Programs for Educators
Civic Voices, an International Democracy Memory Bank Project
Teacher Opportunities for 2009 and 2010
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Toni Morrison Society website has information for educators as well as a link to register for the conference, Language Matters IV: Reading and Teaching Morrison in Translation.
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May 21, 2009
TheDesMoinesRegister.com
Prepare Teachers Well, Create the Conditions for Excellence
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Using Public Engagement to Enhance the Validity of Education Adequacy Policy
In recent years, state legislatures, state education departments, and advocacy groups in over 30 states have sponsored education adequacy studies, which aim to determine objectively the amount of funding needed to provide all students with a meaningful opportunity for an adequate education. Not surprisingly, because of their growing influence on funding decisions, these studies have now become the subject of critical commentary and judicial scrutiny, and serious questions have arisen about the validity of the methodologies used in some of the studies. According to this article by Michael Rebell for TC Record, the validity and the reliability of the methodologies of contemporary adequacy cost studies can be improved. According to Rebell, more extensive public engagement and continuing judicial oversight will be necessary to ensure the credibility and the legitimacy of the ultimate judgments that result from these studies.
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ERIC
by Michael Rebell - 2007
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Of free markets and public education
School choice advocates have long predicted that increased competition from charter schools would spur substantial improvement in nearby traditional public schools, but this has not been the case, according to a new report from Education Sector.
For example, in Washington, D.C., despite the fact that over 20 percent of the public schools in the neighborhoods surrounding the much-touted Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) are charter schools, traditional public schools in the area still post some of the lowest student-achievement results in the city.
Using the analogy of Giant Supermarkets, which came into a poor D.C. neighborhood alongside a bank and other amenities by way of federal subsidies, the report explains that many habits in the neighborhood were ingrained, and residents still used high-priced corner stores with little selection or fresh food, and usurious check-cashing services. In other words, "government programs that bring in private sector firms like Giant or nonprofits like KIPP can increase the supply of market options in low-income communities. But such subsidies will not, in and of themselves, ensure that all of those options will be high-quality. Nor will they guarantee that consumers will make good choices and utilize the newer, better options that come along."
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Education Sector
May 19, 2009
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USA TODAY
4 States Yet to Agree to Standards for Academic Rigor
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Anchorage Daily News
June 1, 2009
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The American Prospect
May 18, 2009
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San Francisco Chronicle
W. Norton Grubb
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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Education Week
By Debra Viadero
Published Online: May 27, 2009
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Chicago Journals
April 2009
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Maureen Downey
Monday, May 18, 2009
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For "at-risk youth," a crisis deepens
In a policy brief prepared for the new Obama administration and Congress, MDRC requests better programs for disaffected youth. "Too many young people are disconnected from the worlds of school and work," it states, "putting them at serious risk for getting into trouble today and not succeeding in the future." The brief reports that 30 percent of high school freshmen nationally do not graduate in four years; in the 50 largest U.S. cities, the dropout rate is closer to 50 percent. Also nationwide, nearly 14 percent of 18- and 19-year-olds have not graduated from high school, are not attending school, and are not working. For African-Americans in this cohort, the rate is closer to 23 percent. Teenage employment has sunk to its lowest level in 60 years, and employment for those 18 to 29 has spiraled downward. Among 18- to 29-year-olds not in school, nearly one in four is currently not working, and one in six did not work in the previous year. What to do? "The first policy option should be to prevent young people from dropping out of school." But once youth are disconnected, states and localities need assistance from the federal government via funding, compilation of best practices, and research. Evidence-building in the youth field is critical because self-selection issues are severe: Only the most motivated voluntarily participate in "second chance" programs, the same young people more likely to succeed on their own.
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mdrc
May 20, 2009
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The Washington Post
May 22, 2009
An Intriguing Alternative to No Child Left Behind
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Los Angeles Times
Charter School Wars Continue
May 20, 2009
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CLEVELAND.COM
June 1, 2009
By The Associated Press
Columbus, Ohio
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Teacher Magazine
June 2, 2009
By The Associated Press
Columbus, Ohio
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Two Views On Cuba's Current Education System
The search for individual solutions rather than seeking develop or find social, societal or collective ways to address these issues posed the issue of privatization.
That may not be what the individuals involved have in mind, that is, the CONCEPT of privatization, but what was described - individuals seeking solutions on their own as individuals - certainly is an issue which is in need of being addressed.
Just because someone expresses an opinion doesn't make that opinion valid or invalid. It's just an opinion to which everyone has a right. It's a fact that there are problems with Cuban education, and among those facts is the inexperience of a number (I do not know what number) of the recently-developed "emergent teachers" some of whom are not a lot older than the students which they're supposed to be educating. There's nothing like experience in any field. There's no substitute for it, but you can only gather experience over time. Any teacher who's had to try to control a classroom knows what I'm talking of here. It's a skill you learn through experience.
