Monday, January 11, 2010

Top 5 Ways to Get Smart without Reading � The Class Struggle

Top 5 Ways to Get Smart without Reading � The Class Struggle:

"The Oxford Dictionary says that if you are illiterate you are two things:

1 unable to read or write

2 ignorant in a particular subject or activity

It is no accident that the English language uses the same word to describe these two things. The inability to read or write automatically ensures one’s ignorance of information. Traditionally, anyone without access to books or school had little hope of thriving in our world. That is what we have always been told, because until now that has always been true."

The Education Report: Tony Smith on federal school reform

The Education Report:

Tony Smith on federal school reform

"“In a lot of ways, we are leading the race.” — Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith to Phil Matier in reference to the competitive Race to the Top grants.

Yes, OUSD applied for the federal funds (which it only stands to receive if California gets any money in the first place), though teachers union President Betty Olson-Jones says"

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Application - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Application - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education):

"State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Announces

Submission of Application for $324 Million

in Federal State Fiscal Stabilization Funds"

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced California has submitted its application for the last 10 percent of funding from the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) that would be allocated to the state totaling $324 million for kindergarten through grade twelve public education.

"My gratitude goes to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Barack Obama for making these funds available that have helped our financially struggling schools get through these tough economic times," said O'Connell. "I will continue to work closely with Governor Schwarzenegger to secure these much-needed funds for California schools. With this federal support we can further our efforts to improve student achievement by ensuring that all students have access to effective teachers, enhancing our longitudinal data system, maintaining our high standards, and focusing on data-driven reforms to help struggling schools."

SFSF is part of the federal stimulus package called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Funding comes in two phases. In the first phase, California received a grant of $2.6 billion in the spring of 2009, and an additional $355 million in the fall of 2009, making up 90 percent of the total amount available for K-12 public education. Of these amounts, $2.5 billion has already been disbursed to the public school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education. The funds are designed to help schools avert cuts in services and personnel, repair schools, and advance early learning to help students and their families.

The California Department of Education worked closely with the Schwarzenegger administration to prepare the application for the second and final phase of these SFSF funds totaling $324 million for K-12 education. To secure the funding, California assured the federal government that the state is making progress in four areas of reform. These include achieving equity in teacher distribution, improving collection and use of data, improving standards and assessments, and supporting struggling schools. How the second phase of funding will be disbursed has not been finalized yet.

For more information on the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, please visit State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

DOE to unveil a “common application” for charter schools | GothamSchools

DOE to unveil a “common application” for charter schools

by Maura Walz

Charter schools could soon have one single “common application,” under a deal hatched today by the three bodies that oversee the state’s charter schools, a Department of Education official confirmed.

Right now, families apply by filling out separate forms for each charter school that enter their children into separate lotteries. Under the new process, the city will create one common application, accepted by all schools, but keep lotteries separate.

The change will answer critics’ charge that the current process, with its overwhelming paperwork, is so complicated that it discourages all but the most motivated parents and effectively screens out needy students. The introduction of a common application does not address a second demand from critics,including the teachers union — that the lotteries also be streamlined.

Michael Duffy, the head of the city’s charter schools, said the city’s goal was “to widen the access for families” to charter schools. Duffy previously spearheaded a push to increase recruitment by charter schools, and said that the new common application should help charters reach out to groups of students, including

Big Education Ape Proudly sponsored by

HISD may fire teachers over test scores | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD may fire teachers over test scores | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

"Teachers in Houston ISD could lose their jobs for failing to improve student test scores under a controversial proposal slated for a school board vote Thursday.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier's plan to tie teachers' job evaluations to their students' progress on standardized tests would put Houston among a small but growing number of school districts pushing to make it easier to oust ineffective teachers.

The more aggressive approach coincides with President Barack Obama's call for increased teacher accountability. His administration's $4.35 billion education grant competition, Race to the Top, excludes states that prohibit linking student test data to teachers' evaluations."

'Cadillac' Plans an Issue in Health Care Conference - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Congress is back this week. And while we've got a ways to go before lawmakers get down to work on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act, or even the fiscal year 2011 budget bills, there's one piece of legislation folks in the K-12 community should watch very closely: the health care bill. While there isn't much in the bill that relates to schools specifically, at least one debate over how to help fund a health care overhaul could have a lasting impact on teacher recruitment and retention.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved their versions of the legislation. Now, lawmakers and the administration are wrestling with a compromise measure that they hope to send to President Barack Obama's desk before the state of the union, slated for late this month or early next.

One of the thorniest issues on the table, right behind that public option you've been hearing so much about, is the question of how to pay for the expanded coverage. The House bill includes a tax on high-income folks, while the Senate bill would place an excise tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, those that cost more than $23,000 a year.

Charter school sets course for the future ajc.com

Charter school sets course for the future | ajc.com:

"In about seven months, he intends to open a new charter school from scratch, recruit students, build a campus, find energetic teachers and secure the financing to pay for it all.

The Atlanta Heights Charter School, backed by a national brand in the education entrepreneur industry, is poised to make a multi-million dollar investment in educating Atlanta Public Schools students with no guarantee that its charter authorizer will withstand a court challenge.

On Tuesday, Madati will join the heads of six other new commission charter campuses racing against the school calendar and an uncertain future to apply for seed money to get their doors open. The Georgia Charter Schools Commission, which is facing two lawsuits challenging its authority to approve and fund new schools, has $5.5 million in federal grant money to share. And until a Fulton County Superior Court judge tells them otherwise, the commission is conducting business as usual."

Doing What Works - Practice Summary

Doing What Works - Practice Summary:

"Assign adult advocates to students at risk of dropping out.

Research has shown that sustained personal relationships between trained adults and at-risk students can help address students' personal and academic needs. Advocates can address the academic and social needs of students by building trust and helping students overcome obstacles such as low academic performance, poor attendance, or poor relationships with teachers. Advocates also can communicate and work cooperatively with families. The adult should be committed to advocating for the student and should believe that all students can succeed. The adult and student should have time to meet regularly, and the adult advocate should be prepared to be persistent. Training for adult advocates is essential."

Education Week's Digital Directions: Schools Fuel Demand for High-Tech Language Labs

Education Week's Digital Directions: Schools Fuel Demand for High-Tech Language Labs:

"When students of Spanish teacher Sean M. Boettinger put on their headsets in his Maryland high school’s language lab, their concentration heightens, he says. The up-to-date digital equipment, says the teacher, keeps them engaged with teenage-friendly electronics, allows them to get more practice listening and speaking Spanish, and, most important, blocks out distractions.
“Particularly in classes that have a hard time paying attention, having those headphones on, and me being able to speak through that microphone directly into their ears with no outside noises, is a great focusing tool,” says Boettinger, who teaches at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in the 134,000-student Prince George’s County district."

Schools Matter: New York Times Confirms Loyalty to Bloomberg's Charter Propaganda Machine

Schools Matter

New York Times Confirms Loyalty to Bloomberg's Charter Propaganda Machine

Brent Staples has been stupid about education for a long time, and today's NYTimes Editorial on charter schools in NYC shows that he is only getting stupider by the day. A recent report on NYC charters showed 51% of students in NYC charter do better in math than the public schools, which means of course that in 49% of charters, they do worse or no better than the publics.

In reading, only 29% of NYC charters have higher reading scores than the public schools, which means that that in 71% of the charters, reading scores are no better or lower than the public schools. Now here is how Staples and Co. reports these findings in their corporate editorial today:

. . . .A new study from the center [CREDO] has

A TIPPING POINT IN EDUCATION - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

A TIPPING POINT IN EDUCATION - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Joe Scarborough and the Rev. Al Sharpton shook up the education world on Friday during a segment of "Morning Joe", where they had a very direct exchange and agreed on key points in education reform. Topics included unions, merit pay and whether teachers should be fired (the new "f" word in education?).

Sharpton is a civil right activist and president of the National Action Network. Scarborough is a former conservative Republican Congressman who served on the Committee for Education and the Workforce and is author of the recent book, The Last Best Hope. He is host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe".

