Transparent Christina

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

  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?

  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

  (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!

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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….

  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

  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!

  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!

  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 )

  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

  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

  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

  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.

  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

  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

  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

  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:

  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

  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’

  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

  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

• This Week in Education: John Thompson post.

  A must read…. November 20, 2009 | Posted At: 10:34 AM | Author: john thompson | Category: by John Thompson Thompson: Gerald Bracey’s Concluding Remarks The last Bracey Report should be read and reread in its balanced, jewel-like entirety.  Federal accountability schemes, despite their avowed purpose of helping the poor, make no sense unless you also believe that American education [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:13am EST
  by John Young

• United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters: Education

  November 19, 2009The Honorable John P. KlineRanking MemberCommittee on Education and LaborHouse of RepresentativesThe Honorable Michael CastleRanking MemberSubcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementaryand Secondary EducationCommittee on Education and LaborHouse of RepresentativesThe Honorable Howard P. “Buck” McKeonHouse of RepresentativesThe Department of Education (Education) administers about 200 programs that award grants totaling about [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:57pm EST
  by John Young

• Alternative test may inflate score gains

  Virginia’s move to expand its use of portfolios to include students who are learning grade-level skills is unusual. It’s costly. Fairfax spent more than $500,000 to train teachers and score portfolios last year, not to mention thousands of hours of teacher time compiling them. It’s also risky. Experts say blending the results of different [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:18pm EST
  by John Young

• What Made Michelle Obama Anxious and Nervous

  Number of comments: 1
  First Lady Michelle Obama revisited a stressful period of her youth on Monday, opening up to teen girls at a Denver mentoring event when asked about her views of standardized testing. Mrs. Obama used the question to talk about her own insecurities and anxieties about taking tests, focusing on her time as a high school [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:11pm EST
  by John Young

• Race to the Top: Rural America edition.

  Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose education experience is firmly planted in urban ground, is continuing to reach out to rural folks to figure out how the reforms he’s pushing will play out in the farther reaches of the country. Nine rural superintendents, from Michigan, Texas, West Virginia, California, Mississippi, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Arizona, gave [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:57pm EST
  by John Young

• VItamin D deficiency is a serious emerging minority health issue…..

  Many teens, especially black teens, aren’t getting enough vitamin D, say researchers, a deficiency that could lead to rickets (a bone-softening disease that causes severe bowing of the legs in growing children), and increase the risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, immune system problems, and inflammatory diseases. Rest of Article: HERE. Powered by [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:28pm EST
  by John Young

• Delaware and Response to Intervention (RtI)

  This document is offered by the Delaware Department of Education asguidance in implementing Department of Education regulations specificto the Response to Intervention Standards and Procedures found at 14 DEAdmin Code §§ 925.6.11 and 7.0 through 12.0. What Is Response To Intervention (“RTI”)? Is RTI Provided To All Students? What Are The Benefits [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:01pm EST
  by John Young

• Do Special Education students get accomodations on standardized tests?

  The rules seem clear: Permitted NAEP Accommodations Tables Accommodations in the testing environment or administration procedures are provided for SD and ELL students. Examples of accommodations permitted by NAEP are extra time, testing in small-group or one-on-one sessions, reading aloud to a student, and scribing a student’s responses. The tables below show the accommodations used for the most [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:50pm EST
  by John Young

• Superintendent’s First 100 Days Listen, Learn, Lead

  A web update from our Superintendent, Dr. Marcia Lyles. As I embarked upon my Christina journey I pledged to listenattentively, learn quickly and lead boldly. It has been afascinating, illuminating, challenging and rewarding 100 daysand I thank every member of the Christina community for beinggracious, welcoming and informative guides. I’ve spoken [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:09pm EST
  by John Young

• RE: The World has become A Lot More Interesting

  Today’s post of the day. A link to a workgroup proposing the future of our schools in a global society and a robust discussion of racing to the top and the efficacy/accuracy of testing. Wasn’t Bill Gates a dropout?…… “Their work is flowing through a document developed by a members committee, Suspending [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:48am EST
  by John Young

• Suspending Disbelief: World Class Public Schools for All (Wake Education Partnership)

