Thanks to Melinda Palaciofor the following:
Hello Publishers &Writers,
This is Chiwan, from WritLarge Press, a downtown L.A. small press that’s been around for about fiveyears. We are partnering with The Last Bookstore to run a pop-up bookstore atthe new Grand Park on Saturday, March 2nd. If you haven’t been to it, it’s apark that stretches over three blocks, between the Music Center/DorothyChandler Pavilion to City Hall. It’s a big, beautiful space with a lot ofgrass, a giant fountain and a performance stage.
One of the first projectsthat the Park has scheduled is a day-long book and literacy festival. They havescheduled the acts for the main stage, but have asked us, along with The LastBookstore, to set up and run a huge, about 2000 sq. ft., bookselling tent.
So, we want to sell yourbooks. It won’t cost you any money. We’ll provide table, tent, umbrella, seats,cash register, everything. It will be a 70/30 cut of sales of your books. Wejust need you to respond ASAP and get the books to the park that morning. Wewill be setting up seats and a “stage” so writers can read from books we haveavailable for sale.
These are the things weneed:
Peace,
More on Chief Theresa's hunger strike
Following up on lastSaturday's post of Chief Theresa Spence's (Chief Shining Turtle) hunger strike, go here to read her Open Letter to My Non-Aboriginal Neighbors.
You can also follow her here.
As with Chief Theresa, inrecent posts I seem to have developed a "heroes" theme of people whohave taken desperate or courageous action in support of their beliefs,sometimes endangering themselves or their standing in society.
As a former, tormented, bilingual teacher in the Denver area, I heartily add teachers from Garfield HighSchool in Seattle who've refused to administer a standardized test at theirschool. (They've since been joined by other schools in Seattle and opposition to standardized testing is spreading. Here is the teachers' original statement, who're threatened with loss of pay andcensure. I provide the entire piece because it is one of the clearest,most justified and alarming descriptions of why you too should support themovement to take back our schools. Below there's more about joining these heroic teachers.
"We, the Garfield teachers, respectfullydecline to give the MAP test to any of our students. We have had differentlevels of experiences with MAP in our varied careers, have read about it, anddiscussed it with our colleagues. After this thorough review, we have all cometo the conclusion that we cannot in good conscience subject our students tothis test again. This letter is an objection to the MAP test specifically andparticularly to its negative impact on our students. Here are our reasons:
*Seattle Public Schoolstaff has notified us that the test is not a valid test at the high schoollevel. For these students, the margin of error is greater than the expectedgain. We object to spending time, money, and staffing on an assessment even SPSagrees is not valid.
*We are not allowed tosee the contents of the test, but an analysis of the alignment between theCommon Core and MAP shows little overlap. We object to our students beingtested on content we are not expected to teach.
*Ninth graders andstudents receiving extra support (ELL, SPED, and students in math support) aretargets of the MAP test. These students are in desperate need of MOREinstructional time. Instead, the MAP test subtracts many hours of class timefrom students’ schedules each year. If we were to participate this year, wewould take 805 students out of class during 112 class periods. The amount oflost instructional time is astounding. On average students would EACH lose 320minutes of instructional time. This is over 5 hours of CORE class time(language arts and math) that students are losing. We object to participatingin stealing instructional time from the neediest students.
* In an appeal of theBoard’s 2010 decision to renew the MAP contract, a parent group raised concernsabout the negative impact of this test “on non-English speakers, SpecialEducation students, and minority and low income children.” These concerns werenever addressed nor were the claims refuted. Imagine a native Somali studentwith limited English skills, sitting in front of a computer taking anevaluative reading test that will no doubt be confusing and overwhelming to thestudent. The test is supposed to determine the student’s reading level, butwithout taking into account the student’s language challenge or the student’slimited time in the United States, which makes it almost impossible tounderstand the context of some passages. For these students and our studentswith IEPs, the test does actual harm. The students feel stupid yet are beingforced to take a test that has NO benefit to them or their educational goals.We object to a test that may violate the rights of groups of students for whomschooling already constitutes an uphill battle.
* In addition to studentslosing class time to take the test, our computer labs are clogged for weekswith test taking and cannot be used for other educational purposes. Forexample, students who have a research project no longer have access to thecomputers they need to further their exploration into their research topic.This especially hurts students without computers at home. We object to oureducational resources being monopolized by a test we cannot support.* We see that ourstudents do not take the test seriously as they know that it will not directlyimpact their class grade or graduation status. They approach it less and lessseriously the more times they take it. Therefore, we see achievement scores godown after instruction. We object to spending scarce resources on a test thatis peripheral to our students’ education.
