Defending public education.

[redforeducation-blog]

Online Learning Debacle

“Collective statistics aren’t available, but by one tracker’s account, most ‘massive online open courses’ — known as MOOCs — have completion rates of less than 10 percent."

"Consider the popular nonprofit tutorial service Khan Academy. It’s free. But users do pay a price: In effect, they trade their data for the tutoring. 'Data is the real asset,’ founder Sal Khan told an academic conference last fall. The site tracks the academic progress of students 13 and older as they work through online lessons in math, science and other subjects. It also logs their location when they sign in and monitors their Web browsing habits. And it reserves the right to seek out personal details about users from other sources, as well, potentially building rich profiles of their interests and connections.After Politico inquired about Khan Academy’s privacy policy, which gave it the right to draw on students’ personal information to send them customized advertising, the policy was completely rewritten. The new text, posted online late last week, emphasizes Khan Academy’s commitment to protecting privacy and deletes the line about targeted advertising. But the revised policy makes clear that Khan Academy still allows third parties, such as YouTube and Google, to place the tiny text files known as 'cookies’ on students’ computers to collect and store information about their Web usage. Khan Academy also states that it may share personal information with app developers and other external partners, with students’ consent. A spokeswoman for the site said Khan Academy’s main goal in collecting data is to 'help students learn effectively and efficiently’.” *

Caitlin Emma, "Online Courses Don’t Live Up to Hype”, Politico, Sept. 2013

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/online-courses-failing-moocs-97031.html?hp=l6

Caitlin Emma, “Online Learning Run Amok”, Politico, Nov. 2014

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/online-education-run-amok-113208.html

Jennifer Berkshire, “All In for Profit”, Edushyster blog, Sept. 2013

http://edushyster.com/?p=3284

Larry Cuban, “Connecting School Reform to Online Instruction in K-12 Classrooms: The Next New Thing”, blog, April 2012

https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/connecting-school-reform-to-online-instruction-in-k-12-classrooms-the-next-new-thing/

Larry Cuban, “Online Instruction for K-12 ["Disruptive Innovation’]”, blog, June 2013

https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/online-instruction-for-k-12-part-1/

Larry Cuban, “Online Instruction Outsources Jobs”, blog, Nov. 2012https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/online-instruction-outsources-jobs/

* http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/data-mining-your-children-106676_Page2.html#ixzz3Og5urdZo

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff 

[redforeducation-blog]

“The Chicago Public Education Blues” <7 links>

Steve Horn, “Chicago School Closings and the Joyce Foundation: The Obama Connection”, Mint Press News, July 9, 2013 http://www.mintpressnews.com/a-closer-look-at-the-joyce-foundation-shows-obamas-ties-to-chicago-school-privatizations/164972/

Carol Caref, et.al., “The Black & White of Education in Chicago’s Public Schools”, Chicago Teachers Union Report, Nov. 2012 http://www.ctunet.com/quest-center/research/position-papers/privatization-the-black-white-of-education-in-chicagos-public-schools

Christopher Chase, “Are Chicago’s School Closings Really a Land Grab?”, Creative by Nature, April 6, 2014 http://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/are-chicagos-school-closings-really-a-land-grab/”

Brother Fred & Glenn Brown, “Rahm’s Civic Committee Pals Pushed Moody’s and S & P to Lower Illinois Bond Raing”, Schooling In the Ownership Society, July 2013 http://schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com/2013/07/rahms-civic-committee-pals-pushed.html?spref=fb

Alexandria Fisher, “Whittier Field House Demolished, Protestors Arrested”, NBC Chicago, August 2013 http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Pilsen-Parents-Protest-Demolition-of-Dilapidated-Field-House-220040171.html

Henry A. Giroux, “In the the Dead Zone of Capitalism: Lessons from Chicago On the Violence of Inequality”, Truthout, June 2013 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/lessons_from_chicago_on_the_violence_of_inequality_20130607/

Students Disrupt Chicago Board Meeting (July 2013) [video, 1 minute] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8Qwso43wc

Photo: FSA Collection (1935-42), Library of Congress

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff/R4Ed

[redforeducation-blog]

Caution! Children Not At Play <8 links>

Jon Hamilton, "How Play Wires Kids' Brains for Social & Academic Success", KQED, Aug. 2014 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/08/how-play-wires-kids-brains-for-social-and-academic-success/

Valerie Strauss “A Very Scary Headline About Kindergartners”, Washington Post, Feb. 2014 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/06/a-really-scary-headline-about-kindergarteners/