  It was early in 2008 when Wake Education Partnership gathered 150 business leaders,educators and elected officials to discuss what it would take to build a world-class schooldistrict in Wake County. The keynote address was titled “Think Globally, Learn Locally.”The world was in a different place at that moment. People were [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:44am EST
  by John Young

• Obama and Duncan Are Wrong About Charters

  The legislators who passed the Elementary and Secondary Act in 1965 repeatedly assured their colleagues and the American public that the federal government would never interfere with state and local control of schools. The purpose of the law was clear: To provide additional funding to the nation’s neediest students. Of course, that vow did [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 9:40pm EST
  by John Young

• CPS president death investigation – wgntv.com

  the latest more about "CPS president death investigation – w…", posted with vodpod Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:19pm EST
  by John Young

• Good news for families raising children with autism

  On Friday, November 13, 2009 over 50 participants (including me) gathered at the MIND Institute at UC Davis and took part in a National Town Meeting organized by Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism, a national consortium* seeking to create meaningful futures for adults with autism. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/lshumaker/detail?entry_id=51684#ixzz0X4NpqpFx Powered by ScribeFire. Posted [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 6:53pm EST
  by John Young

• Chicago School Board President’s Death Ruled A Suicide

  Michael Scott Was Found On River Bank With Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound To The Head CHICAGO (CBS) ― [...] [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:47pm EST
  by John Young

• Fall in Philadelphia……

  Lovely indeed….. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:29pm EST
  by John Young

• Live From Daryl’s House with Daryl Hall :: Episode 25

  Live From Daryl’s House with Daryl Hall :: Episode 25 Posted using ShareThis Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:26pm EST
  by John Young

• Delaware ARRA interim report from Lt. Gov. Denn

  We will continue to vigorously review purchase orders relating to the use of stimulus funds. The pre-screening system we have set up is an extremely strict one—many other states appear to be relying more heavily on after-the-fact audits to detect improper spending. But this process by its nature is also [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 10:13am EST
  by John Young

• Delaware Guidance on ARRA Funds.

  Dear Superintendent:Last week, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the availability of new funds for Delaware for education of the disadvantaged (Title 1, Part A funds) and education of persons between age 3 and age 21 with disabilities (IDEA Part B). These funds, provided as part of the [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:55am EST
  by John Young

• Tips on How to Observe a Reading Classroom

  Principals greatly benefit as reading leaders when they understand research-based teaching strategies, recognize strengths in their teachers’ practice, and note areas that need improvement. Observation and conferencing are primary responsibilities of instructional leaders (Glickman,1985; Pajak,1989). Rest of article: HERE. Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 10:45pm EST
  by John Young

• Bracey’s last report–trashing our educational assumptions

  I got to the last page of the last icon-shattering piece Gerald W. Bracey will ever write, and felt sad and empty. As usual, he had skewered–with great erudition and insight–some of my fondest beliefs about how to improve schools. As a consequence, my thinking and writing about these issues [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 9:57pm EST
  by John Young

• RTI Demystified: Bolster your program by expanding into middle schools and including more ELL students.

  Implementing a response to Intervention plan is challenging. It calls for a delicate mix of identifying possible student learning disabilities, correctly interpreting student achievement data, and creating an individual learning plan—and then monitoring it all to make sure it works. And this process must be repeated for each student. So [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 9:21pm EST
  by John Young

• Forest Grove v. T.A.: an analysis of the Special Ed FAPE case

  Q: What are the basic facts of the case? A: T.A. was a student in Forest Grove for many years. His teachers all recognized ADHD-like behaviors, but T.A. was not evaluated until his freshman year. At that point, T.A. received an evaluation from the District, and was found ineligible for special [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:59pm EST
  by John Young

• Administrator Smart Guide to ARRA Spending.

  The 21st-Century Classroom50 ways to use that new ARRA cash to enhance good teaching, deepen learning, and improve school performance Here’s the LIST! Posted in Uncategorized [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:16pm EST
  by John Young

• Amazing Hip Hop Founding Father Rap song!

  Check this out!!! Special H/T to Alexander Russo. Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: burr, hamilton, Obama, whitehouse [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:10pm EST
  by John Young