – were cancelled.

And local districts weren’t even making students take assessments like the Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) – an optional test to determine if kids were ready to take the mandatory tests.

If someone at DRC didn’t act quickly, the Commonwealth might ask for a refund on the $1.3 billion it spent on standardized testing in the last eight years.

 The Minnesota-based DRC, a division of CTB McGraw-Hill, wasn’t about CONTINUE READING: Will PA Schools Ask Parents to Oversee CDT Testing at Home? | gadflyonthewallblog



A VERY BUSY DAY Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007


My Twelve Favorite BAM! Radio Shows Of The Year – 2020
As regular readers know, I’ve been doing a ten-minute radio show for many years that accompanies my Ed Week columns. I probably do about thirty each year, and the total is well beyond two-hundred now. You can see them all at All My BAM Radio Shows – Linked With Descriptions . I’m adding this post to ALL END-OF-YEAR “BEST” LISTS FOR 2020 IN ONE PLACE! Here are my twelve favorite ones from 2020: Wh
Sunday’s Must-Read Articles On School Reopenings
kalhh / Pixabay Here are new additions to THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL : With the Virus Surging, Arizona Teachers Protest by Calling In Sick is from The NY Times. 12,000 More White Children Return to N.Y.C. Schools Than Black Children is from The NY Times. The empty gradebook: As students struggle with remote learning, teachers grapple with Fs is from Chalkbea
Interesting Video: “How metaphors shape the way you see the world”
AbsolutVision / Pixabay I thought this was an interesting video from the BBC. You can see many previous metaphor-related posts here .
A Look Back: New Study Finds That Specific Ninth-Grade Intervention Very Effective & It’s Remarkably Similar To What We Do At Our School
I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . Kunnasberg / Pixabay The American Institutes of Research just released a study finding that a program called Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) was very effective at improving academic progress for ninth-graders and enhancing their
The Twenty Most Popular Posts Of The Year – 2020
This is another addition to ALL END-OF-YEAR “BEST” LISTS FOR 2020 IN ONE PLACE! Here are the twenty most popular posts that appeared in this blog over the past twelve months: 1. The Best Websites For Creating Online Learning Games 2. The Best Online Virtual “Corkboards” (or “Bulletin Boards”) 3. The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom 4. All my “Best” lists 5
New Site Shares The Stories Of Thousands Who Were Enslaved
Enslaved is an amazing site allow people to learn the stories of hundreds of thousands of people who had been enslaved. You can research names, read short narrative stories , and a lot more at the site. A Smithsonian Magazine article, Who Were America’s Enslaved? A New Database Humanizes the Names Behind the Numbers , shares more details. I’m adding this info to: USEFUL RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABO
PBS NewsHour Unveils Exceptional & Interactive Primary Sources Site
The PBS NewsHour has just unveiled a Journalism in Action site: that uses the history of U.S. journalism to teach students media literacy, history and primary source research. It has different sections for different eras/events 

 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007