Daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 3250 Pennsylvania education
policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and
congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of
Education, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, education
professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies,
professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails,
website, Facebook and Twitter
These daily emails are archived and
searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
The Keystone State Education Coalition
is pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public Education. Are you a member?
Keystone State Education Coalition
Statisticians Slam VAM
PSBA
members in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware Counties - save the date
PSBA
Buxmont Region 11 and Penns Grant Region 15 Combined Region/Legislative Meeting
-- Thursday, May 15, at William Tennent High School
- Buffet dinner/registration, 6 p.m. ($8 charge for
dinner) - Program, 7:30 p.m. -- Minority Senate Education Committee Chair
Hon. Andy Dinniman will introduce guest speaker Diane Ravitch, author and
education historian, and former Assistant Secretary of Education. Retiring House Education Committee Chairman
Paul Clymer will also be honored for his long time (1981) public service.
Did you catch our weekend postings?
Saturday, April 12, 2014
How one hardworking student
thrives at Bartram
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: April 14, 2014, 1:08 AM
Gionna Hawkins is 14, a smart young lady with serious goals and
a detailed plan for pulling them off - class president, then internships,
college, and law school. She is
accustomed to concerned looks when she tells people the school she attends:
Bartram High, infamous for fights and chaos and a "conflict resolution
specialist" lying facedown on the floor, knocked out by a student. "People only see the crazy stuff, but
that's not all of us," Gionna said. "We do have bright, intelligent
students. Nobody's dumb at this school."
Opposition forming to Pa.
WHYY
Newsworks BY MARY WILSON APRIL 13, 2014
The
sponsor of a Senate plan to replace school property taxes with higher sales and
personal income levies says it has bipartisan backing -- and enough co-sponsors
to pass a vote.
But
opponents of the measure are mobilizing.
Sam Denisco, vice president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and
Industry, is one of them.
Schools protest state construction
payment delay
At an
April 2 House Education Committee hearing, Southern York County School District
submitted testimony that it is owed $745,000 by the state for additions and
renovations to Friendship Elementary School.
Student achievement rewarding
for Pittsburgh
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
April 13, 2014 11:48 PM
Forty-three educators in
Pittsburgh Public Schools have reaped two kinds of rewards: Their students are
doing better than expected, and the educators are getting bonuses of as much as
$11,000 as a result. The educators at
Allderdice, Brashear and Carrick high schools received a total of $169,660 in
bonuses -- 70 percent from federal funds and 30 percent from the district -- as
a result of success in the Promise Readiness Corps, in which teachers work with
the same students in grades 9 and 10. The
district started the PRC in hopes that colleagues working together, continuity
and building stronger relationships with students and parents would make more
students eligible for Pittsburgh Promise scholarships.
Philly teachers create
website to document district's budget crisis
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY APRIL 14, 2014
Criticize your boss
publicly ... and your job security may be at risk.
That's the mantra many Philadelphia School District
But a new website
designed by a recently formed faction of the teachers union, The Caucus of
Working Educators, is turning that philosophy on its head with "Philly Teachers Sound the Alarm."
Statisticians slam popular
teacher evaluation method
You can be certain that
members of the American Statistical Association, the largest organization in
the United States
representing statisticians and related professionals, know a thing or two
about data and measurement. That makes the statement that the association just
issued very important for school reform.
The ASA just slammed the high-stakes “value-added
method” (VAM) of evaluating teachers that has been increasingly embraced in
states as part of school-reform efforts. VAM purports to be able to take
student standardized test scores and measure the “value” a teacher adds to
student learning through complicated formulas that can supposedly factor out
all of the other influences and emerge with a valid assessment of how effective
a particular teacher has been.
