Certain Knowledge Charter schools: Parents protest Charter schools will mean bigger classes elsewhere, says school superintendent Charter schools have been praised for injecting new energy into inner-cities in the United States. But it's not a one-sided story. Gloucester is a town about 40 miles outside Boston. But there is rebellion in the air here. Setting up another rival school will mean taking away money and pupils from the local school system, they argue. They're angry at what they say will be the disruption of their local schools for the sake of what they see as a political gimmick. While charter schools have a strong emotional appeal in the inner city, in this small Massachusetts town there is hard-headed opposition. "When you look at the funding, they're going to be draining away resources to fund this other school," says parent, Jason Grow. "You're impacting the education of 3,000 pupils for the potential benefit - and there's no guarantee of benefit - of 240 pupils." And he rejects the idea that this offers extra choice.
Hannes Minkema: Met de mantra "leraren wet... PISA This years focus is mathematics with an additional test in creative thinking. The new PISA 2021 mathematics framework was recently launched. Preparations for this test are underway with participants from 36 OECD members and likely 50+ non-members involved. The PISA 2024 innovative domain, Learning in the Digital World, aims to measure students’ ability to engage in self-regulated learning while using digital tools. Want to join PISA? Charter Schools | Former ACT President Catherine Last updated 16:26 01/02/2012 Former ACT president Catherine Isaac has defended her proposed appointment to lead a trial of charter schools. The as-yet unconfirmed role has been criticised by political and academic opponents of the scheme. Isaac said she was ''not entirely surprised'' by the outcry, but insisted she would ''do a more than competent job''. ''I didn't put my hand up for the role,'' the Wellington businesswoman said today. ''I'm honoured to have the responsibility. Isaac, who stood as a candidate for ACT is last year's election, is managing director of a public relations firm. She also served on the board of trustees of Wellington College between 1995 and 2001 and the city's Clifton Terrace Model School. Isaac denied suggestions by the PPTA that the appointment - by sole ACT MP John Banks - was ''ideologically driven'' or politically motivated. "It's been a long standing ACT policy, I've always been supportive of it and I've contributed to their work in it.'' - © Fairfax NZ News
Hannes Minkema: @RonaldBuitelaar Interessa... TIMSS and PIRLS Home How Online Learning Companies Bought America's Schools This article was reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. If the national movement to “reform” public education through vouchers, charters and privatization has a laboratory, it is Florida. It was one of the first states to undertake a program of “virtual schools”—charters operated online, with teachers instructing students over the Internet—as well as one of the first to use vouchers to channel taxpayer money to charter schools run by for-profits. About the Author Lee Fang Lee Fang is a reporting fellow with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. Also by the Author They're using the Ukraine crisis to push for expedited approval of US natural gas exports. News reports and politicians lauding US gas exports as “best for Crimea” don’t disclose the US gas companies pushing the line, or their Russian connections. But as recently as last year, the radical change envisioned by school reformers still seemed far off, even there.
Hannes Minkema: @frankvanhout01 @FerryHaan... There’s No Homework in Finland To some people, Finland isn’t a whole lot more than a chilly, northern country boasting a population of around 5 million people. Whether you’ve been to Finland or not, you probably haven’t had the chance to take an up-close and personal look at one of Finland’s greatest accomplishments to date—its high-achieving education system. Students in Finland have, over the past several years, risen to the top of the academic food-chain, and they’ve become some of the top scholarly performers in the world. Compared to many other developed nations, including the US and Canada, Finland’s high school graduation rates have continued to grow steadily and impressively. Furthermore, a huge percentage of students continue on to earn college degrees, and students at all levels perform exceedingly well on standardized tests. So what’s Finland’s secret? Embed the image below on your site and Include Attribution to OnlineClasses.org
Capitalist universities and fightback « Workers Party (NZ) Joel Cosgrove Universities are an important part of modern society. The Education Act of 1989 defines them as being the “critic and conscience of society”. In practice the record has been patchy at best. Students (and staff) have historically joined in repressive actions against striking wharfies in 1913, deputised and moblised to put down peaceful marches by unemployed workers during the depression. In the documentary 1951 author Kevin Ireland recalls calling a Student Representative Council meeting to make a stand against the draconian laws passed to smash the locked out watersiders in 1951 and finding his progressive motions drowned out 10-1 by conservative students, bent on supporting the authoritarian actions of the state. Forecast Tertiary Education Funding vs Forecast Inflation Per capita funding for universities rose in real terms through to the mid-70’s and since then has been declining. Initially the various institutions absorbed the increasing costs. The pressure is mounting.