Wednesday, May 12, 2021
New York gun enthusiast destroys his AR-15 rifle o...
San Diego Education Report Blog: New York gun enthusiast destroys his AR-15 rifle o...: New York gun enthusiast destroys his AR-15 rifle on camera in wake of Florida shooting Scott-Dani Pappalardo purchased his AR-15 rifle o...
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
New York City Teacher Ratings: Teacher Data Reports Publicly Released Amid Controversy
Good heavens. It's really embarrassing for kids to graduate high school without being ready for the world, or to drop out with even less preparation for life. It's embarrassing to be a failure in life. The teaching profession should be willing to absorb a bit of embarrassment in the quest for better teaching.
New York City Teacher Ratings: Teacher Data Reports Publicly Released Amid Controversy
02/24/2012
The New York City Department of Education released today a list of individual ratings of thousands of the city's schoolteachers, a move that concludes a lengthy legal battle waged by the local teachers' union and media.
The Teacher Data Reports rate more than 12,000 teachers who taught fourth through eighth grade English or math between 2007 and 2010 based on value-added analysis. Value-added analysis calculates a teacher's effectiveness in improving student performance on standardized tests -- based on past test scores. The forecasted figure is compared to the student's actual scores, and the difference is considered the "value added," or subtracted, by the teachers.
To some, the release means a step forward in using student data and improving transparency and accountability by giving parents access to information on teacher effectiveness. To others, it's a misguided over-reliance on incomplete or inaccurate data that publicly shames or praises educators, whether deserving or not...
New York City Teacher Ratings: Teacher Data Reports Publicly Released Amid Controversy
02/24/2012
The New York City Department of Education released today a list of individual ratings of thousands of the city's schoolteachers, a move that concludes a lengthy legal battle waged by the local teachers' union and media.
The Teacher Data Reports rate more than 12,000 teachers who taught fourth through eighth grade English or math between 2007 and 2010 based on value-added analysis. Value-added analysis calculates a teacher's effectiveness in improving student performance on standardized tests -- based on past test scores. The forecasted figure is compared to the student's actual scores, and the difference is considered the "value added," or subtracted, by the teachers.
To some, the release means a step forward in using student data and improving transparency and accountability by giving parents access to information on teacher effectiveness. To others, it's a misguided over-reliance on incomplete or inaccurate data that publicly shames or praises educators, whether deserving or not...
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Virtual Education Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism
I think online learning could be wonderful--but it looks like some people who don't care about kids are cashing in.
Virtual Ed. Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism
By Ian Quillen
Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org
November 23, 2011
It’s been a rough year for the public image of K-12 virtual education.
Studies in Colorado and Minnesota have suggested that full-time online students in those states were struggling to match the achievement levels of their peers in brick-and-mortar schools. Articles in The New York Times have questioned not only the academic results for students in virtual schools, but also the propriety of business practices surrounding the use of public dollars for such programs.
Meanwhile, two left-leaning magazines, The Nation and Mother Jones, contended this month that education policy reforms pushed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the name of digital opportunities for students have the ulterior motive of funneling money to big technology companies. And the move into education by the right-leaning media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, with his News Corp. conglomerate’s purchase of the educational technology company Wireless Generation, has drawn protests from some teacher advocates at public appearances by Mr. Murdoch...
Virtual Ed. Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism
By Ian Quillen
Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org
November 23, 2011
It’s been a rough year for the public image of K-12 virtual education.
Studies in Colorado and Minnesota have suggested that full-time online students in those states were struggling to match the achievement levels of their peers in brick-and-mortar schools. Articles in The New York Times have questioned not only the academic results for students in virtual schools, but also the propriety of business practices surrounding the use of public dollars for such programs.
Meanwhile, two left-leaning magazines, The Nation and Mother Jones, contended this month that education policy reforms pushed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the name of digital opportunities for students have the ulterior motive of funneling money to big technology companies. And the move into education by the right-leaning media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, with his News Corp. conglomerate’s purchase of the educational technology company Wireless Generation, has drawn protests from some teacher advocates at public appearances by Mr. Murdoch...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Teachers Earn Too Much, Study Argues
Teachers Earn Too Much, Study Argues
November 2, 2011
By John O'Connor
Teachers are paid 52 percent more than their market value, according to a new study.
Teachers, did you know you are overpaid by 52%?
That’s the conclusion of a new study by conservative-leaning think tanks The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.
Taxpayers, they conclude, are “overcharged” $120 billion each year from the difference in teacher salaries and compensation compared to similarly credentialed private sector workers. Teacher benefits are often far more generous than the private sector, the study notes.
Other conclusions from the study:
The wage gap between teachers and non-teachers disappears when both groups are matched on an objective measure of cognitive ability rather than on years of education.
Public-school teachers earn higher wages than private-school teachers, even when the comparison is limited to secular schools with standard curriculums.
Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching jobs receive a wage increase of roughly 9 percent. Teachers who change to non-teaching jobs, on the other hand, see their wages decrease by roughly 3 percent. This is the opposite of what one would expect if teachers were underpaid.
The study reveals a divide among those pushing for changes in public schools.
Raising teacher salaries is a foundation of school reformers, which includes Republicans, such as former Gov. Jeb Bush, and Democratic President Barack Obama. Better pay is more likely to attract better teaching candidates, they argue, and better teachers mean students will learn more.
