New Content at SusanOhanian.Org!

[Susan Ohanian <susano@gmavt.net>]

Another busy day. Scroll through the items: there is quite a variety--everything from censorship at a Baptist college to Maryland planning on 5 diplomas. That one is the outrage of the day and not linked from this list.
Susan

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In Colorado, What Part of  NO Don't Voucher Proponents Get?
Vicki Newell
Capitol QIPS (Quality Improvement Process Strategy)
2003-12-03
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1430

An analyst who give the parents perspective in Colorado has a few things to say about the Colorad voucher bill.

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New York's New Plan to Rate Teacher
Carl Campanile
New York Post
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1431

New York Chancellor Joel Klein wants to assess the performance of students at comparable schools over a number of years as one way to evaluate administrators' efforts.

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Colorado's New Voucher Law Is Struck Down in State Court
Tamar Lewin
New York Times
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1432

A Denver judge struck down Colorado's new school voucher law yesterday, ruling that it violated the state's Constitution by stripping local school boards of their control over education. 



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Testing Expert to Leave Post at Turbulent Time for New York Regents
Sam Dillon
New York Times
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1433

The second senior official to leave New York's testing program since sharp increases in student failure rates on math and physics examinations last June provoked a statewide outcry from educators, parents and some lawmakers. Now NY is looking to hire experts to travel the state helping teachers understand the subject matter of the tests, as though that were the problem with the tests. It's called blaming the victim.



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Bapist College in Louisiana Bans 2 Books and Requires Reviews of Textbook Plans
Alice Gomstyn
Chronicle of Higher Education
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1434

A new textbook-review policy at a Baptist college in Pineville, La., has raised the ire of some professors and students, and other advocates of academic freedom. Louisiana College's Board of Trustees announced on Tuesday that all professors teaching courses this spring must have their textbook choices approved by their department heads as well as by the college's vice president for academic affairs. This sounds like the policy of the federal inspectors for Reading First.



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Breastfeeding Ads Criticized for Not Being Based on "Solid Science." Now Where Have We Heard This Before?
Melody Petersen
New York Times
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1435

Federal officials have softened a national advertising campaign to promote breastfeeding after complaints from two companies that make infant formula, according to several doctors and nurses who are helping the government with the effort. This sounds a lot like the policy driving the U. S. Department of Education.



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The New Stresses of Chinese Society Shape a Girl's Life
Leslie Chang
Wall Street Journal
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1436

This article depicts the life of a ten-year-old girl in urban middle-class China whose parents are convinced making every aspect of life a competition will help her find a good place in the future. Commenting on the fact that his daughter has no time to play, her father says, "It's that China, this environment, doesn't let you not do it."



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School Ratings? Say 'Ah'
John Young
Waco Tribune
2003-11-30
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1437

With the forests of pulp expended on school reform, no one has come up with anything approximating the link between sports utility vehicles and student achievement. 

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Angry students Confront Massachusetts Governor
Anand Vaishnav
Boston Globe
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1438

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney received a stinging earful yesterday from high school students who were angry that their district was labeled underperforming, and who grilled him about the reasons for his visit.They told reporter that Romney's remarks avoided the issues.

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Alcohol Industry Sued for Marketing to Children
Ira Teinowitz
Ad Age
2003-11-24
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1439

In a legal strategy similar to how state attorneys general successfully pursued tobacco companies, a class action lawsuit has been filed to recover "billions of dollars in ill-gotten profits" from alcohol makers that falsely denied their ads targeted underage drinkers. 



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And Verily the Stay Says Unto You: If You Want a Diploma, Push a Camel Through the Eye of a Needle
Suzanne Pardington
Contra Costa Times
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1440

Just when you think things can't get crazier, California schools offer modified algebra courses to special ed students. I can think of a whole lot of more important classes for ALL students.

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Educators took help straight to the kids where they lived
Jake Ellison
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1441

Here's what Tom Lovitt, a University of Washington education professor, and an elementary school principal did when they discovered that more than 100 kids from one low-income apartment complex were struggling in school. They moved into the building.

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Nebraska Offers Another NCLB Metaphor: Using an Outdoor Thermometer to Measure Body Temperature
Paul Goodsell
World Herald
2003-12-02
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=257

Nebraska schools are strong on state standards but they come up short under NCLB.

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Two Views of Accountability
USA Editorial and Alfie Kohn
USA Today
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=258

USA Today editorial and Alfie Kohn face off on NCLB. Alfie wins, hands down.

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Utah Looking at Possibly Scrapping Their State Accountability Law
Jennifer Toomer-Cook
Deseret Morning News
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=259

Utah lawmakers are looking at whether they should keep the state's accountability plan or just scrap it for NCLB.

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More Than Half of Connecticut School Districts Landed on the NCLB Hit List
Robert A. Frahm
Hartford Courant
2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=260

The inclusion of some of Connecticut's strongest school systems on the NCLB hit list caught some educators by surprise. 

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The No Child Left Behind Hoax
Rethinking Schools

2003-12-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_stories.html?id=84

Here's a longtime teacher's analysis of NCLB and recommendations for action