Cuba being a blockaded country faces any number of very distinct and very difficult challenges, including how to resolve the many problems it faces. Writing here from the comfort of my home in Los Angeles, the last thing I would do is try to develop and put forth some kind of a program to solve the problems of the island. Beyond ending the US blockade of Cuba and normalizing relations with the most powerful neighbor Cuba has, specific proposed solutions, I'll be the first to admit, elude me.
Being more or less young doesn't give or take any validity to an argument, which stands or falls on its own. Id didn't occur to me to think young people didn't have a RIGHT to an opinion. But their youth doesn't exempt their opinions from discussion or disagreement by people who may not share their opinions.
Personally I don't have the perspective to make judgements about the quality of Cuban education over the past fifty years. I've only been going there for about ten years and beyond very broad generalities, I'm reluctant to pass so firm a judgement as you are. Since you have children who attend class in Cuba, I trust you know more about their experiences than I do.
Cubans do like to complain, and they know that foreigners expect them to complain. And daily life is filled with any number of reasons TO complain. Yet we still have to try to keep in mind that the blockade is the over-riding reality which provides the context for everything in Cuban life. This includes limiting the possibilities for change.
If we omit the reality of the blockade, we really cannot understand what's going on. I know quite well that most people don't have the blockade in mind all of the time. Yes, it's also possible to hide behind the blockade as well, to avoid confronting issues or making changes.
We as journalists we have a responsibility, a political responsibility, to try to frame what we write, and what we present to the broader world, in a meaningful context.
The author whose views I discussed left that factor out, and described a search for individual solutions by the individual affected. He never wrote about whether or not he tried to find solutions, or to pose them, within the system itself. Maybe he did, maybe not, but what he did was to describe a search for individual solutions.
That was the point I was trying to clarify.
Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
From: Robinson
Sent: Jun 1, 2009 12:57 PM
To: CubaNews@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CubaNews] re: HAVANA TIMES: "Today's Teachers"
I personally like the idea that Cuban young people express their opinions and life experiences. To me they are just as valid as those of the older crowd, including me, Karen and Walter.
As to the issue of the teachers in Cuba today, the opinion expressed by Francisco is the opinion of the majority of the people I know, and I'm talking about people who support the revolution but are not happy with the education situation of their children. It's a very common topic of conversation.
The problem of a tremendous exodus from the teaching profession, for economic reasons, and a lack of motivation to become teachers, resulted in the need for many still studying young people to be called into duty, even if their vocation for teaching was still not tested.
Yes, that kind of situation existed at the beginning of the revolution, but most Cubans I know feel that stage should be over and that unprepared educators is not what they expect after 50 years of revolution, no matter what the reasoning of why it occurs.
When Fran talks about having to pay a tutor for refresher classes, this is not uncommon today because parents rightfully want their kids to have a solid base of education and many are not getting it at school.
I could also bring up the subject of the television classes at grade schools, but since Francisco didn't mention it, I won't either. It' not saying that private education is better.
It's saying that the current situation in Cuba is a decline from previous decades and is unsatisfactory for many parents.
Circles Robinson
s. e. anderson is author of "The Black Holocaust for Beginners" Social Activism is not a hobby: it's a Lifestyle lasting a Lifetime http://www.blackeducator.org http://blackeducator.blogspot.com
"National Black Education Agenda" group. To post to this group, send email to NatBlackEd@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to NatBlackEd+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/NatBlackEd?hl=en
Lucille Clifton Poetry Seminar
James Madison University
June 14-21, 2009
Critics
include: Akasha Hull, Cheryl Wall, Hilary Holladay, Keith Leonard, Nikkey Finney,
and Edward Scott
More information and registration at www.jmu.edu/furiousflower/
Designed specifically for high school and college teachers
Oral History as a Multi-Disciplinary Teaching Tool
A course that is ideal for Social Studies teachers, English teachers, Language Arts teachers and others.
Where and When: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, May 21 - July 1 Tues/Th 6:55 - 9:00 pm
Oral History, is the ideal multidisciplinary teaching tool, for it is where listening, observation, people skills, historical perspective and writing meet. Learn how to conduct and process oral history interviews. You will have the opportunity to create your own oral history project. See and analyze what others have done. Then share this unique and exciting skill with your students. And test its many applications in your classroom teaching.
To Register visit www.tc.edu/continuingeducation
Call 800.209.1245 or stop by 107 Zankel Hall.
Available for 3 CEUs for $520, plus a special fee of $30.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact=2 0OASID at oasid@tc.edu, (212) 678-3689, (212) 678-3853 TTY, (212) 678-3854 video phone, as early as possible to request reasonable accommodations, such as ASL interpreters, alternate format materials, and a campus map of accessible features.