Items by John Young

• “Evaluation based on instruction-INSENSITIVE tests cannot help but reduce the quality of teaching (and teacher morale).”- Gerald Bracey

  —Transparent Christina

  In the last 50 years, the United States has descended from viewing tests first as a useful tool, then as a necessity, and finally as the sole instrument needed to evaluate teachers, schools, districts, states, and nations (Bracey, 2009). In a nation where test mania prevails, tests will occupy part of the education landscape [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 9:52pm EST
  by John Young

• I miss summer.

  —Transparent Christina

  Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 9:34pm EST
  by John Young

• Proposed National K-12 Standards in English Language Arts and Math

  —Transparent Christina

  Powerpoint from Delaware DOE for ELA and Math Standards K-12. This is RttT prep work. Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 5:13pm EST
  by John Young

• Thompson: Is Our Education Policy Folks Learning?

  —Transparent Christina

  Given the latest discussion of the coverage of education and the press, Linda Perlstein’s hyperlink to Nick Lemann’s account of the passage of NCLB couldn’t be timelier. But first we should recall Lemann’s greatest scoop, an interview with Karl Rove on “the death of the Democratic Party” scenario where Rove systematically disabled the [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 4:15pm EST
  by John Young

• Bad Timing award: Golf Digest Magazine.

  —Transparent Christina

  Check out the January Cover, just out. Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 11:15pm EST
  by John Young

• #ROLLTIDE in PICTURES!

  —Transparent Christina

  Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 11:54pm EST
  by John Young

• #Alabama 32 #Florida 13: ‘Bama headed to National Championship game!

  —Transparent Christina

  Champion Alabama Crimson Tide White 2009 SEC Champions Official Locker Room T-shirt Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 10:47pm EST
  by John Young

• Education Secretary Arne Duncan Says School Principals Must Act Like CEOs

  —Transparent Christina

  Duncan says that one of the major ways to get this done is to make sure that principals have the same skills as CEOs . “We have to treat them as such, and we have to train them as such,” he says in this new podcast, the second in a series of interviews [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 1:34am EST
  by John Young

• Common Core State Standards Initiative: Summary of Public Feedback on the Draft College- and Career- Readiness Standards for English-Language Arts and Mathematics

  —Transparent Christina

  The feedback represents the opinions of more than 1,000 people. There were 988 online surveys completed via www.corestandards.org, and in many cases, a single response represents the input of multiple individuals. In some cases, people worked together to submit feedback, and multiple names are listed on a single survey response. [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 11:55pm EST
  by John Young

• Eight votes, all unanimous.

  —Transparent Christina

  Rubber stamping must be hard on the wrists…..not one person disagreed on one issue? Come on now…..is this what the people of Delaware want in an appointed body governing a critical area of DE government: EDUCATION? The State Board of Education/State Board for Vocational Education held its regular meeting on Tuesday, [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 10:16pm EST
  by John Young

• I think this is the official Transparent Christina theme song….

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 2
  A killer Kickline, child focused, and full of optimism……proof positive I missed one hell of a decade! The Five Stairsteps performing “O-o-h Child” on Soul Train Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 8:09pm EST
  by John Young

• The turnaround business?

  —Transparent Christina

  “As a country, we all need to get into the turnaround business,” said Duncan. “Today we are providing $3.5 billion and four models that have proven results so that school districts, unions, charter operators, universities and the business community can come together to turn around our nation’s lowest performing schools. Adults need to have [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 7:23pm EST
  by John Young

• The Politics of the RttT

  —Transparent Christina

  Getting back to Vander Ark, he accurately wrote “NCLB reflected a consensus that 1) measurement and transparency would help us understand the problem, 2) that a basic template for school accountability would ensure that things would get better for underserved students, and 3) the federal government should play a bigger role in ensuring equity and excellence.” So, [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 7:44am EST
  by John Young

• Twenty years from now we will get to the top and realize this ladder was leaning against the wrong wall!

