Sabrina Stevens Shupe
4/2/11
Sabrina Stevens Seuss: Rhee The Reformer
I have been getting lots of visitors linking from GFBrandenburg's site. Welcome! I must inform you that I did NOT create this video. Sabrina Stevens Shupe, known as @TeacherSabrina, created it. She is awesome and you should follow her blog and her Twitter feed.
Sabrina Stevens Shupe
Sabrina Stevens Shupe
Some Truth About The Difference Between Us And Them
"We don't tie teacher pay to test scores because we don't believe them to be a reliable indicator of teacher effectiveness." (Sidwell Friends faculty member, April 1, 2011)Schools Matter
3/31/11
..."and is gravely to be regarded"
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States cooperations -- corporations.Dwight D. Eisenhower
Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. [my emphasis because, geez--did he predict the eduwars too?] The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present -- and is gravely to be regarded.
3/30/11
3/29/11
Diane Ravitch On Rhee's DC Shenanigans
...
Diane Ravitch
...A computer analysis of erasures found a dramatic pattern of changing answers from wrong to right at Noyes. In one seventh grade classroom, students averaged 12.7 wrong-to-right erasures on the reading test, as compared to a district-wide average of less than 1. When parents complained that their children's high scores didn't make sense, since they were still struggling to do basic math, they were ignored.
What will this revelation mean for Rhee's campaign to promote her test-driven reforms? Her theory seemed to be that if she pushed incentives and sanctions hard enough, the scores would rise. Her theory was right, the scores did rise, but they didn't represent genuine learning. She incentivized desperate behavior by principals and teachers trying to save their jobs and meet their targets and comply with their boss' demands.
Diane Ravitch
3/27/11
Joe Bageant, R.I.P.
After a vibrant life, Joe Bageant died yesterday following a four-month struggle with cancer. He was 64. Joe is survived by his wife, Barbara, his three children, Timothy, Patrick and Elizabeth, and thousands of friends and admirers. He is also survived by his work and ideas.Joe Bageant dot com
According to Joe's wishes, he will be cremated. His family will hold a private memorial service.
About Joe
Born 1946 in Winchester VA, USA. US Navy Vietnam era veteran.
After stint in Navy became anti-war hippie, ran off to the West Coast ... lived in communes, hippie school buses... started writing about holy men, countercultural figures, rock stars and the American scene in 1971 ... lived in Boulder Colorado until mid 1980s ... 14 years in all ... became a Marxist and a half-assed Buddhist ... Traveled to Central America to write about third World issues...
Moved to the Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation in Idaho, built a cabin, lived without electricity, farmed with horses for seven years ... tended reservation bar (The Bald Eagle Bar), wrote for regional newspapers... generally festered on life in America ... Moved to Moscow, Idaho, worked on third rate newspaper there ... Then moved to Eugene Oregon, worked for an international magazine corporation pushing insecticides and pesticides to farmers worldwide.
Then back to hometown of Winchester VA to settle some scores with the bigoted, murderous redneck town I grew up in. I love'em but they need a good ass kicking.
Died in 2000 when George Bush got elected ... died along with 275 million other Americans ... Plan to rise again from the dead when he is tossed out ...maybe reincarnate as a Commie terrorist on Wall Street ... maybe as a sex worker in Amsterdam ... can't decide ... both have their advantages.
Joe Bageant
3/26/11
Geraldine Ferraro: R.I.P.
Geraldine Ferraro died today at the age of 75. Hers was the first Presidential election I was able to vote in, and I was pretty proud to be a member of the party that chose a woman for VP.
Get Your TFT Android App
I made an Android App for your phone-viewing pleasure you can purchase for 99 cents get free. It looks like this.
I put it over in the sidebar, along with the QR code.
Please enjoy it!
And like this.
I put it over in the sidebar, along with the QR code.
Please enjoy it!
3/25/11
Michelle Rhee Makes A Dubious Claim
RheelinkAmericans also have strong opinions about how we should determine teacher quality. In fact, of the 1,510 voters surveyed, 75 percent believe standardized tests, individual student progress and principal assessments are the best ways to evaluate teachers.
Really? Who were these voters? How were they chosen? What was the method used to get the opinions? Can we have any information about your survey at all, like the wording of the questions?
Michelle Rhee's site -- studentsfirst.org -- was at first happy to have comments on her blog. When the comments got overwhelmingly negative about the direction Rhee would like to see education go, they began deleting offending comments. Then they reposted some positive comments and attributed them to others. Then they began to moderate all comments, which pretty much shut down any conversations that were happening, and there were some, and people's minds were changing.
Now it appears they have shut down comments completely.
Please go to the mirror site I set up if you would like to comment, unmoderated.
And I have a new free Android App (QR code in sidebar) for her site, and a
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