Wait, there’s more! Other Important SIGs in Education

1. Wait, there’s more!Other Important SIGs in Education BY NONE OTHER THAN: LAUREN BELUK

2. Network for Public Education Dear Friends, It is time to organize to support our children, our schools, and our educators against the well-funded attacks on them. Please join me and a group of education leaders from across the country in building a movement for improving and strengthening our schools with research-based reforms, not fads and sanctions. Today we announce the creation of the Network for Public Education. We invite you to join as an individual. We invite you to join as an organization. We will create a huge social network of parents, students, teachers, administrators, school board members, and all others who believe in public education and sane educational policy that focuses on a full and rich education for all children. Diane March 2013

3. From their site…. The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society.

4. AGENDA:quite simple and just what you’d expect it to be • They OPPOSE: • High-stakes testing • privatization of public education • mass school closures to save money or to facilitate privatization • demonization of teachers • lowering of standards for the education profession • for-profit management of schools.

5. They SUPPORT: Schools being subject to democratic control by members of their community. Equitable funding of schools, with extra resources for those students with the greatest needs. Reasonable class sizes, so that teachers have the time to help the children in their care. Early childhood education, because they believe that the achievement gap begins before the first day of school. The notion that every classroom should be led by a teacher who is well educated, well prepared for the challenges of teaching, and certified. Wraparound services for children, such as health clinics and after-school programs. Assessment for support – not punishment, stigmatism, or money The idea that students’ confidential information must remain confidential and not be handed over to entrepreneurs and marketing agents. The evaluation of teachers by professionals, not by unreliable test scores. Helpingschools that are struggling, not closing them.

6. NPE News Briefs is a service of NPE that provides updates, news reports, articles, and special podcasts on what’s happening in education nationwide. Because of this, their website is a hub of relevant news and information for not just its members but anyone interested in current events in education.

7. Openly endorse candidates who support the same agenda – once you win their endorsement, a picture and link to your campaign page is put on the ‘Political Endorsements’ page on the NPE site.

8. Their friends & allies • NPE openly discusses who they support and who supports them – no extra digging for “supporting funds” or “back room deals” was necessary. • They even provide a map of their “friends & allies” – they list the organizations and education bloggers. • NPE is more about advocacy for public education and providing support for those publicly backing the same agenda • Some of the organizations names to paint a picture for you: • [State] Coalition for Public Education • [Major City] Teachers Association • Class Size Matters • Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse • Parents / Students for Public Education

9. Who isn’t her friend? EDUCATION

13. What are they all about? Collaborative teaching teams Strategies to leverage community engagement Interconnected environments using technology Strive to share the success and impact of their programs with people who can do something about it Professionally rewarding = more teacher engagement  therefore it makes sense that there be technological solutions for increasing continuous collaboration and development since our students are tech-savvy learners

14. Learning Studios http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL22F3FBFA11B05C48&v=BdHlQaoa4rk

15. Teachers Learning In Networked CommunitiesTLINC Goal is to promote evidence-based practices about the value of professional learning communities TLINC is not about any particular technology – the point is to use technology in order to make teacher prep more dynamic Major force behind this program is the problem of teacher turnover. NCTAF hopes that TLINC can facilitate the induction of new teachers into strong professional communities with access to resources and support at the time its needed.

16. Wait, WHAT??!!Dr. Schwab is part of an education group that has connections to corporations?!!!

17. YES But in a good way!  NCTAF works to establish partnerships with local STEM professionals and numerous strategic technology partners in order to develop enriching investigative projects, make the STEM coursework more engaging by getting to work with experts, as well as obtain the technology needed for the studios and networked communities.

20. often cited as the nation’s leading authority on teacher quality issues. Its report has a star-studded technical advisory committee of corporate reform leaders NCTQ boasts of its regard for teachers but its review of the nation’s teacher-training institutions says nothing about faculty it looked only at inputs (catalogs and syllabi), not outputs like whether teachers got jobs as teachers and how long they remained in the profession.

21. Post on NCTQ Blog Response to Darling-Hammond pointing out the multiple flaws: As we have said from the beginning, with 16,000 ratings decisions, it was inevitable that we would make some errors. That's why we set up the Forum process, where we will publicly address all objections to our ratings and make corrections where necessary. Programs such as Stanford's can send us their objections now and we will address them in July on our website. We are pleased by the public discussion happening today about teacher preparation following the release of the Teacher Prep Review. This is how we are going to improve teacher preparation in America, by highlighting the best programs and helping mediocre ones improve so that every future teacher can be classroom ready, day one.

22. I’m both.

23. More fun facts #1 Funder – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Advisory board  Chief Executive Advisor at Pearson International, founder of Teach for America, the CEO/VP of News Corporation, leading educational research scholar for AEI (remember them?) In NCTQ’s brainchild, the American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), was awarded $35 million to develop a computerized teacher certification test. The cost for this program is now $1995 and has been extended as a “state approved route to teacher certification” in Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. Now keep in mind that NCTQ was started because conservatives they viewed traditional teacher prep programs as lacking rigor– yet with the help of $5 million in Paige money that kept them afloat: ABCTE-buy-a-degree.