  —Transparent Christina

  I saw this blog post from Diane Ravitch with the title “Why Business Leaders Should Not Run Schools” and found it an interesting read. Like most blog posts and blog links, I found the comments to be about as interesting as the blog itself. Full post: HERE. Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...][...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 7:41am EST
  by John Young

• An Early Look at the Economic Stimulus Package and the Public Schools

  —Transparent Christina

  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus package,represents an unprecedented infusion of federal dollars into the nation’s public education system—about $100 billionover two years, or more than double the fiscal year 2009 budget for the entire U.S. Department of Education(ED). These funds [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 7:28am EST
  by John Young

• A World-Class Education for Every Child Delaware’s Plan to Strengthen Our Schools

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 1
  Every child in Delaware deserves a world-class education. From the moment they leave our schools,Delaware’s students will compete for jobs and college admission against students from across ourcountry and around the globe. Their ability to compete – and Delaware’s economic future – dependson providing Delaware students with the education they [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:58pm EST
  by John Young

• Invisible: 1.4 Percent Coverage for Education is Not Enough

  —Transparent Christina

  News coverage is important to every policy area. While some people have personal knowledge of certain topics, many rely on mass media for direct, up-to-date, and in-depth reporting. This is especially the case with education because only a third of American adults currently have a child in elementary or secondary [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 6:13pm EST
  by John Young

• Now the Wall Street Jornal is retreating after being a Duncanphile….

  —Transparent Christina

  Dear WSJ editors: this whole ed reform thing a designed distraction….maybe this is your wake up call…. The Obama Administration’s education rhetoric, with its emphasis oncharter schools and evaluating teachers based on student performance,has won plaudits from school reformers—and from us. But this month theDepartment of Education laid out in detail [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 4:12pm EST
  by John Young

• Features of state response to intervention initiatives.

  —Transparent Christina

  Future research should also examine the effect of RTI on outcomes at both the school and district levels, including early identification of reading and other academic difficulties, student response to instruction, reduction in inappropriate referrals to and placement in special education, and ongoing collaboration between general and special education at [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 2:50pm EST
  by John Young

• Cursive Writing and Insults….

  —Transparent Christina

  Another Bartism….. Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:47am EST
  by John Young

• CLASS SIZE AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

  —Transparent Christina

  It’s not as intuitive as it seems, it seems……… Full .pdf: HERE Our discussion suggests that even if one were sure about what the impact of a class-size reduction policy would be on students’ learning, the desirability of implementing such a policy would depend on a careful weighing of its benefits and costs and of alternative [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 11:52pm EST
  by John Young

• Achievement data not yet available….new regulation proposals from DOE….

  —Transparent Christina

  FULL .PDF: 13 DE Reg 708 12-01-09 7.6.2 Districts having Partnership Zone schools and Partnership Zone charter schools shall work with the Department to implement a plan from the list below. The District may request funding from the Department for implementation of these provisions. 7.6.2.1 School Closure Model, in which a district closes a school [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 11:22pm EST
  by John Young

• Why Business Leaders Should Not Be in the Driver’s Seat: Ravitch

  —Transparent Christina

  Last week, an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal by Harold E. Ford Jr. (chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council), Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (former chairman of IBM), and Eli Broad (founder of the Broad Foundations) enunciated the new wisdom about school reform. (Leave aside the fact that these three have never reformed [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 10:59pm EST
  by John Young

• Has anyone else besides me noticed that……

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 2
  right before the DOE makes a major announcement, there is significant editorial activity in the News Journal from corporatist enablers of education reform? http://www.vision2015delaware.org/resources/11-29-09-TNJ-Intense%20and%20worth%20the%20effort.pdf http://www.vision2015delaware.org/resources/11-29-09-TNJ-How%20Delaware%20leads%20the%20way.pdf http://www.vision2015delaware.org/resources/11-29-09-TNJ-Supporting%20an%20educational%20portfolio.pdf All above were from 11/29…. Then today: KABOOM! Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 8:58pm EST
  by John Young

• Significant progress?

