Saturday, March 20, 2010

“How Haiti Saved America” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“How Haiti Saved America”

Posted at 1:42 pm under social studies

How Haiti Saved America is an article that appeared in the Boston Globe. It recounts the role Haiti played in our country’s early history.

It’s not accessible to English Language Learners, but the information is important enough for a teacher to modify portions of it. It helps provide

Horace Mann Insurance Looking for Entries into “Win $ Win” Contest — The Rancho Cordova Post

Horace Mann Insurance Looking for Entries into “Win $ Win” Contest

by ANNE LOWE on MARCH 20, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in LIFESTYLE, SCHOOLS

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Horace Mann Insurance Agency will be accepting entries into their “Win $ Win” contest until April 20, and educators who enter could win up to $20,000.

The contest is open to educators and school employees nationwide. Winners will receive half of their winnings, and the other half will be donated to a non-profit, education-related organization of the winner’s choice. A total of $65,000 will be awarded, and prizes range from $500 to the grand prize of $20,000.

A winner of the 2009 “Win $ Win” contest came from Rancho Cordova.

Julia Boen, Pricipal of St. John Vianney School, won $1,000 in the conest last year. She was awarded $500 for herself and $500 for the St. John Vianney School Fund, and checks for the winnings were presented at the school in a flag-raising ceremony last November.

To enter the contest, an educator can receive an entry code from a Horace Mann insurance agent, or an online entry form can be completed at www.horacemann.com.

Schools Matter: Renew Charter to Recoup $200k?

Renew Charter to Recoup $200k?

What do you do when a charter school - which owes the authorizing district $200k because of shoddy financial management - comes up for renewal? Well, any penny-pincing district (ie ever school district in America) would do whatever they could to recoup those funds.

The backstory to this $200k debt involves a company calledEdChoices, a charter leader named Tim King (Tim's Twitter name is EdChoices), and a school district (and State) unable to monitor evolving charter operators and practices. King recently resigned

Weekend Reading This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Weekend Reading

Fired college counselors, teacher rating gimmicks, rebuked sexting prosecutors, and more in this weekly roundup of magazines and websites: "College coach" canned after bummer SATs Salon: Parents in an affluent Boston suburb are furious as rejections from top-notch universities roll in. Magazine" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); ">RateMyProfessors.com NYT: How to make it to the top of the engrossing professor-ranking site, RateMyProfessors.com.Court rebukes DA sexting crackdown Slate: Skumanick didn't try to determine whether the girls had been harmed by the sexts.The dilemma of suicidal college students. Slate: A rash of

Not an End in Itself � InterACT

Not an End in Itself

MARCH 20, 2010

by David B. Cohen

Near my desk at work, I like to post important quotations keep me reflective and inspired. One of these quotations is from an English educator and writer named Sybil Marshall:

“Education must have an end in view, for it is not an end in itself.”

In the current education climate, that strikes me as an important idea to bear in mind. We’re all about student learning and measurable outcomes these days, and sometimes, I think we forget why. The adults can come up with a quick enough answer if we remind them to: our students need critical thinking skills, they need to compete in a global economy, we need to prepare them for jobs that don’t even exist yet, and so on.

The problem is that those reasons don’t resonate with students so much, at least not when presented that way.

So the first sin of omission is that sometimes we are so caught up in helping students develop skills, that we neglect to talk to them about why they need those skills. Or if we do talk about it,

Time to regulate what charters are teaching

Ralph E. Shaffer

Friday, March 19, 2010

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When writing about charter schools, journalists regularly include some variation of this sentence: "Charters are independently operated public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools." One of those rules that some charters ignore is the U.S. Constitution.

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Two charters, both cited as models that traditional schools should emulate, must include a warped version of the First Amendment in their civics curriculum. The schools, American Indian Model Schools in Oakland and Green Dot Public Schools' Locke High School in Los Angeles, are so committed to indoctrinating students with their promoters' economic ideology that they require students to recite pro-capitalist pledges or prove that they believe in the economics of Adam Smith.
California's social studies guidelines do not even mention capitalism, although the economics section could have been written by Milton Friedman.

