By MOTOKO RICH OCT. 28, 2015

For the first time since 1990, the mathematical skills of American students have dropped, according to results of a nationwide test released by the Education Department on Wednesday.

The decline appeared in both Grades 4 and 8 in an exam administered every two years as the National Assessment of Educational Progress and sometimes called “the nation’s report card.”

The dip in scores comes as the country’s employers demand workers with ever-stronger skills in mathematics to compete in a global economy. It also comes as states grapple with the new Common Core academic standards and a rebellion against them. click here for full article Via The New York Times:

By Matthew Hamilton | October 26, 2015 
Albany
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Amid ongoing furor over the implementation of the Common Core standards, strict teacher evaluations and standardized testing, state Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch announced Monday that she would leave the job when her term expires in March.  Via ​Times Union

New system needs overhaul before it can be implemented, board says
By Matthew Hamilton  Published 7:45 pm, Monday, October 26, 2015
Albany

The state Board of Regents will form a panel to consider improvements to the state's new and controversial teacher evaluation system, the board announced during its Monday meeting.

The work group — whose members have not yet been named — will be similar to others empaneled by the Regents. It is separate from the task force recently convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to address issues surrounding the Common Core.

Critics of the new teacher evaluation have expressed concern about the weight it affords to the results of standardized student tests. At their September meeting, the Regents approved the evaluation system, but said the current version is in need of amendment before it can be implemented.  click here for full article: Via Times Union: 

 By Michael Lillis
President, Lakeland Federation of Teachers and ST Caucus Hudson Valley Coordinator

What’s a teacher unionist to do?

It’s clear that nothing will be the same in education after last year’s budget vote that completely redefined teacher evaluation in New York, followed by a tidal wave of test refusals.  As a result of this budget, we are expected to negotiate “in good faith” to develop local teacher evaluation systems that are compliant with the law. read full post here: Via Lakeland Federation of Teachers: 

 By Valerie Strauss October 24, 2014  

Do teachers really know what students go through? To find out, one teacher followed two students for two days  and was amazed at what she found. Her report is in  following post, which appeared on the blog of Grant Wiggins, the co-author of “Understanding by Design” and the author of “Educative Assessment” and numerous articles on education. A high school teacher for 14 years, he is now the president of Authentic Education,  in Hopewell, New Jersey, which provides professional development and other services to schools aimed at improving student learning.  You can read more about him and his work at the AE site.  Read full article here: Via Washington Post

Big City
By GINIA BELLAFANTE OCT. 23, 2015

In 1970, Jack Spatola, born Giacomo, a young immigrant from the small town of Paceco on the western tip of Sicily, who had come to the United States at the age of 14 with his parents to live in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, was called to service in the Vietnam War. His father was a shoemaker, his mother a seamstress, and neither wanted him to go; Mr. Spatola managed to avoid the draft on the grounds that he was the only person in his family who spoke English. Instead, he went to college — to Pace University — and got into education.​ click here for full article:  New York Times article 

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On the first day of the new school year, the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, stood in an elementary school classroom in Queens beaming at a hushed room full of fourth-grade children sitting cross-legged on the floor.  For full article click here:  The New York Times

A hearing in Albany Wednesday dealt with struggling schools, and how New York plans to improve them.

Geoff Redick reports.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Saying the program is under-funded and sets unrealistic timelines, state education leaders laid out their concerns Wednesday at an Assembly hearing on New York's "struggling school receivership" program. click for full article here: Via Time Warner Cable News

A national leader in the 'opt out' movement appeared at an education forum last night at the Niagara Falls High School.  Carol Burris is an award winning retired principal from a Long Island School who now serves as the Executive Director of theNetwork for Public Education Foundation. Burris appeared in our studio's to discuss her mission with WBFO's Focus on Education Reporter Eileen Buckley as she speaks out against Common Core and standardized testing.    click here for full article: Via WBFO 88.7