  —Transparent Christina

  Schools that joined the Network in 2007 have made significant progress in the practices that directlyaffect teaching and learning, with particularly impressive gains in instructional leadership byprincipals. It is noteworthy that this effect is apparent to all staff members within the schools-thosewho receive network training and those who have not. [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 8:37pm EST
  by John Young

• Mastery Charter School: Sunshine and Rainbows or Skimming and Manipulation?

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 4
  You be the judge: 1st from Rodel of Delaware: Ask Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia.  Mastery has been turning around schools in Philly since 2005 – they’ve taken some of the worst city schools and changed the leadership and the culture, and – working with the same kids as before the turn-around—made huge gains in proficiency [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:58pm EST
  by John Young

• Charter Schools train public schools?

  —Transparent Christina

  Definitely outside the box….. And so Gallo did what no other public school district in Rhode Island has ever done: she asked a local charter school to train some of her teachers. In August 2008, Gallo created a pilot program in which instructional coaches from The Learning Community began working closely with teachers at two of [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:15pm EST
  by John Young

• Louisiana Career Diploma: A new way of thinking about H.S. Diplomas

  —Transparent Christina

  (2) A career diploma issued by the State Board of Elementary and10 Secondary Education shall be considered a regular standard diploma and shall11 be recognized by all institutions under the management of the Louisiana12 Community and Technical College System. Read entire Regular Session, 2009 ENROLLEDSENATE BILL NO. 259: HERE. Powered by ScribeFire. Posted [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:40pm EST
  by John Young

• Every Little Thing She Does: Peanuts Style!

  —Transparent Christina

  Funny Vid O’the Day featuring music of the 80s……what better combination? Answer: none. Linus sings The Police Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:33pm EST
  by John Young

• Mayoral Control of Schools: The New Tyranny

  —Transparent Christina

  A June 2009 Chicago Tribune article noted that two-thirds of all new Chicago teachers leave within five years and that half of the teachers in high poverty areas disappear after only three. Hard to have a turnaround with that kind of turnover. Of course, some of the teachers got a push. Ron Huberman [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:50pm EST
  by John Young

• Charter Schools’ Performance and Accountability: A Disconnect

  —Transparent Christina

  This report argues that evidence exists for the case that the charter schoolmovement is largely a failed reform. The report puts the charter school movement in thecontext of dissatisfaction with public schools and the public sector in general. It thendescribes the claims for charters made by the early charter school [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:46pm EST
  by John Young

• Nine Myths About Public Schools

  —Transparent Christina

  None of this will likely strike you as particularly new, but it might be good to have a bunch of myths lined up and debunked all in one place. The LIST: HERE!! Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:43pm EST
  by John Young

• NEW STANFORD REPORT FINDS SERIOUS QUALITY CHALLENGE IN NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL SECTOR

  —Transparent Christina

  Stanford, CA – A new report issued today by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found that there is a wide variance in the quality of the nation’s several thousand charter schools with, in the aggregate, students in charter schools not faring as well as students in traditional [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 4:55pm EST
  by John Young

• Thompson: Innovation and its Discontents

  —Transparent Christina

  Good point/counterpoint discussion recap…..The first 13 contributors to the National Journal’s discussion on innovation largely echoed the heroic infatuation of theorists with “disruptive innovation,” arguing that education needs “radically new approaches,” “federal leverage” to destroy local policies and “antiquated” contracts, and the adoption of Frederick Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom as the innovators’ Bible. Read [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 12:19pm EST
  by John Young

• Bloomberg has stopped sipping the Kool-Aid, he’s chugging it full throttle now….

  —Transparent Christina

  Clearly he does not understand fully what is best for children, he conflates issues and refuses to use research…..there is a word that sums this approach: ignorant. Here is the latest lunacy from New York City: Talk about trimming the turkey. Mayor Bloomberg announced a host of aggressive education-policy initiatives yesterday that [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 8:57am EST
  by John Young

• The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody Queen

  —Transparent Christina

  The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 8:22am EST
  by John Young

• Have a great and safe Thanksgiving!

