Send a Letter to the
President on October 17
Diane Ravitch’s Blog October 3, 2012 /
I got some excellent
suggestions.
To begin with, this is
not an online petition, but an invitation to join together to write your own
individual heartfelt letter to the President and to email the White House on
the same day.
Daily
postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1650
Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators,
legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, teacher
leaders, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 education advocacy
organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
These daily
emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us
on Twitter at @lfeinberg
“…we do not believe this is a sign local
districts suddenly are doing a poor job. It's a sign of an incomprehensible
system that sets up schools to fail and encourages an educational structure
focused on getting high test scores rather than well-rounded learning.”
School evaluation system can paint misleading picture
Reading Eagle
Editorial 10/03/12
The Issue: Six local districts receive warnings
for failing to meet student performance benchmarks.
Our Opinion: Complex regulations built around
standardized tests can make good schools seem like failures.
Two recent stories
concerning standardized test results in Berks County school districts reinforce
our belief that this is no way to judge an education system.
“We need strong policymakers in Harrisburg that are willing to stand up for
our values, so we ask that you support public education by supporting these
candidates on November 6th!”
Education Voters Action of PA 2012
General Election Endorsements
Education Voters Action
of Pennsylvania
Published on September 17, 2012
We are
very pleased to announce our first of two rounds of endorsements for the 2012
General Election. Based on a review of available information, including
written materials, public statements, voting records and candidate interviews,
Education Voters has decided to endorse the following candidates with a goal of
having more legislators who support public education in public office.
These
candidates recognize that if our economy and our communities are going to
improve and remain strong that it starts with our students. We need
strong policymakers in Harrisburg
that are willing to stand up for our values, so we ask that you support public
education by supporting these candidates on November 6th!
Familiar
names, familiar story across the river……
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012
If there's anyone
still out there trying to make the case that charter schools really are public
schools, answer me this: why are so many politicians
trying to exempt charters from the same oversight provisions as
publics?
A Liar and a Cheat
Yinzercation Blog— OCTOBER 9, 2012
State Education
Secretary Ron Tomalis just got caught telling a whopper. He claimed that
cheating caused the drop in standardized test scores all across Pennsylvania . Those
scores, released a few weeks ago, show a steep decline and mean that 665 fewer
schools in the state met education targets. Sec. Tomalis refused to admit that
massive budget cuts could possibly have anything to do with the decline, and
laid the blame on 100 teachers who remain under investigation for things such
as unusual marking patterns on their students’ exams.
Ah yes. One hundred
teachers – out of 148,500 education professionals in the state last year –
caused scores to drop. The math here doesn’t even make sense. And if teachers
helped their students cheat, wouldn’t their test scores have gone up? Never
mind. This isn’t about logic. This is about denying that unprecedented state
budget cuts have hurt students.
Charter Schools' Role in Strengthening Public
Education
Dear Deb,
I would like to take our conversation about
reform in a slightly different direction and wade into an area of controversy
that is dividing educators and communities throughout the country. What role do
you think charter schools can and should play in advancing the reform and
renewal of public education?
As you know, several progressive educators, including
our good friend Ted Sizer who founded a charter school with his wife Nancy (Francis
W. Parker
School ), saw charter
schools as offering the potential for innovative practices that could not be as
easily implemented in public schools. The impetus for creating charters was not
anti-union, at least not for these educators. The goal was to create schools
where teachers would have greater say in how schools were managed, that could
be less rigid with respect to curriculum and teaching, and more responsive to
the learning needs of students.
More
than child’s play: Games have potential learning and assessment tools
VICKI
PHILLIPS is
director of education, College Ready, in the United States Program of the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, and ZORAN POPOVIĆ is
director of the Center for Game Science at the
Abstract
There is
increasing evidence that games provide good learning environments, particularly
in their ability to drive tenacity and intrinsic motivation, two key
characteristics needed for student success. Advancing technology now enables
games to also serve as assessments with real-time data that gives teachers the
ability to have immediate information about students’ knowledge so they can
provide differentiated instruction. In this article, Vicki Phillips, director
of education, College Ready, in the United States Program of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, and Zoran Popovic, director of the Center for Game
Science at the University
of Washington , outline
the advantages of gaming technologies and the current barriers to broader
adoption in schools.
Commentary: PA charter school reform
should protect taxpayers, not just K12, Inc. CEO Ron Packard and CSM
CEO Vahan Gureghian
The PA Legislature is in recess until October 15th
Please contact your state
senator and state rep regarding charter school reform during this break
You can bet that the charter school lobbyists are not taking a
break
Education Policy and Leadership Center
DETAILS: Arts and Education
Symposium Thursday, October
11, 2012
We're just 3 Days away from the
Arts and Education Symposium Thursday, October 11, 2012
Option 1 - Register and Attend
The State Museum of Pennsylvania
The State Museum of Pennsylvania
Registration is $25 and includes a continental
breakfast, lunch, and all Symposium sessions.
Act 48 credit will be available to educators
who attend thanks to support from the Capital Area Intermediate Unit.
Option 2 - Participate Remotely
Watch the LIVE WEBCAST at aei-pa.org.
Webcast Schedule:
9:00 a.m. - Welcome by Ron Cowell, EPLC President
9:15 a.m. - Student Performance by Open Stage of Harrisburg Studio/School
9:35 a.m. - Keynote Speech by Ayanna Hudson, Director of Arts Education at the National Endowment
for the Arts
1:00 p.m. - Remarks by Sandra Ruppert, Director of the Arts Education Partnership
1:30 p.m. - Plenary Session about the new Pennsylvania Arts Education Network
Full Symposium schedule and list of speakers is
posted: www.aei-pa.org
Hosted by: The Education Policy and Leadership Center
Co-sponsored by:
The Arts and Education Symposium is supported by
grants from The Heinz Endowments,
DETAILS: Building One Pennsylvania Public Meeting Saturday, October 13, 2012
Promoting sustainable, inclusive
and economically prosperous communities
Confirmed to attend:
·
Jay
Williams, Deputy Director of the White House Office on Intergovernmental
Affairs
·
Peter
Kovar, Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development
·
Lisa
Worden, Director, PA Department of Community & Economic Development,
Southeast Regional Office
- Office of Senator Bob Casey
Let's Stand Together to support our diverse,
middle-class communities!
Join
local elected, faith and civic leaders from across the region for a public
meeting to call on state and national policy-makers to act on bi-partisan
solutions to the pressing problems impacting our communities.
- Reduce our local property tax burdens
- Invest in our schools
- Redevelop our infrastructure while creating local jobs
- Promote more balanced housing markets
Organizational Affiliation of Attendees includes:
Chanceford Presbyterian
Church
Chapel of the Good
Shepherd
Drexel Hill United Methodist Church
Jenkintown Borough
Council
Lansdowne Borough
Council
Lansdowne Economic
Development Corporation
Media Borough Council
Morton Borough Council
Phoenixville Borough
Council
Prayer Chapel
St. James Episcopal
Church
The Garden Church
United Methodist Women
United Methodist Women -
Eastern Conference
Yeadon Borough Council
Yeadon Economic
Development Corporation
The event
is free but you must register in advance to reserve your seat. Register at www.buildingonepa.org or by emailing name, title, organizational
affiliation, address, phone and email to info@buildingonepa.org
To
defray the cost of the event, we are accepting donations. Suggested donation:
$5-$10.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.