How New Orleans Did Not Get Turned Around A reader in New Orleans responded to the post about the failure of the school-closing strategy in New York City with the following comments. Despite the constant repetition of the story about the “miracle in New Orleans” by Arne Duncan and the media, the New Orleans district continues to be one of the lowest performing in a low-performing state. You may recall that Secretary of Education said that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that ever happened to the education system of New Orleans. Message: Don’t believe the hype: While the New York story played out differently because of the players. local and state politics the script for the wrong-headed school reformers is basically the same. But despite their failure, the Governor and the state department of education is taking its failed model to school districts across the state and have recently passed a ill fated voucher program that will take put more state funds in the private sector and fail more children. Unbelievable but True!!!
Know-How Show-How | local knowledge documentary heritage network How can I contribute? Great that you want to contribute to Know-How / Show-How! How does it work? We are looking for 5 minute clips about the person, the story and the knowledge that inspires you. Don’t worry, it’s easy to do! How do I make a movie? Before you start: - If you know the person, you can jump right in. - If you don’t, take some time to get to know them, make them feel relaxed and explain the process before you start filming. Presentation at the International Festival for Ethnographic Films in Sofia The results from the workshop “Preserve to Pass-on” Know-How Show-How has conducted during the “Goat Milk Festival” in Gorna Bela Rechka will be screened at the International Festival for Ethnographic Films in Sofia 4-9 november. Know-How / Show-How featured in Bulgarian documentaries Preparation for the fine willow skeinwork Workshop ‘Preserve to Pass-on’ From 18 to 24 May 2013 Know-How / Show-How put on the workshop “Preserve to Pass-on” in Bela Rechka, Bulgaria. Willow working
Addressing Poverty in Schools Cantor is a psychiatrist who specializes in childhood trauma. After 9/11, her organization, the Children’s Mental Health Alliance, was asked by New York City’s Department of Education to assess the impact of the attack on the city’s public school children. What she found were plenty of traumatized children — but less because of the terrorist attack than because of the simple fact that so many of them were growing up in poverty. “If children are under stress, the ways they respond are remarkably similar,” she says. The traditional therapist’s response, of course, is to recommend therapy for traumatized children. Part of the reason this work strikes me as so important is the obvious: there are an immense number of children growing up in poverty — one out of three in New York City alone. The second reason, though, is that Turnaround is trying to bridge an important divide. I have space to give only the barest outline of how it works.
Manifesto Fever The Holstee Manifesto The viral potential of a creative and thought-provoking manifesto has been proven by brands like lululemon and Holstee who have grabbed the attention of millions of viewers, both online and off. These manifestos contain words of intention and inspiration, and are designed to embody what is important to them and what they stand for. After Inc. featured an article on the explosive success of the Holstee manifesto a few weeks ago, manifestos from other businesses and organizations — like Project Living Well and Tiny Devotions — have started popping up. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who has viewed the Holstee manifesto knows what Holstee is, or what Holstee does. As they said themselves, “We wrote a manifesto but we never wrote a business plan.” Holstee Manifesto Greeting Card Whether it’s a total coincidence, or the Holstee story sparked ideas, the following manifestos have hit the web over the past week: The Tiny Devotions Boho Manifesto
When Andrew Hacker asks “Is Algebra Necessary?”, why doesn’t he just ask “Is High School Necessary?” | Galactic Interactions Yes, I admit, the editorial at the New York Time entitled "Is Algebra Necessary?" pushes my buttons. Hacker makes some valid and relevant points, and I'll get back to that. However, the core of his argument is the ultimate in anti-intellectualism. What's worse, it's the kind of anti-intellectualism that you get from intellectuals, the sort of thing that sprouts from those on the math-ignorant side of the "two cultures" identified by C. P. Andrew Hacker's argument against making algebra necessary for high school and college students is essentially: Math Is Hard. There's one particular part of the argument I want to highlight: Nor is it clear that the math we learn in the classroom has any relation to the quantitative reasoning we need on the job. So, because algebra isn't what's needed in jobs, we shouldn't be teaching it. If you accept that argument, we need to reevaluate the entire high school curriculum, and the entire core curriculum of all colleges and universities.
