6 districts to steer Race to the Top
Posted in Common Core standards, Race to the Top
On Friday, Gov. Schwarzenegger gave the go-ahead for Race to the Top, after weeks of vacillation and a personal pitch from Education Secretary Arne Duncan not to drop out. In moving ahead, administration officials also signaled a different approach. They recognized that writing a plan to appeal to as many risk-averse districts and local unions as possible is a losing strategy. Instead, they’ll hand the reins to a urban few districts that are comfortable with the reforms that Duncan is requiring. (Read more and comment on this post)
Court slaps state board’s wrist in algebra case
Posted in Common Core standards, STEM, State Board of EducationThe state school boards’ and administrators’ associations have won a two-year old suit against the State School Board over a controversy involving eighth-grade algebra. The impact of the decision will be minor, though the decision does serve as a warning to the State Board to follow the state’s open-meeting law.
At issue was the State School Board’s decision to require school districts to start testing students in Algebra I as the state’s sole eighth-grade assessment.
The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators opposed making algebra universal for eighth graders, as did the California Teachers Association and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, who also joined the suit. They sued not over the decision but over the process, arguing that the State Board failed to give the public adequate notice of its impending action to decide the issue, as required by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The associations wanted an opportunity to explore the full implications of the decision on students and school districts.
(Read more and comment on this post)
At issue was the State School Board’s decision to require school districts to start testing students in Algebra I as the state’s sole eighth-grade assessment.
The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators opposed making algebra universal for eighth graders, as did the California Teachers Association and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, who also joined the suit. They sued not over the decision but over the process, arguing that the State Board failed to give the public adequate notice of its impending action to decide the issue, as required by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The associations wanted an opportunity to explore the full implications of the decision on students and school districts.
(Read more and comment on this post)
Math training’s low numbers
Posted in Research, STEM, Teacher DevelopmentLeaders in math education in Silicon Valley are concerned that school boards and the public will dismiss the importance of teacher training as a result the dismal results from a much publicized study whose findings were released earlier this month.
“It is ludicrous to conclude that professional development is not important,” said David Foster, executive director of the Noyce Foundation-backed Silicon Valley Math Initiative.
Data is overwhelming showing that effective teaching produces student achievement, he said. “I am worried that parents will see professional development as expensive and not worth it.”
(Read more and comment on this post)
“It is ludicrous to conclude that professional development is not important,” said David Foster, executive director of the Noyce Foundation-backed Silicon Valley Math Initiative.
Data is overwhelming showing that effective teaching produces student achievement, he said. “I am worried that parents will see professional development as expensive and not worth it.”
(Read more and comment on this post)
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