Former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee disagreed with the study, in a statement printed by Politico:
We can accomplish the goal of attracting and retaining the best teachers and be fiscally responsible at the same time by moving money out of bloated bureaucracies that doesn’t improve student learning and into the classroom where it can.
November 2, 2011
By John O'Connor
Teachers are paid 52 percent more than their market value, according to a new study.
Teachers, did you know you are overpaid by 52%?
That’s the conclusion of a new study by conservative-leaning think tanks The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.
Taxpayers, they conclude, are “overcharged” $120 billion each year from the difference in teacher salaries and compensation compared to similarly credentialed private sector workers. Teacher benefits are often far more generous than the private sector, the study notes.
Other conclusions from the study:
The wage gap between teachers and non-teachers disappears when both groups are matched on an objective measure of cognitive ability rather than on years of education.
Public-school teachers earn higher wages than private-school teachers, even when the comparison is limited to secular schools with standard curriculums.
Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching jobs receive a wage increase of roughly 9 percent. Teachers who change to non-teaching jobs, on the other hand, see their wages decrease by roughly 3 percent. This is the opposite of what one would expect if teachers were underpaid.
The study reveals a divide among those pushing for changes in public schools.
Raising teacher salaries is a foundation of school reformers, which includes Republicans, such as former Gov. Jeb Bush, and Democratic President Barack Obama. Better pay is more likely to attract better teaching candidates, they argue, and better teachers mean students will learn more.
Former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee disagreed with the study, in a statement printed by Politico:
We can accomplish the goal of attracting and retaining the best teachers and be fiscally responsible at the same time by moving money out of bloated bureaucracies that doesn’t improve student learning and into the classroom where it can.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Only 34% of Americans correctly identify Obama as Christian. How many identify Glenn Beck as the messiah?
Obama not worried about Muslim rumors
The fact that only 34% of people correctly identify him as Christian doesn't bother the president, he tells NBC. 'There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation… in a new-media era.'
Los Angeles Times
Michael Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
August 30, 2010
President Obama said in an interview Sunday that he can't worry about dispelling every rumor about him — even though a recent poll showed nearly 20% of Americans erroneously believe he is Muslim.
"The facts are the facts, right?" Obama told NBC's Brian Williams in New Orleans, where he was marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. "There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new-media era can get churned out there constantly.
"We dealt with this when I was first running for the U.S. Senate. We dealt with it when we were first running for the presidency. ... I will always put my money on the American people. And I'm not gonna be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating on out there."
A poll released by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center earlier this month showed that 18% of people believe Obama is Muslim — up from 11% in March 2009. Only 34% said, accurately, that he is Christian, down from 48% last year...
The fact that only 34% of people correctly identify him as Christian doesn't bother the president, he tells NBC. 'There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation… in a new-media era.'
Los Angeles Times
Michael Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
August 30, 2010
President Obama said in an interview Sunday that he can't worry about dispelling every rumor about him — even though a recent poll showed nearly 20% of Americans erroneously believe he is Muslim.
"The facts are the facts, right?" Obama told NBC's Brian Williams in New Orleans, where he was marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. "There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new-media era can get churned out there constantly.
"We dealt with this when I was first running for the U.S. Senate. We dealt with it when we were first running for the presidency. ... I will always put my money on the American people. And I'm not gonna be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating on out there."
A poll released by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center earlier this month showed that 18% of people believe Obama is Muslim — up from 11% in March 2009. Only 34% said, accurately, that he is Christian, down from 48% last year...
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Will The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles replace Patrick Judd with Lowell Billings?
My source for this story has an avid interest in the behind-the-scenes machinations of the board of The Accelerated School. Unfortunately, she doesn't have access to the discussions of board members. She just has access to their track record.
"Look at the facts," she tells me. "When Patrick Judd mysteriously disappeared from his job as superintendent of Mountain Empire School district, then shortly afterward got booted from his long-held position on the Chula Vista Elementary school board, he applied to a lot of school districts. No one would take him in. If it weren't for his pal Lowell Billings, he might never have gotten another job as school administrator. Now Lowell Billings seems to have been forced to retire as superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District. Where will Lowell go now?"
I am flummoxed. "Belize?"
"No, silly. The Accelerated School! It's perfect. Pat Judd's contract expires this year. Lowell Billings had enough sway over TAS board members to get them to hire a guy that nobody else seemed to want. He can surely get them to hire himself."
"You think so?" I ask.
"I'll put good money on it. How much do you want to bet?"
"I always lose. I don't think I should take the bet."
"You're wise. Very wise."
"Look at the facts," she tells me. "When Patrick Judd mysteriously disappeared from his job as superintendent of Mountain Empire School district, then shortly afterward got booted from his long-held position on the Chula Vista Elementary school board, he applied to a lot of school districts. No one would take him in. If it weren't for his pal Lowell Billings, he might never have gotten another job as school administrator. Now Lowell Billings seems to have been forced to retire as superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District. Where will Lowell go now?"
I am flummoxed. "Belize?"
"No, silly. The Accelerated School! It's perfect. Pat Judd's contract expires this year. Lowell Billings had enough sway over TAS board members to get them to hire a guy that nobody else seemed to want. He can surely get them to hire himself."
"You think so?" I ask.
"I'll put good money on it. How much do you want to bet?"
"I always lose. I don't think I should take the bet."
"You're wise. Very wise."
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