National Clout of DIBELS Test Draws Scrutiny

This article from edweek.org is interesting (free registration required to read it). It quotes Michael Pressley, who is writing a technical report on the widely used DIBELS measure . The test has been around a while, at least since 1997 when I saw it being used in California, but it has gained popularity because it [...]

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Forgetting Cursive

With higher use of technology, students are not practicing cursive. This article says that some students can’t read or recognize cursive, either.

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Banned Books Week

What’s your favorite banned book?

Here’s the American Library Associations information and lists about Banned Books. Banned Books Week is September 24-October 1.
My favorite “banned” authors have to be Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton.
Also, read about Book Burning in the 21st Century.
Check out K.Leigh’s post about which Banned Books you’ve read!

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Photos

Denise and Jo and Colleen’s social.

Jessica, Leti, and David at doc seminar:

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Separate but equal? Schooling of Katrina evacuees provokes debate

What does the schooling of “homeless” children look like? If Margaret Spellings’ recommendation to veto the law that bans segregation of students is approved, it mightt mean that students considered “homeless” could possibly be taught at their residence, i.e., the Astrodome, for example, in the case of Katrina evacuees. I think the students should be [...]

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Nearly 4,000 students write to Bush

Real, authentic writing addressed to the the president! This article tells how today the longest letter ever written to the president will be revealed on the Mall near the White House. These young writers have addressed some serious issues:teacher salary, community living conditions, smoking, people with disabilities, and other relevent topics. The whole project was [...]

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Panel Sets Federal Priorities for Research

Here’s an article that discusses how the federal government is planning to spend at least $595 million on funding of research projects. Here are some of the priorities listed in the article. (EdWeek article-free registration required).
• Studying education interventions that promote students’ academic learning and that can be widely deployed;
• Finding out what programs [...]

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Reading First, Northup’s pet education project, mired in controversy

Here’s yet another editorial on the controversy that some Reading First programs are provoking in some places. This column summarizes some of the key concerns over conflict of interest in funding certain programs and not others.
Here’s also an article from “The Nation” on the “Texas Miracle”. Click here to read: Failing Students, Rising Profits . [...]

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Literacy : Poverty is Impediment

Since we will be reading and discussing literacy in Africa, this article might be of interest to us.Click here to read it.
Many of those who are considered non-literate are women. I also discovered that the U.N. has declared 2003-2012 to be the Literacy Decade.

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Corruption at the US Dept of Education

Education week has a report about how states are complaining that the Department of Education pressured them to adopt literacy assessments (mainly DIBELS) and programs. People now working at the USDOE were developers of DIBELS, and, funny thing, it turns out to be just about the only way the DOE says states can [...]

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