See and hear for yourself. Vid 3 min. clip below. Unofficial Transcript - 1/8/10:

JS: And you also are talking about it in a way that a lot of civil rights leaders haven't talked in some time about teachers unions about education reform.

You're ready to turn the tables over in the temple and say, hey schools are not about unions, schools are not about jobs, they're about kids.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rosemont High School - Home Page

News and Information

Get Your Rosemont NewsBlast!

1/9/10 edition

1. Math Tutoring Available!

The following are dates, times, and locations for free math tutoring at Rosemont High School.

Monday - Mrs. Austin, B120, (Alg. 1-2, and Geom.)
Tuesday - Mr. Dresser, B213, (Alg 1. Geom)
Mr. Prashar, E106, (Alg. 2, Pre-Cal, Calculus)
Wednesday: CSF tutoring, B120 (all subjects)
Thursday: Mr. Warren, E212, (Alg. 1-2, and Geom)
Friday: Mr. Bodene, B210, or Mr. Dresser, B213 (Alg. 1 and Geom)

Mr. Velazquez, E204 (Alg. 2, Pre-Cal, Calculus)

2.Diapers to Diplomas! Senior Memory Ads

Parents and family order a memory page for your graduating senior. Express your love, pride and congratulations for your senior. Limited number of pages available so get yours now. Deadline is October 2, 2009. Click here to get the order form.

3.New 2009 Big Blue Review!

The 2009 Big Blue Review is now here! Download your copy to get the latest updates on school activities, general information, support services, athletics, and more! Click here to view it now.

4. Sports Physicals

Athletic physicals will be held Monday, August 10th at 10:00 am in the training room. Cost will be $25.00, cash only! Athletes, please fill out the physical packet before arrival. If they are not completed and signed by a parent, you will not be given a physical. Click here to download the 2009-2010 athletic participation forms.

5. Paying for College
Students, are you interested in find out ways to pay for college? Follow this link to access a comprehensive guide and listing of scholarships, internships, and websites.

2008-2009 RHS Athletics!

It was a very succesful spring for the Rosemont Athletic Department . Baseball, Softball and Womens Soccer all won Metro League Championships. Brienna Crimmins won Sac - Joaquin Section Championship in Womens Long Jump. Both the Men's Golf and Tennis Teams qualified for the CIF Section Playoffs. Both the Men's and Women's Track Teams qualified more than 25 athletes for the Sac - Joaquin Divisional Meet as well as 6 for the Masters Meet at Sacramento City College.

Individual Honors went to Several Athletes and Coaches . Brandon Creel was named the Metro League Player of the Year in Baseball as well as being a Sacramento Bee First all city Selection. Stephanie Malone was named Metro League Player of the Year Womens Soccer. Paul Martinez was named Metro League Coach of the Year for Baseball as well as Bill Kapp for Softball.

CAHSEE Test Prep.

Visit the following link to find study guides and release test questions for the CAHSEE exam. Click Here.

Shelly Mendoza - News 10 Teacher

of the Month

Congratulations to Shelly Mendoza for being chosen as News 10's Teacher of the Month for August 2008. Click here to read the article.

Discount Driver's Ed Online

Online driver's education available for $70 (regularly $99). To enroll, visithttp://www.idrivesafely.com/ca-rosemont/ I Drive Safely Logo

Online Registration by Cvent | Event Summary - Coalition for Community Schools National Forum 2010

Building Innovative Partnerships for Student Success: The Key to America's Future is this year’s theme. This year we celebrate partnerships because they are at the heart of the community schools approach—bringing schools, families, community residents, higher education and an array of other community partners together around a common result—student success.

Innovation is the word of the day in education reform, as the U.S. Department of Education rolls out its new education reform strategy. Community schools are an innovation that is turning around student performance as it builds on a very American principle, that schools are inextricably connected to their communities and best educate students when they function as centers of community. Student success is the result that everyone is seeking for young people...enabling them to graduate from high school ready for careers, college, and citizenship. Attaining this goal is vital to the future for our nation.

What’s Different This Year? As in the past, workshops will provide engaging opportunities to learn about the “hot topics” or “how to do the nuts & bolts” of the community schools approach. The Forum will also feature field-building dialogue/affinity group sessions designed to provide time for networking and deeper dialogue on particular topics and/or for particular audiences.

Workshop strands will focus on; 1) Community Schools in Action, 2) Scaling Up & Sustaining Community School Initiatives, 3) Leadership, 4) Opportunities & Supports in Community Schools, 5) Supportive Policy, 6) Results and Research, 7) Communications and Advocacy, and 8) University-Assisted Community Schools.

We’re planning an exciting line up of plenary sessions, affinity groups, and workshop session. Please plan to join us in beautiful Philadelphia this spring.

Seasonal Classes and Recreation Programs - Department of Parks and Recreation

Seasonal Classes and Recreation Programs - Department of Parks and Recreation
Seasonal Special Interest Leisure Classes and Recreation Programs

Spring 2010 Recreation and Programs Directory(16.77 MB) This 64-page directory is available online in Portable Document Format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Free online registration is now available. Browse online to see what is available, and sign up quickly for classes and activities for all family members.

Do you want to teach a class? We are accepting proposals from potential new instructors.

Hundreds of classes, workshops and programs to meet your or your family’s leisure needs are offered at sites throughout the city. Learn something new, improve a skill, develop a hobby, meet new people, enjoy friendly competition or explore a neighborhood or community facility. Classes include guitar, piano, aerobics, yoga, hip hop, ballroom dance, dog obedience, tennis, gymnastics, ballet, tap, and martial arts. Other program listings include Aquatics and swim lessons, seasonal programs at the Children's Services, Teen Services, Services for Older Adults, City Safari Tours, Access Leisure, Adult Sports Leagues including softball and Special Events.

Alternatively, you can visit one of our community centers or offices to pick up your copy of the Directory. Please call to check for availability.
Administrative Offices, 915 I Street, Fifth Floor, 95814; (916) 808-5200

Education | Barnes & Noble launches text rental service | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Barnes & Noble launches text rental service
| Seattle Times Newspaper: "Barnes & Noble Inc. said Monday that it's launching a textbook rental program for college students.

The new program, available though campus bookstores or the stores' Web sites managed by the world's largest bookseller, is designed to cut textbook costs by as much as 50 percent for some titles.

Textbooks rented online will be shipped to a campus bookstore.

The effort, operated through the New York company's subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC., is already in place in about 25 campus bookstores nationwide.

Barnes & Noble operates bookstores at nearly 640 colleges across the country."

The Educated Guess � Governor targets seniority protections

The Educated Guess � Governor targets seniority protections

Four years ago, Gov. Schwarzenegger failed to persuade voters to change the tenure laws for teachers. But that hasn’t deterred him from pushing again in his final year in office.

In his budget message, the governor said he’d propose eliminating the law requiring that teacher layoffs and reassignments be done strictly on the basis of seniority. He also wants school boards, not the Commission on Professional Competence, to have the final say on teacher firings. In a study last year, the Los Angeles Times determined that the commission overturns school boards’ decisions about a third of the time – one more factor discouraging administrators from seeking to get rid of incompetent teachers.

You can bet the California Teachers Assn. will fight both bills.

In many districts, principals do have the ability to hire whom they want and to reject veteran teachers who they determine won’t fit in. But rules change with a reduction in force.

I’ve talked with principals who complain bitterly that they no choice but to let go among their best, young teachers with the rapport and expertise they needed; they were bumped by veteran teachers and sometimes administrators who have

Sacramento Press / Democratic Party of Sacramento County Responds to Governor’s State of the State and Budget

The six years of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration have not treated California well. We have lost our jobs, lost our houses and lost the services that were supposed to protect us and build a stronger state. While Governor Schwarzenegger has read a well-written script about post partisanship and teamwork, he has consistently failed to deliver on these promises – siding time and again with conservative interest groups that do not represent California’s values and proposing quick fix paper solutions instead of doing the hard work and showing the real leadership that is necessary to achieve real progress.