Edward Miller & Nancy Carlsson-Paige, “A Tough Critique of Common Core On Early Childhood Education”,  Washington Post, Jan. 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/29/a-tough-critique-of-common-core-on-early-childhood-education/

Jake Miller, “Flights of Fancy”, Harvard Medical School website, 2014 http://hms.harvard.edu/news/harvard-medicine/harvard-medicine/play/flights-fancy

Angela Hanscom via Valerie Strauss, “The Right-and Surprisingly Wrong-Ways to Get Kids to Sit Still In Class”, Washington Post, Oct. 2014 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/07/the-right-and-surprisingly-wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to-sit-still-in-class/

Peter Gray, “Give Childhood Back to Children”, The Independent (UK), Jan. 2014 http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/give-childhood-back-to-children-if-we-want-our-offspring-to-have-happy-productive-and-moral-lives-we-must-allow-more-time-for-play-not-less-are-you-listening-gove-9054433.html

Peter Gray, “Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm”, Psychology Today, May 2015 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201505/early-academic-training-produces-long-term-harm

Susan Perry, “New Research Calls Into Question the Push to Make Preschool More Like School”, Minneapolis Post, March 2011 http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2011/03/new-research-calls-question-push-make-preschool-more-school

Photo: Bronx Zoo (2014)

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff/R4Ed

[redforeducation-blog]

Bill Gates, the Common Core & Public Education <11 links>

Diane Ravitch via Valerie Strauss, "Time for Congress to Investigate Bill Gates' Role in Common Core", Washington Post, June 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/06/09/ravitch-time-for-congress-to-investigate-bill-gates-role-in-common-core/ Lyndsey Layton, "How Bill Gates Pulled Off the Swift Common Core Revolution", Washington Post, June 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html Sarah Darer Littman, "A Window Into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Dystopia", CT News Junkie, June 2013

http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/a_window_into_the_bill_and_melinda_gates_foundation_dystopia/#.UbwIGekKDW4.facebook Anthony Cody, "Bill Gates, On the Record", Education Week, Feb. 2014

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2014/02/bill_gates_on_the_record.html P.L. Thomas, "The (Lingering) Bill Gates Problem in School Reform", The Becoming Radical, May 2013 

https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/the-lingering-bill-gates-problem-in-school-reform/ Valerie Strauss, "Bill Gates: 'It Would Be Great if Our Education Stuff Worked, But...", Washington Post, Sept. 2013 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/27/bill-gates-it-would-be-great-if-our-education-stuff-worked-but/ Mercedes Schneider, "Video: Bill Gates, Expert On All That Matters", deutsch29, Dec. 2014

https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/video-bill-gates-expert-on-all-that-matters/ David  Morris, "What's Good for Bill Gates Turns Out to Be Bad for Public Schools", On the Commons", Nov. 2013

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/11/30/whats-good-bill-gates-turns-out-be-bad-public-schools Anthony Cody, "Dystopia: A Possible Future of Teacher Evaluation", Education Week, May 2013

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/05/dystopia_a_possible_future_of_.html

Mercedes Schneider, "Gates Is At It Again: The Common Core Centered 'Collaborative for Student Success", deutsch29, Nov. 2014

https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/gates-is-at-it-again-the-common-core-centered-collaborative-for-student-success/ Lance Fialkoff, "Caution Homo Sapiens Sapiens", Aug. 2010 http://musicalmediaforeducation.tumblr.com/post/949083859/caution-homo-sapiens-sapiens

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff (R4Ed)

[redforeducation-blog]

Common Core & "Close Reading" <6 links>

Stephen Krashen, "The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts,  a Disaster for Reading", Knowledge Quest, Jan. 2014

http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-common-core-disaster-for-libraries.html Aaron Barlow via Valerie Strauss, "Does Common Core's Focus on 'Close Reading' Make Sense?", Washington Post, Feb. 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/18/does-common-cores-focus-on-close-reading-make-sense/ Claire Needell Hollander, "No Learning Without Feeling", NY TImes, June 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/no-learning-without-feeling.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Alan Singer, "Common Core and the Death of Reading", Huffington Post", Nov. 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/common-core-and-the-death_b_6093362.html# Anthony Esolen, "How Common Core Devalues Great Literature", Crisis, Feb. 2014 

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/how-common-core-devalues-great-literature?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CrisisMagazine+%28Crisis+Magazine%29 Gerri K. Songer via Diane Ravitch, "Why Common Core Is Wrong About What Students Should Read", April 2014 

http://dianeravitch.net/2014/04/09/songer-why-common-core-is-wrong-about-what-students-should-read/

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff 

[redforeducation-blog]