  —Transparent Christina

  Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!! Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 8:06am EST
  by John Young

• More Ridiculous Zero Tolerance Policy crap, Philly Style!

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 1
  Some day, the evidence, which is already overwhelming, will be USED to undue these policies that destroy lives. It literally teaches children the exact opposite of what schools are supposed to teach children: critical thinking skills, the ability to discern, compassion, judgment and problem solving. It takes all those things, [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 11:38pm EST
  by John Young

• HALL & OATES – EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY ( live )

  —Transparent Christina

  Insanely good performance with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick of the Temptations. Song went to #1 in 1984 sung by Paul Young. It is a Hall and Oates song, appearing on 1980 album, Voices, along with Kiss on my List, You Make my dreams come True and the remake of [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:09pm EST
  by John Young

• Turning Around the Lowest-Achieving Schools

  —Transparent Christina

  The Department made threenoteworthy changes to the selectioncriteria on turning around thepersistently lowest-achieving schools.First, this notice removes the restriction,proposed in the NPP, that permitted the‘‘transformation’’ model to be usedsolely as a last resort. Instead, wesimply specify that an LEA with morethan nine persistently lowest-achievingschools may not use the transformationmodel for [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:05pm EST
  by John Young

• McCarthyism

  —Transparent Christina

  McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term specifically describes activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 8:58pm EST
  by John Young

• The Firing of the Inspector General for The Corporation for National and Community Service

  —Transparent Christina

  Why is Rhee’s name even in here? Michelle Rhee, who is currently Chancellor of the District of Columbia Schools,was a St. HOPE board member at the time. According to Wong-Hernandez, Rheelearned of the allegations and played the role of a fixer, doing “damage control.”64Wong-Hernandez’s OIG interview summary states, “When there was [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 3:26pm EST
  by John Young

• It’s time to evaluate the evaluation: DCPS, Rhee, fail.

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 2
  Dan Goldfarb, a 51-year-old history teacher at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, says his first encounter with an evaluator under the District’s new IMPACT system for assessing teachers did not go well. Goldfarb does not claim to be an objective observer. He doesn’t like the new system or how Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:32am EST
  by John Young

• GUIDANCE The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA): U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education September 2, 2009

  —Transparent Christina

  Before deciding to reserve Title I, Part A ARRA funds “off the top” of its Title I, Part Aallocation, an LEA must consult with appropriate private school officials and must provideequitable services to eligible private school students, their parents, and their teachers, asapplicable, from the reserved funds. (ESEA section 1120(b); [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:42pm EST
  by John Young

• Delaware: Christina School District to hire consultant for review

  —Transparent Christina

  Number of comments: 1
  “In fact most of the company employees who have worked in 90 school districts in 20 states across the country since 2002 are Americans, said Tim Boyce, regional director of the Northeast region of Cambridge Education, adding that all the money would stay in the United States.” – News-Journal Article   Read the rest: HERE. While [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  by John Young

• Warren Zevon : Genius

  —Transparent Christina

  more about "Warren Zevon : Genius", posted with vodpod Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:36am EST
  by John Young

• Clay Shirky on institutions vs. collaboration:

  —Transparent Christina

  A great insight on how we function institutionally and personally…. more about "Clay Shirky on institutions vs. colla…", posted with vodpod Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 10:44pm EST
  by John Young

• Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

  —Transparent Christina

  more about "Ken Robinson says schools kill creati…", posted with vodpod Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 10:04pm EST
  by John Young

• Secretary Duncan, Gingrich, & Sharpton talk Education Reform on ‘Meet the Press’

  —Transparent Christina

  Lots of ideas here, both good and bad as I see it….. Secretary Duncan, Gingrich, & Sharpton talk Education Reform on ‘Meet the Press’ Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:54pm EST
  by John Young

• Ben Stein – America’s Education Crisis

  —Transparent Christina

  Ben Stein – America’s Education Crisis Interesting take… Powered by ScribeFire. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:52pm EST
  by John Young