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Welcome to the April 7th edition of the HML POST

 

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COMMON CORE, THE MOVIE: A 40-minute film on Common Core comes out online today with the tagline, "The biggest reform you know nothing about." The movie was funded and produced by the Home School Legal Defense Association, which opposes the standards, and the trailer makes the Common Core look quite ominous. But standards supporter Mike Petrilli said he was pleasantly surprised to see that the filmmakers gave his arguments a fair shake and plenty of air time.

- Petrilli said he doubted the movie would influence public debate. "I think it will be preaching to the converted," he said. (His colleague Chester Finn, meanwhile, offered another review: "'Frozen' and 'Philomena' are in no danger!') But Jim Stergios, a Common Core opponent, predicted the film would resonate widely and "have a tremendous impact." He said it should stir opposition among parents who home-school or send their children to private school - and who may not have thought much about the standards before watching the movie. The film, called "Building the Machine," will be online: http://bit.ly/O5Q2uA 

  

Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended his role in promoting the Common Core standards during an interview with PBS NewsHour that aired last Friday. The segment argued that Duncan has unprecedented power over state policy, thanks to his Race to the Top grants and No Child Left Behind waivers. Rep. John Kline told PBS his "ultimate fear" with the Common Core is that the federal government will get into the "curriculum business." Duncan said he's not concerned: "How you teach to higher standards - the curriculum behind that - we have never touched that, never have, never will do that," he said.

  

For Most Adolescents, Popularity Increases the Risk of Getting Bullied  By Daniel Fowler, American Sociological Association

A new study suggests that for most adolescents, becoming more popular both increases their risk of getting bullied and worsens the negative consequences of being victimized.  "Most people probably would not think that having a higher social status would increase the risk of being targeted, but with few exceptions, that's what we find," said the study's lead author Robert Faris, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California-Davis. "It's kind of a hidden pattern of victimization that is rooted in the competition for social status."

  
Selected highlights from the Kindergarten Database  By the Education Commission of the State.
In half of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, students must turn age 5 by the end of September to attend kindergarten.  Nineteen states requires students to turn age 5 on or before Sept. 1.  Fifteen states plus D.C. require children to attend kindergarten at age five or require kindergarten attendance prior to enrolling in first grade.  Thirty-five states do not require kindergarten attendance. 
 

 25 maps and charts that explain America today  by Nirja Chokshi and David Beard in the Washington Post

At the start of every year, government agencies, think tanks and businesses release sets of data and reports charting the nation's social, economic and demographic course. Individually, each release of data offers a narrow snapshot of a narrow issue - voter attitudes, migration, unemployment, an assessment of policies, etc. - but collectively they tell a broader story. 

  

Whatever Will We Do If We Dump Common Core?  by Mercedes Schneider on the Huffington Post 

Allow me to expose this nonsense for what it is.

First of all, no one advocating for CCSS was educated via CCSS. Conversely, every corporate reformer, every promoted of for-profit education, every test-driven, disruptive-education promoter was educated under some educational umbrella (whether called "standards" or not) other than the Core.

  

 

 Why Religious Fundamentalists Are So Excited About Charter Schools   By Dan Arel in the AlterNet Blog

It is no secret that Republicans dislike public education. They view it as a burden on the taxpayer and do not believe paying for someone else's kid's education should be their responsibility. Just this month Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was quoted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) saying that kids who receive free school lunches have parents who do not care about them at home.

 

 Myth 5. Cyberschools are an efficient, cost-saving, and highly effective means of delivering education.  by Gene Glass on the Education in Two Worlds blog 

In the past decade, a small number of private companies have taken advantage of a market in cyberschooling that has presented itself from the convergence of home schooling, charter schools, and the Internet. By obtaining a charter in those states with permissive charter school legislation, often written by the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the vigorously recruiting home schooled students, companies like K12 Inc. and Connections Education (recently acquired by the U.K. publishing conglomerate Pearson) have able to enroll significant numbers of students in full-time schooling delivered entirely over the Internet.
  

 

    

 

  

US students rank better internationally on new problem solving test than they do on conventional math and reading exams    in the Hechinger Report blog.

Here's a modest test result to bolster the argument of those who say the American educational system isn't so terrible. On a new creative problem-solving test taken by students in 44 countries and regions, U.S. 15-year-olds scored above the international average and rank at number 18 in the world. That's much better than the below-average performance of U.S. students on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) reading and math tests conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 

 

 

Charter-mania, high-stakes testing and teacher-bashing: Can Rhee's approach be stopped?  by Josh Eidelson on Salon.com

Final briefs are due next week in Vergara v. California, an under-the-radar billionaire-backed lawsuit that could transform teaching conditions in the largest state. Citing the constitutional rights of its public school student plaintiffs, the suit seeks to overturn state laws that schedule tenure consideration after two years of teaching, dictate the use of seniority when budget cuts force layoffs, and impose due process rules on teachers' terminations. It very well may succeed. 

 

The Coming Age of Instructionally Integrated Testing   by By Anthony Rebora  in Education Week Teacher blog.

Standardized testing has been a staple of American education for more than a half century, and has become particularly prominent in public schools-some might say invasive-since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. But while it's not likely that standardized tests in schools will be going away anytime soon, there are definite signs that the assessment field is in a period of transition-brought about by, among other factors, widespread dissatisfaction with conventional testing formats, advancements in technology, and the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. 

 

 Ohio'a Public Charter Schools  by Denis Smith

With the annual state appropriation approaching $1,000,000,000 for these schools, our return on this investment is unacceptable and safeguards are needed to protect the public from the type of waste, fraud, and theft outlined here.  Since it will take years to clean up this mess, the following immediate reforms in governance are recommended to the legislature, knowing that a lack of effective governance will influence the growth of other problems with the school, including poor academic results, financial issues, and staff turnover.

 

  Imagine the various Texas groups fighting about testing and accountability as armies on a battlefield. Suddenly a shooting star flashes overhead. Not all the combatants notice. But for some who do, that bright light helps direct their aim. 

Walter Stroup, an education professor at the University of Texas at Austin, was an unlikely candidate for a shooting star. He's the sort of fellow who thinks most elementary school kids should be thriving on pre-calculus. No kidding.

   

 

Click here to view the League's Flipboard magazine.  The "Cornerstone" is a collection of research and editorials about public education.  

All of the past issues of the HML Posts are available for view and search purposes at 
 

http://www.hmleague.org/hml-weekly-blog/

  

See these and other related articles in the "Cornerstone" Internet magazine.

 

 


Reprinted with permission.
 
 
About Us
The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.

 

Officers:
President: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, VA
President-elect: Charles Fowler, Exec. Director, Suburban School Admin. Exter, HN
Vice President: Christine  Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
1st Past President: Joe Hairston, President, Vision Unlimited, Reisterstown, MD
2nd Past President: Mark Edwards, Superintendent, Mooresville Graded Schools, NC

Directors:
Laurie Barron, Supt. of Schools, Evergreen School District, Kalispell , MT
Martha Bruckner, Supt., Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Carol Choye, Instructor, Bank Street College, NY
Brent Clark, Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
Eric King, Superintendent, (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Steven Ladd, Superintendent, Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA 
Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC
Kevin Maxwell, CEO, Prince George's County Schools, Upper Marlboro, MD
Stan Olson, Director, Silverback Learning, Boise, ID
Steven Webb, Supt. of Schools, Vancouver School District, WA

 

Executive Director:
Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
 
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.