* The MAP test wasoriginally introduced by then superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson while shewas a board member of the Northwest Evaluation Association, the company thatsells the MAP. When Dr. Goodloe-Johnson was fired, the MAP somehow survived thehousecleaning. We object to having to give a test whose existence in ourdistrict is the result of scandal.
* Even the NWEA itself,the parent company to MAP, has advised districts to carefully restrict the useof the test and its results. NWEA also cautions to ensure 100% random selectionof students enrolled in any course if the test is used for evaluation and totake into consideration statistical error in designing evaluation policies.NWEA says that problems become “particularly profound at the high schoollevel.” None of these or other criteria urged by NWEA has been met. We objectto being evaluated by a test whose author suggests extreme caution in its useand warns against valid legal action if the test is used in personneldecisions.
* The Seattle EducationAssociation passed a resolution condemning the MAP test that reads, “Whereastesting is not the primary purpose of education…Whereas the MAP was broughtinto Seattle Schools under suspicious circumstances and conflicts ofinterest…Whereas the SEA has always had the position of calling for funding togo to classroom and student needs first…Be it Resolved that…the MAP test shouldbe scrapped and/or phased out and the resources saved be returned to theclassroom.” We object to having to give it after such an opinion from ourcollective voice has been registered.
" We are nottroublemakers nor do we want to impede the high functioning of our school. Weare professionals who care deeply about our students and cannot continue toparticipate in a practice that harms our school and our students. We want to beable to identify student growth and determine if our practice supports studentlearning. We wish to be evaluated in a way so that we can continue to improveour practice, and we wish for our colleagues who are struggling to beidentified and either be supported or removed. The MAP test is not the way todo any of these things. We feel strongly that we must decline to give the MAPtest even one more time."You can read their story here.
You can sign a letter insupport of the Seattle teachers here.
Read here about another Seattle high school joining their Garfieldcolleagues.
You can watch this interview with Jesse Hagopian, Seattle high school history teacher and union rep at Garfield High School in Seattle, Wash. andWayne Au, former high school teacher. (Also editorof Rethinking Schools and assistant professor at the U. of Wash., BothellCampus. He is author of Unequal By Design: High-stakes Testing and theStandardization of Inequality and the co-editor of Pencils Down: RethinkingHigh Stakes Testing and Accountability in Public Schools.)
You can sign the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing here.
Garcia author reading, etal, Today in Denver
I'll be giving out sets of my infamous, super-absorbant drink coasters at this reading, and you can get a copy of my debut novel at a special price. Oh, and there's others reading.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2,3:00 -- We welcome a fabulous trioof debut novelists, all of them friends, students and/or mentees of author EdBryant:
Sean Eads, The Survivors -- The aliens havelanded, and this time they're not hostile. They're just rude. Coming in wavesof rocket ships, the aliens not only refuse to acknowledge the existence ofEarth's cultures, they refuse to acknowledge the existence of humanity itself.The aliens by means of their bulk block entry into cars, grocery stores, evenelevators….without malice or even purpose.
Rudy Ch Garcia, The Closet of DiscardedDreams -- A young Chicano battles insanity in a surreal world where everyoneendlessly relives humankind's abandoned dreams. Except for him. Will VN vetfraggers, Lenny Bruce, a Midget Godzilla, vampires, Neanderthals, a Blackleper, Marilyn Monroe, Che, and Chrisie the Bruiser prove foes or allies?
Carter Wilson, Final Crossing: A Novelof Suspense -- When the sadistic Preacherman stole the last bit of Rudiger’salready troubled childhood soul, Rudiger lost himself forever. Rudiger hascommitted atrocities even he cannot explain. God has told him he must crucifyThe One to bring about the Final Judgment. But who is The One?
Broadway Book Mall, 200S. Broadway, Denver
Raza Rocks w/Rick Garcia!
Before the Super Bowl, listen to Denver public radio KUVO 89.3 fm, or online at 1:00 pm on Sunday, Feb. 3rd. Rick Garcia will assist Pocho Joe to encourage you to support tejano / nuevomexicano music and La Raza Rocks.
Es todo, hoy,
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder