If you want to see the worst of what Personalized [sic] Learning can look like, let me take you straight to horse’s mouth. We’re not going to look at a critique, but at an actual sales pitch, and see how on the ground, Personalized [sic] Learning is about computer-delivered test prep. It is about extending the tyranny of the test via digitized instruction.

Here’s the pitch. At first glance it appears to be just another article at EdSurge– and it’s meant to– but in fact is what’s now called “sponsored content” aka “advertising meant to be mistaken for an actual legit article. “A Back-to-School, Personalized Learning Toolkit” is by Ryan Hagedorn, COO at Edmentum, where his career has been in marketing and sales (he earned a degree in marketing from Hofstra in 2004). Edmentume is, of course, a leading provider of online Learning Stuff, and the tool kit is ten pieces of PR materials. In their own presentation, these folks tell us what they think the main point, purpose, and strength of Personalized [sic] Learning is supposed to be.

Let’s look through the kit.

Source: CURMUDGUCATION: Personalized Digital Test Prep Lab Rats

Students can’t learn and be successful in school when they’re hungry.

That’s why the NEA Foundation is partnering with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign on a new grant program to help educators bring more breakfast options to students.

Many students get breakfast through the School Breakfast Program, but only half of the eligible students actually take part in it. Some may not arrive at school in time to have the free or reduced-price breakfast; others may be embarrassed by the stigma of participation.

According to a No Kid Hungry campaign study, educators spend an average of $300 each year on snacks for their students.

The NEA Foundation, working with the No Kid Hungry campaign, will be awarding NEA members in K-12 schools grants for starting pilot “Breakfast After the Bell” initiatives that reach students who fall through the cracks.

Source: Grants Available to Start ‘Breakfast After the Bell’ – Michigan Education Association

Less than a month into the school year, a Detroit charter school is shutting its doors — leaving nearly 200 students and their parents in the lurch.

In a contentious, emotional meeting Wednesday, the board of education for the Detroit Delta Preparatory Academy for Social Justice voted 4-1 to shut down, effective Oct. 1.

The decision left many of the high school’s students in tears.

“Everybody was breaking down,” said Ajah Jenkins, 17, a senior at the school, which had just begun its fifth year of operation.

Ajah called her mother, Kelye King, “crying, hysterical, screaming, saying, ‘My school’s closing. How am I going to graduate,’ ” King recounted.

Source: Detroit Delta Preparatory Academy votes to abruptly close

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are onto the fact that young people are using e-cigarettes to vape cannabis. Now, thanks to a new study, the CDC has a better sense for just how common it is.

The findings are from the 2016 National Youth Tobacco Survey of more than 20,000 middle school and high school students. More than 5,200 students reported having tried e-cigarettes, the study reports today in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. But the researchers were especially interested in what else kids were vaping with the device. About one out of every 11 students surveyed, or 9 percent, answered, “Yes, I have used an e-cigarette device with marijuana, THC [tetrahydrocannabinol] or hash oil, or THC wax.”

Source: CDC confirms that teens are vaping weed – The Verge

I actually don’t have 21 reasons, only five, but I could not be happier that this week’s blog post has less in the way of guidelines than some of our other assignments. Why? Because I am afraid I have to be the edgy kid in class this week and reject the premise of the survey exercise being of much use in the way it is intended.

Source: The 21 Reasons Why I Don’t Buy Marzano’s Method – Cultures of Achievement

The virtual charter industry is booming in Michigan, despite its abysmal performance.

Michigan, DeVos’s home state, has outsourced its education system as much as possible to for-profit entrepreneurs. Michigan is the only state where 80% of charters are operated by for-profit corporations.

Source: Michigan: Virtual Schools Grow Despite High Failure Rate | Diane Ravitch’s blog