Corporate Takeover: Public Education <10 links>

David L. Kirp, "Teaching Is Not a Business", NY Times, Aug. 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/opinion/sunday/teaching-is-not-a-business.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nyt-region®ion=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region&_r=1

Diane Ravitch, "Keep Your 'Disuption' Out of Our Schools", Huffington Post, Aug. 2013 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/keep-your-disruption-out-_b_3791295.html

David Sirota, "The 'Shock Doctrine' Comes to Your Neighborhood Classroom", Salon, Sept. 2011 

http://www.salon.com/2011/09/06/shockreform/

Zephyr Teachout & Mohammad Khan, "Corruption in Education: Hedge Funds and the Takeover of New York Schools", Dec. 2014

https://greatschoolwars.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/corruption_in_education.pdf

Brett Dickerson, "Investors, Ready to Liquidate Public Schools", Nov. 2014 

http://www.brettdickerson.net/investors-still-ready-liquidate-public-schools/

Alan Singer, "Common Core: It Really Is All About the Tests (and Corporate Profits", Huffington Post, Nov. 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/common-core-tests_b_6170832.html

Alan Singer, "Why Hedge Funds Love Charter Schools", Huffington Post, May 2014 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/why-hedge-funds-love-char_b_5357486.html

Michael Brenner, "The American Public School Under Siege", Huffington Post, Feb. 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-brenner/the-american-public-schoo_b_4804416.html 

Lisa Woods, "Run Schools Like a Business? Flip the Theory to See Flaws", Mobile (AL.) News & Record, Aug. 2014

http://m.news-record.com/opinion/columns/article_82a8737e-0dd1-11e4-9bee-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm#.U-oHy8Hl25V.twitter 

Charter School Growth Fund (promotional) 

http://chartergrowthfund.org/invest-with-us/why-invest/

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff

Photo: Library of Congress

[redforeducation-blog]

High-Stakes Standardized Testing: Pencils Down (links)

Chris Tienken, “Standardized Testing Is Not Teaching”, 2015 (video animate) [3:30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=dPs46yOcwP0

Alfie Kohn, “Standardized Testing and its Victims”, Education Week, Sept. 2000 http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm

Amy Kamenets, “Over Testing Our Kids Is Not the Answer—It’s the Problem”, Salon, Jan. 2015 http://www.salon.com/2015/01/03/over_testing_our_kids_is_not_the_answer_its_the_problem/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Valerie Strauss, “How Much Time Do School Districts Spend on Standardized Testing? This Much”, Washington Post, July 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/07/25/how-much-time-do-school-districts-spend-on-standardized-testing-this-much/

Thomas Armstrong, “15 Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Worthless”, Feb. 2013 http://institute4learning.com/blog/2013/02/28/15-reasons-why-standardized-tests-are-worthless-2/

Yong Zhao, “Doublethink: The Creativity-Testing Conflict”, Aug. 2012 http://zhaolearning.com/2012/08/16/doublethink-the-creativity-testing-conflict/

Jeanette Deutermann via Valerie Strauss, “The Harsh Reality of How Test Driven Curriculum Affects Kids”, Washington Post, Sept. 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/18/the-harsh-reality-of-how-test-driven-curriculum-affects-kids/

Steven M. Singer, “The Multiple Choice Mind”, July 2014 http://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/the-multiple-choice-mind/

Stamford Advocate, “Common Core as Child Abuse”, Sept. 2014 http://www.popularresistance.org/common-core-as-child-abuse/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

Grant Wiggins, “The Immorality of Test Security Revisited”, May 2013 http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/20-years-later-the-immorality-of-test-security-revisited/

Kyle Redford, “Time to Dethrone the Standardized Test”, Huffington Post, Feb. 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle/time-to-rethink-standardi_b_4855988.html  

Science Daily, “Standardized Testing Creates ‘Toxic Environment’ in Schools, Professor Says”, April 2013 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130416102122.htm

Scott Barry Kaufman, “Standardized Achievement Tests: What Are They Good For? Hint: Not Cognitive Ability” Scientific American, Dec. 2013 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/12/20/standardized-achievement-tests-what-are-they-good-for-hint-not-cognitive-ability/

Wayne Au, “Hiding Behind High-Stakes Testing: Meritocracy, Objectivity & Inequality in US Education”, International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 2013 http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/article/view/7453/7812

Alan Singer, “Do These Tests Have Educational Value?”, Huffington Post, Aug. 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/tests-designed-so-student_b_3739487.html

FairTest, “Assessment Myths & Reality”, Sept. 2013 http://www.fairtest.org/common-core-assessments-factsheet

Links compiled by Lance Fialkoff