Right - your three-minute warning. Just enough time to grab a cuppa' and get comfortable before @GavinWilliamson makes his announcement on replacing GCSE and A-level exams this year

@GavinWilliamson .@GavinWilliamson says this isn't a decision the government wanted to take. 'Our schools have not suddenly become unsafe, but limiting attendance essential when Covid rates are climbing'
@GavinWilliamson He will set out the contingency plans he'd 'prepared but hoped to have never implemented'
@GavinWilliamson 'We're far better placed to cope with disruption than last march', Williamson adds we're better at delivering online learning and they will support parents
@GavinWilliamson Williamson says if parents feel they aren't getting suitable remote education they they should raise concerns first with the headteacher, and "failing that report the matter to Ofsted".
Ofsted will inspect schools where it has concerns
@GavinWilliamson Williamson says they've learnt lessons on exams. 'Although they are the fairest way, the pandemic means it's now not possible to have them this year. GCSEs, A-level and AS levels will not go ahead. We'll put our trust in teachers not algorithms'
@GavinWilliamson Breaking: Williamson says a 'form of teacher assessed grades' will be used this year, with training and support for teachers to 'ensure these are awarded fairly and consistently across the country'.
However details will need to be 'fine tuned'.
@GavinWilliamson Williamson says 'understandably concern' about free school meals. Extra funding to support schools to provide food parcels or meals to children. Where schools can't do this, there will be a national voucher scheme for every eligible child can access FSM will school remains closed
@GavinWilliamson He says mass testing 'won't be wasted'. Still used on teachers and staff.
Williamson adds: 'Testing is going to be the centre of our plan to return schools back to the classroom as soon as possible'
@GavinWilliamson .@GavinWilliamson says: 'The moment the virus permits all our children will be back in school. 'Until then we have put in place the measures we need to make sure they continue to progress.'
And that's that (well, on to Qs now)
@GavinWilliamson . @KateGreenSU says wherever Williamson goes, incompetence follows.
She says she wanted exams to go ahead, but said a Plan B had to be in place.
Also 'failed to show leadership' on BTECs - leaving it up to schools
@GavinWilliamson @KateGreenSU Williamson has pledged to get 750k of laptops out by the end of next week (I think he might have said earlier how many have already gone out, but it was 500k before Xmas)
@GavinWilliamson @KateGreenSU Williamson seems to be getting quite emotional in his address to parliament: 'I will give everything to ensure schools are the first things to be open because that is what is best for all children'
@GavinWilliamson @KateGreenSU OK - finally - some details on when we'll get the details:

Ofqual will launch a "detailed" consultation on the plans next week. It will run for two weeks.
@GavinWilliamson @KateGreenSU Williamson says he would like to thank the NEU and Unison for recognising the fact the advice they gave their members on Sunday was incorrect and they've now withdrawn that advice.

More from Education

I held back from commenting overnight to chew it over, but I am still saddened by comments during a presentation I attended yesterday by Prof @trishgreenhalgh & @CIHR_IMHA.

The topic was “LongCovid, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis & More”.
I quote from memory.
1/n
#MECFS #LongCovid


The bulk of Prof @Trishgreenhalgh’s presentation was on the importance of recognising LongCovid patient’s symptoms, and pathways for patients which recognised their condition as real. So far so good.

She was asked about “Post Exertional Malaise”... 2/n

PEM has been reported by many patients, and is the hallmark symptom of ME/CFS, leading many to query whether LongCovid and ME/CFS are similar or have overlapping mechanisms.

@Trishgreenhalgh acknowledged the new @NiceComms advice for LongCovid was planned to complement... 3/n

the ME/CFS guidelines, acknowledging some similarities.

Then it all went wrong.
@TrishGreenhalgh noted the changes to the @NiceComms guidance for ME/CFS, removing support for Graded Exercise Therapy / Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She noted there is a big debate about this. 4/n

That is correct: The BMJ published Prof Lynne Turner Stokes’ column criticising the change (Prof Turner-Stokes is a key proponent of GET/CBT, and I suspect is known to Prof @TrishGreenhalgh).

https://t.co/0enH8TFPoe

However Prof Greenhalgh then went off-piste.

5/n
An appallingly tardy response to such an important element of reading - apologies. The growing recognition of fluency as the crucial developmental area for primary education is certainly encouraging helping us move away from the obsession with reading comprehension tests.


It is, as you suggest, a nuanced pedagogy with the tripartite algorithm of rate, accuracy and prosody at times conflating the landscape and often leading to an educational shrug of the shoulders, a convenient abdication of responsibility and a return to comprehension 'skills'.

Taking each element separately (but not hierarchically) may be helpful but always remembering that for fluency they occur simultaneously (not dissimilar to sentence structure, text structure and rhetoric in fluent writing).

Rate, or words-read-per-minute, is the easiest. Faster reading speeds are EVIDENCE of fluency development but attempting to 'teach' children(or anyone) to read faster is fallacious (Carver, 1985) and will result in processing deficit which in young readers will be catastrophic.

Reading rate is dependent upon eye-movements and cognitive processing development along with orthographic development (more on this later).
Okay, #MAEdu, let's talk FY22 and the Student Opportunity Act: https://t.co/o1tgppGy4K


First up:

The FIRST year, Governor Baker?

This is the second year of SOA implementation: you're missing one.


So, are we going to do this in six years, or are we just going to kick the can ANOTHER year on kids?

Remember, school funding is builds on prior years.

We never get that missing funding back.


Also: what are the base numbers being used?

Is the Governor dropping enrollment, even though we all know that was an artificial drop?


There's a decent chance that a WHOLE bunch of those kindergartner and preschoolers are going to be back this fall if we manage to get kids into buildings, PLUS we'll have the USUAL enrollment of preK and K!

...and less funding than usual?

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॥ॐ॥
अस्य श्री गायत्री ध्यान श्लोक:
(gAyatri dhyAna shlOka)
• This shloka to meditate personified form of वेदमाता गायत्री was given by Bhagwaan Brahma to Sage yAgnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य).

• 14th shloka of गायत्री कवचम् which is taken from वशिष्ठ संहिता, goes as follows..


• मुक्ता-विद्रुम-हेम-नील धवलच्छायैर्मुखस्त्रीक्षणै:।
muktA vidruma hEma nIla dhavalachhAyaiH mukhaistrlkShaNaiH.

• युक्तामिन्दुकला-निबद्धमुकुटां तत्वार्थवर्णात्मिकाम्॥
yuktAmindukalA nibaddha makutAm tatvArtha varNAtmikam.

• गायत्रीं वरदाभयाङ्कुश कशां शुभ्रं कपालं गदाम्।
gAyatrIm vardAbhayANkusha kashAm shubhram kapAlam gadAm.

• शंखं चक्रमथारविन्दयुगलं हस्तैर्वहन्ती भजै॥
shankham chakramathArvinda yugalam hastairvahantIm bhajE.

This shloka describes the form of वेदमाता गायत्री.

• It says, "She has five faces which shine with the colours of a Pearl 'मुक्ता', Coral 'विद्रुम', Gold 'हेम्', Sapphire 'नील्', & a Diamond 'धवलम्'.

• These five faces are symbolic of the five primordial elements called पञ्चमहाभूत:' which makes up the entire existence.

• These are the elements of SPACE, FIRE, WIND, EARTH & WATER.

• All these five faces shine with three eyes 'त्रिक्षणै:'.