How Does PISA
Yong Zhao's Blog 12
APRIL 2014
If I were a conspiracy
theorist, I would suggest that PISA is a secrete
plan of Western powers to derail China ’s education reforms. China has been
working hard to introduce significant reforms since the 1990s to overcome the
apparent shortcomings of its education system in order to cultivate a more
diverse, creative, and entrepreneur citizenry. Such a citizenry is urgently
needed for China ’s
successful transition from a labor-intensive economy to one that relies on
innovation, a transition China
must make for its future development. The Chinese exam-oriented education has
long been recognized as the culprit for limiting China ’s capacity for producing
creative and diverse talents. Just as China’s education reforms began to touch
the core of its traditional education—the gaokao or College
Entrance Exam and the wide use of testing at all levels of education, PISA
announced that the Chinese education is the best in the world. And the exam
system, including the gaokao, is glorified as a major contributor
to China ’s
success, making it difficult for the Chinese to continue the battle against
testing. Even Marc Tucker, president and CEO of the National
Center on Education and the Economy
and one of the most prominent PISA proponents
who has on many occasions expressed unequivocal admiration of China ’s
education, admits[1]:
Why Performance Tests for New
Teachers Make Sense
Education Week
COMMENTARY By JoAnn Bartoletti, Gail Connelly, Daniel A. Domenech, & Sharon
P. Robinson Published Online: April 10, 2014
JoAnn Bartoletti is
the executive director of the National Association of Secondary School
Principals, in Reston, Va. Gail Connelly is the executive director of the
National Association of Elementary School Principals, in Alexandria, Va. Daniel
A. Domenech is the executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents
Association, in Alexandria, Va. Sharon P. Robinson is the president and chief
executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education, in Washington.
During a recent teaching
and learning conference in Washington ,
one high school student talked about why he wanted to be a teacher. The
student, who was taking part in a panel at the event, also shared what happens
when he tells his peers about his career ambition. The standard response goes something like:
“Why would you want to do that?” It’s
hard to imagine the same reply if the student were to say he wanted to be a
doctor, lawyer, architect, engineer, or another type of professional whose
career choice comes with built-in assumptions about the skills and prestige
associated with it. As national
representatives of, respectively, school principals, school district
administrators, and teacher-preparation programs, we believe it is essential to
our nation’s well-being that the young man at the conference—and all future
teachers—be lauded for their dream, respected for their choice, and successful
in such a noble and challenging career.
That is why we are
coming together to endorse one of the most important movements to come to
teaching in generations. That movement is the rapid and forceful support for
performance-based entrance—via assessment—for prospective educators seeking a
teaching license.
NPE Call for Congressional
Hearings on Testing
Network for Public Education April
10, 2014 NPE Call for Hearings
On March 2, 2014, The
Network for Public Education issued a call for congressional hearings on the overuse
and misuse of testing in our public schools.
Together, we have managed to catch the attention of members of Congress.
We created a Twitter Storm that sent out over 20K tweets and reached 400K
people via social media while trending #1. We flooded the offices of Congress
with phone calls from concerned constituents. We continue to bring attention to
the plague of over-testing and the media has taken notice!
For the next part of our
campaign, we are asking our Friends & Allies to print out and mail a copy
of this
letter to the offices of our friends at Institute for America ’s Future in Washington D.C.
PSBA Advocacy Forum and Day on the Hill
May 5-6, Mechanicsburg & Harrisburg
Make an impact on the legislative process by attending PSBA’s Advocacy Forum and Day on the Hill, May 5-6. Day one will provide legislative insights on pensions, training on being an effective advocate, and media relations. Dr. G. Terry Madonna, leading Pennsylvania political analyst, will discuss the legislative landscape in his usual lively and informative style. Just added -- How to Be an Effective Advocate -- Hear from former Allwein Advocacy Award winners Larry Feinberg, Roberta Marcus and Tina Viletto on how to successfully support your issues. On day two, participants will start with a breakfast at the Harrisburg Hilton and then hit the ground running with visits to legislative offices in the State Capitol. Space is limited so register early. Click here for more details and to register online.