While it is laudable that after years of cutting education budgets and increasing prison populations, the Governor has come to realize this is not a sustainable, wise or just course of action, we need to see actual leadership to reverse the course the Governor has set and to overcome the numerous shortcomings of years one through six of his administration. There are hard decisions that need to be made and important values that need to be protected. To date, Schwarzenegger has not shown the ability or desire to fight for Californians.

We are particularly concerned with the Governor’s proposals for closing the budget gap. Funding he has predicted from the federal government is

Ax falls on two District PR staffers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

At the end of a difficult news week for Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, two veteran media relations specialists in the District'scommunications office were abruptly terminated Friday, effective immediately.

Vincent Thompson and Felecia Ward, the District's two media managers, "were laid off due to a reorganization of the department based on the needs and the strategic plan of the School District of Philadelphia," said Evelyn Sample-Oates, chief communications officer, in a one-sentence email to the Notebookcommenting on the terminations.

Both Thompson and Ward had joined the communications office during the Paul Vallas administration, when it was headed by Cecilia Cummings. Thompson served two separate stints beginning in 2002, while Ward joined the office in 2005. Along with Fernando Gallard, who continues as director of media relations, Thompson and Ward had handled most media inquiries to the District.

Ackerman has also been drawing on outside public relations firms for her media strategy, including Cárdenas-Grant Communications and Ross Associates.

The terminations come days after a critical story about the superintendent

Class Struggle - Study shows how dumb we can be

Class Struggle- Study shows how dumb we can be:

"A little-noticed but unusually detailed study of teaching practices, reported by Robert Rothman in the November/December issue of the Harvard Education Letter, delivers a depressing message you should keep in mind whenever you read anything about raising school achievement. I don’t care if it’s by an education school dean, or a state governor, or the U.S. secretary of education, or even me. If this new study is true then none of us really knows what we are talking about.

Consider all the ink and electrons my Post colleagues and I, plus the leaders of our local schools and commentators far and wide, expend on how each of our public schools have performed on the annual tests. These assessments are required under No Child Left Behind. They are wired into the culture now. They will continue in some form no matter how Congress changes that law."

Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman has not one, but two cars paid for by you - chicagotribune.com

Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman has not one, but two cars paid for by you - chicagotribune.com:

"In mid-October, Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman made a special trip to Springfield to implore legislators to restore funding cuts that were aggravating an already painful budget season.

What he didn't mention to legislators was how he got there, in the literal sense. The schools chief drove himself in a 2009 Ford Escape hybrid that costs taxpayers more than $800 a month. That vehicle is in addition to the Crown Victoria that Huberman rides around in while in Chicago; the school district leases it for about $1,000 a month, not including the driver's pay. Huberman, who was appointed a year ago, makes $230,000 a year.

While previous school chiefs Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan both had a car and driver, neither had an additional vehicle leased for them by the nation's third-largest school system. For that matter, the leaders of the nation's two largest school districts don't have that perquisite either.

In a tough year for the city's schools, with nearly a thousand layoffs expected and millions of dollars in program cuts, some are questioning the necessity of two cars for a CEO who"

7 charter schools to get OK as state nears limit of 200 - NYPOST.com

The state Board of Regents is expected to approve seven new city charter schools at its monthly meeting Tuesday -- slicing to 23 the number of charters that can be issued statewide.

The move comes as lawmakers work feverishly under Gov. Paterson's deadline of Thursday for passing legislation to eliminate -- or at least raise -- the state's cap of 200 charter schools.

Lifting or removing the cap would boost the state's odds of snaring as much as $700 million in federal education-reform aid, for which the application due date is Jan. 19.

The charter schools set for approval early next week include the fifth clone of the successful Icahn Charter School in The Bronx, as well as replacements for two shuttering Catholic schools.

If approved, Riverton Street Charter School will open in September in the former home of St. Catherine of Sienna in Queens, and Bedford-Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School will open in the closing St. John the Baptist School in Brooklyn.

The Regents are expected to return two other charter-school applications approved by SUNY for revision.

Later this month, the city's Department of Education is planning to put out its first-ever parent guide to charter schools, with details on the 99 schools already operating as well as the 26 expected to open this fall.

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