Teacher preparation, Home schoolng, Socioeconomic status, Common core, Vergara decision, Ten Phrases, Education matters, HML objectives, and Nominate a colleague

The HML Post

Greetings!

Welcome to the June 23rd edition of the HML POST

The main HML website, click here.

Check out HML's Cornerstone on "FLIPBOARD." (The public schools are the "Cornerstone" of our democracy.)

Shaky Methods, Shaky Motives: A Recap of My Critique of the NCTQ Review of Teacher Preparation Programs by Ed Fuller

While the NCTQ critiques are not substantially different than many previous calls for reform, the current calls for reform come at a time of increased belief that public schools have failed, partially as a result of traditional teacher preparation programs and "we need to end the effective monopoly that education schools have on teacher training. Policymakers must foster a robust marketplace of providers from which schools and school districts can choose candidates" (Kamras & Rotherham, 2007).

Home is Where the School Is: The Logic of Homeschooling and the Emotional Labor of Mothering by Kurt J. Bauman in the Teachers College Record

Although pedagogical and religious motivations for homeschooling have been explored, less work has focused on the motivation of mothers. Stevens (2001) notes that women who choose to stay at home rather than join the workforce have sometimes explained homeschooling as a way to define their role as being more than "just a mom." Although it is not Lois' explicit purpose to explore Stevens' observation, her book nonetheless provides a great deal of evidence.

A Call for Consensus in the Use of Student Socioeconomic Status Measures in Cross-National Research using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) by Amita Chudgar , Thomas F. Luschei & Loris Fagioli in the Teachers College Record

The objectives of this research note are to: (1) illustrate variability in approaches to capture student Socioeconomic Status (SES) in current cross-national educational literature using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS); (2) demonstrate that the choices researchers make about SES measures have important consequences for their conclusions about relationships between student performance and school resources; and (3) invite a conversation among researchers using cross-national data (especially TIMSS) that will lead to greater consensus as to how to measure student SES in educational research.

Superintendents on Common Core: "Slow down to get it right"

by Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post

The American Association of School Administrators just released a new report calling for policymakers to slow down the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and aligned standardized tests because educators need more time to "get it right."

Last week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said it now supports a two-year delay in using student standardized test scores in high-stakes decisions on teacher evaluation and student promotion while schools are learning how to implement the Common Core State Standards and new Core-aligned standardized tests. Momentum is clearly building for a moratorium.

ACT Addresses My Questions About Common-Core Testing By Rick Hess in EDWEEK

Back in March, I took to the blog to ask three questions about concerns I had regarding Common Core testing to PARCC and SBAC, the two consortia that are building and field testing the assessments. A few weeks later, representatives from PARCC and SBACtook me up on the offer, and on the whole I found the entire exercise fairly heartening (even if I'm left with additional questions). Last week, Wayne Camara, senior vice president of ACT, emailed and offered responses from ACT as well. Given that ACT currently serves 9 states, I was greatly encouraged by its willingness to be transparent and wanted to give ACT the forum for the day.

If Competition Is So Great... by Peter Greene on the CURMUDGUCATION blog

Reformsters love competition. Love it. Our students should be competitive. Our measure of success is how well our students can compete with workers in Shanghai and India and China (we never discuss that a good way to compete would be to learn how to live on ten bucks a week pay, but never mind that-- competition!). Our schools should be competitive. We should let everybody who wants to open up a school and then let them all compete and that would lead to awesome super-duper excellence in schools. Public schools are lazy and terrible because they don't have to compete with anybody (because devoting resources to marketing instead of teaching makes educational sense).

This is a B- student's opinion: Why the education reformers latest victory is built on sand by Ellias Isquith on the Slade.com blog.

This [ruling], is essentially saying that there are certain particular policies which, by their nature, violate equal protection and violate the right to education. So it's really getting down into the nitty-gritty details of pretty basic labor relations decisions. In and of itself, that doesn't make it wrong. But it is dealing with education policy decisions at a much more detailed and much more - I think it's fair to say - micro-managing level than even the earlier decisions said. Another early decision was another one [in which] there was a low-income school district and they said, basically, "We're not going to have classes for the next six weeks; we don't have any money." That's fairly straightforward - you can't say somebody has a right to an education and then not give them an education ...

Poll: Nearly Half of American Adults Haven't Heard of Common-Core Standards by Catherine Gewertz in Education Week

Sick of hearing people bicker about the political football called common core? You have lots of company. A new poll finds barely half of Americans haven't even heard of the new standards, let alone heard about them nonstop (like we do here in Washington).

10 Phrases Great Speakers Never Say by Jeff Haden on the INC Post.

Want to ruin a presentation in seconds? Just drop in one of these sentences. While it's really hard to immediately win over a crowd, it's really easy for a speaker to lose the room within the first few minutes of a presentation.

To make sure you don't lose your audience, here are ten things you should never say during your presentations: . . . .

Public Education Matters by The Council of School Superintendent of New York (PDF document)

A vision for reclaiming the promise of our public schools Presented by the superintendents of New York's school districts. Public Education- the backbone, heart, wisdom, beacon, and soul of a free and democratic society for every child.

1. Equalizes and expands opportunities for all children.

2. Serves as a way out of poverty.

3. Accepts the responsibility that every student graduates prepared for continued learning in college, a career and public service, and in citizenship and life.

4. Provides intellectual capital to sustain national security and economic growth.

5. Promotes, exemplifies, and protects constitutional ideals, democratic principles and individual freedom.

HML Board Adopts Six Objectives

At the 2014 summer HML board meeting, held on the Stanford University campus on June 19-21, the following six objectives emerged from the strategic planning process:

1. Increase the visibility and communication of the League's identity

2. Increase the sources of funding in order to meet the League's objectives.

3. Increase the membership of the League by 20% per year.

4. Initiate two nationally prominent projects to improve the identity of the League.

5. Initiate critical conversations with educational "influencers" and "disrupters" about the process of improving public education.

6. Establish 25 League chapters in schools of education.

More highlights from the Stanford meeting will be in next week's Post.

A Message from Gary Marx, President of the Horace Mann League.

To: Members of the Horace Mann League

From: Gary Marx, HML President

We invite you to nominate one or more colleagues for membership in the Horace Mann League. Even though it's a busy time and you likely don't need "one more thing," it is also a time when we recognize graduates and those who have made special contributions to our communities and organizations.

While this will take just a few minutes, we ask you to respond as quickly as possible. Please send us your nomination(s) by return email. Those you nominate should, in your professional opinion, be dedicated to public education and make exceptional contributions to the cause. A nomination is a way to express your appreciation. Of course, it will be up to them, when they receive our invitation, to decide whether they actually wish to join

Send you names with district or organization to the Executive Director.

Nominator's Name (You):

Please return your nominations to Jack McKay at the Horace Mann League, jmckay@hmleague.org. He will follow-up with letters to each of your nominees.

Many many thanks.

A Gift: On the Art of Teaching by Horace Mann

In 1840 Mann wrote On the Art of Teaching. Its message has lived on as a timeless and inspiring appeal to educators. Some of members present On the Art of Teaching to new teachers as part of their orientation program. On the inside cover, some write a personal welcome message to the recipient. Other HML members present the book to school board members and parental organizations as a token of appreciation for becoming involved in their schools. The book cover can be designed with the organization's name. For more information, contact the HML (Jack McKay)