May 5-6, Mechanicsburg & Harrisburg
Make an impact on the legislative process by attending PSBA’s Advocacy Forum and Day on the Hill, May 5-6. Day one will provide legislative insights on pensions, training on being an effective advocate, and media relations. Dr. G. Terry Madonna, leading Pennsylvania political analyst, will discuss the legislative landscape in his usual lively and informative style. Just added -- How to Be an Effective Advocate -- Hear from former Allwein Advocacy Award winners Larry Feinberg, Roberta Marcus and Tina Viletto on how to successfully support your issues. On day two, participants will start with a breakfast at the Harrisburg Hilton and then hit the ground running with visits to legislative offices in the State Capitol. Space is limited so register early. Click here for more details and to register online.
Pennsylvania Governor's
School for the Agricultural Sciences
Deadline to Apply: April 25, 2014
When: July 13 to August 9, 2014 Penn State
University
PGSAS provides a broad
overview of the diverse fields of agriculture and natural resources. Interested
high school students and their parents should review this website to learn more
about requirements and the application process.
Pennsylvania Governor’s
School for Engineering and Technology
Application must be
postmarked by April 18, 2014.
July 20, 2014 - August
2, 2014 Lehigh University | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania
Governor’s School for Engineering and Technology (PGSE&T) is a two-week
summer residential program for talented high school students of science and
mathematics. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and hosted
by the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science at Lehigh
University, PGSE&T offers an enrichment experience in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) and emphasizes cooperative learning and
hands-on laboratory experiences.
Educating the Voter: A Forum on Public
Education featuring Democratic gubernatorial candidates - April 30th 6:00 pm
Phila Central Library
Presented by Committee of Seventy, Congresso and
Philadelphia Education Fund
Wednesday,
April 30, 2014 at 6:00PM
Join Democratic gubernatorial candidates Katie McGinty, Tom Wolf, Allyson Schwartz and Rob McCord for a discussion on public education.
Please
click here to
register.
PSBA
nominations for offices now open!
Deadline April 30th
PSBA Leadership Development Committee seeks strong leaders for the association
Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to complete an Application for Nomination no later than April 30. As a member-driven association, the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is seeking nominees with strong skills in leadership and communication, and who have vision for PSBA. Complete details on the nomination process, links to the Application for Nomination form, and scheduled dates for nominee interviews can be found online by clicking here.
PSBA Leadership Development Committee seeks strong leaders for the association
Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to complete an Application for Nomination no later than April 30. As a member-driven association, the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is seeking nominees with strong skills in leadership and communication, and who have vision for PSBA. Complete details on the nomination process, links to the Application for Nomination form, and scheduled dates for nominee interviews can be found online by clicking here.
How the Business Community Can Lead on
Early Education
Economy
League of Greater Philadelphia
Join
business and community leaders to learn about how you can help make sure every
child arrives in kindergarten ready to succeed. On April 29th, the Economy
League of Greater Philadelphia and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and
Southern New Jersey will host a forum featuring business leaders from around
the country talking about why they’re focused on early childhood education and
how they have moved the needle on improving quality and access in their states.
Featured
Speakers
- Jack Brennan, Chairman Emeritus of The
Vanguard Group
- Phil Peterson, Partner, Aon Hewitt and
Co-Chair of America’s Edge/Ready Nation
- And more to be announced!
- Date & Time Tuesday, April
29, 2014 | 5-7 PM
Registration begins at 5 PM;
program from 5:30 to 7:00 PM
- Location Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia
10 North Independence Mall West Philadelphia,
PA 19106
Registration:
http://worldclassgreaterphila.org/worldclasscouncilforum
PILCOP Special Education Seminars 2014
Schedule
Public
Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
Tuesday, April 29th,
12-4 p.m.
Wednesday, May 14th,
1-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
2014 PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education
and Arts/Culture in PA
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Below is an alphabetical list of the 2014
Gubernatorial Candidates and links to information about their plans, if
elected, for education and arts/culture in Pennsylvania. This list will be updated, as more
information becomes available.
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