Plastic Bottles: 20 Times stronger than Bricks Life in Africa has many challenges: from disease to poverty and war. The continent also has a reputation for extreme difficulties that are fixable, but a lack of resources often prevents the problems from being solved.This is where resourcefulness comes into play: if you don’t have what you need make do with what you already have. A surplus of empty plastic bottles is something that not only affects Africa, but the entire planet. In a small village in Nigeria, a solution has been applied to not only provide shelter in a poverty stricken country, but find a use for refuse. Packing sand into plastic bottles is a technique that started nine years ago in India, South and Central America. Adding to the appeal of the simple technology, the houses are ideal for the hot Nigerian climate because the bottle bricks buffer the house from the intense heat. Photos above from Ego Nigeria
List of democratic schools There is no monolithic definition of democratic education or democratic schools. But what we mean here is “education in which young people have the freedom to organize their daily activities, and in which there is equality and democratic decision-making among young people and adults,” as quoted from AERO's Directory of Democratic Education. These schools and programs take many forms and include public and private alternatives and homeschool resource centers. Argentina La Cecilia, Santa Fe Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Costa Rica Denmark Egypt Family Club Domashniy Rebenok, Sinai Finland France Germany Guatemala Hungary India Indonesia KBKPM (Komunitas Belajar Kampung Pingin Maju), Bangsri, Kab. Israel Japan Nepal Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir, Kathmandu Netherlands New Zealand Norway Nyskolen i Oslo, Oslo Palestine Hope Flowers School, Bethlehem Peru Escuela Democratica, De la Libertad Poland Portugal Escola da Ponte, Villa Das AVES Puerto Rico Russia South Korea Spain Sweden SEBOR Friskola, Borlange Switzerland Ukraine
Wed, 01/25/2012 School district eliminating No Child Left Behind school transfers Parents who had hoped to use the federal No Child Left Behind law to get their child out of one of Palm Beach County’s low-performing schools this year will no longer have that option, a school district official confirmed Tuesday. Chief Academic Officer Janis Andrews said that “effective immediately”, the district is no longer accepting new school transfer requests utilizing NCLB as their justification for switching schools — possibly leaving the parents of hundreds of students wondering what their next move will be for their kids education. Students who were already using the NCLB to switch schools as of last year will be “grandfathered” in, and allowed to continue but only until they finish at the school they are currently attending, Andrews said. As a result, elementary and middle school students using the law will have to go back to their home school when they graduate to the next level of school. “I think it’s something that time has come and gone,” Shaw said.
Crowdfunding, Investment in startups, microinvest, mymicroinvest How I Would Unschool My Kids Altucher Confidential Posted by James Altucher My dad hit me when I got bad grades. Particularly when I was young and got a bad grade in “Conduct”. Happiness was an “A”. Even better: an “A+”. Sadness was an “F”. But in twelve years of basic schooling I can’t’ remember anyone asking where the “E” was. (the mirror image of the tattoo says “Never a Failure, Always a Lesson”) “F” stood for “Failure”. So why no “E”. Did they ever really judge you on that? “This is awful”, said a teacher at that first convention of the union of the national teachers club. “But,” said Mr. “There is an E! I doubt that conversation really happened. But now they were stuck with the “E”. Because that’s what English is about. Ugh, trying to unravel the Rubik’s Cube-like scam of lower education is a full-time job. I have not read much about home schooling or unschooling so I am no expert. A) First, (and again, this is without reading about it at all so I, at best, uneducated on the topic). B) Only one requirement: read one book a week.
The Rise of Urban Farming and Other Varieties of Sustainable Ag My newest buzzword for 2011 is CSA. I'd never heard the term until recently, but now it seems to be popping up all over, as is interest in sustainable agriculture and urban farming. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture -- the practice of signing up with a local farm for weekly produce and, in some cases, meat and dairy. I first read about CSA in Kristin Kimball's recent memoir, "The Dirty Life," which is justly attracting rave reviews on Amazon. A Manhattan writer who gave up the city for love, she has been farming an organic spread, Essex Farm, in upstate New York since 2003, with her husband, Mark. Kimball's book is an engrossing depiction of the back-breaking work and edible rewards of CSA. Urban farming is also on the rise. Urban farming comes in a variety of models. A vision of urban and vertical farming. Next Page: More visions of urban farms.
Chicago's teachers could strike a blow for organised labour globally | Richard Seymour Last month, approximately 90% of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members voted for strike action. Only 1.82% voted against. This was a shock to the local administration. Not only is this the heart of Obama country, where unions are expected to play ball with the Democrats in an election year. Yet it is not just the local establishment that will be unsettled here. The basis of this dispute is what is innocuously termed "school reform". Chicago intends to open 60 new privatised, non-union "charter" schools in the next five years. But the final provocation was when the "reformers" increased teachers' working hours by 20%, while cutting a promised 4% pay rise in half. In fact, the victory of these "rookies", from the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), demonstrated two things. The administration and local media are now running with the story that this is purely a fiscal problem. But this is just one aspect of a general problem facing the union.