At Oakland's American Indian Public Charter School, the school's director, John P. Glover, refuses to confirm that his students are required to recite a pledge to capitalism, yet that the kids recited such a statement - to be "productive members in a free-market capitalist society" - was reported by Los Angeles Times staff writer Mitchell Landsberg in May 2009 after he visited the school.
Public schools, charter or traditional, can't require students to believe in any ideology. Even requiring a belief in democracy violates students' right to believe in whatever political system they wish.
Traditional schools require no loyalty oath beyond a flag salute. Even then, no student is required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or to demonstrate a belief in it. While courts have ruled that the pledge is legal, kids have a right not to recite it and can remain in school.
Financed by conservative billionaire philanthropists like Bill Gates and Eli Broad, charters willingly carry out the indoctrination their benefactors seek. Their loyalty oaths ban students who don't kowtow to a school's ideology. Not all residents of the state are deemed equal. Their families may pay taxes, but the kids are banned from the schools because they won't demonstrate a belief i

Education leader: Empower teachers, engage parents | rgj.com | The Reno Gazette-Journal

Education leader: Empower teachers, engage parents

BY MICHAEL MARTINEZ • MMARTINEZ@RGJ.COM • MARCH 20, 2010

Parent engagement and customizing learning to meet specific needs are key elements required to foster true education reform, a high-ranking member of the National Education Association said in Reno on Friday.

Lily Eskelsen, a Utah teacher and vice president of the association, spoke to about 600 educators at the NEA's Pacific Region Leadership Conference at the Peppermill, where she detailed successful efforts to bring improvement to what the association calls "priority schools," those institutions that chronically underperform.

Before her address, she talked about the need to empower teachers so they might be integral in school districts' reform efforts and the NEA's campaign to bring real change to the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, for which a blueprint has been drafted.

"Too many of our kids are dropping out of school, and too many things that were working just fine 20 or 30 years ago aren't working with a new batch of kids," Eskelsen said. "We've got to do things better, we've got to do things in a different way.

"We've all been working under what we all think is total disaster, which is 'No Child Left Untested' and we can't find anybody that says, 'Yeah this works, it's just exactly what we wanted,'" she said.

She said there are enough teachers that have experienced success in various parts of the country.

"All of these folks are here to hear their peers talk about what's working and to take these ideas back

Students, employees plead for local school librarian jobs during tough times

By Jennifer Bonnett
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:04 AM PDT

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Heather Chappell is surrounded by love — literally.

On the walls of Creekside Elementary School where she is the librarian, students have decorated red and pink paper hearts by finishing the sentence, "I love my library because ..."

"I learn words," wrote one third-grader.

A fifth-grader wrote, "It has awesome books and you can learn from books."

"It's some place I can relax. That's why I love my library," according to a sixth-grader.

Budget cuts have once again cast librarians into the spotlight, asking whether their positions are necessary. Last month, the Lodi Unified School District board approved eliminating more than two dozen library

Campaign to save libraries

Bear Creek High School students have been writing — on recycled paper shaped like the Bruin mascot — reasons why the library is important to them.

"We've hung these bears all over the library and hundreds are on display," teacher-librarian Carol Grenko said, adding that she can hardly keep up with the demand for cut-outs.

"It has been very insightful to gain the students' perspective. It feels so good to know that the students truly appreciate their library and the opportunities that go with it: great place to research with their classes, work on projects, read, gather and just feel at home, especially before and after school and at lunch."

She plans to present the bears to Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer at a future school board meeting.

"One wouldn't think that a generation hooked to their cell phones and iPods would care so much about the fate of their library," Grenko said. "Because of this campaign, I've discovered hundreds of reasons why they do care, and I couldn't be more proud to be their librarian."

A similar campaign is underway at both the McNair and Tokay high school libraries.

She said the effort was started when she learned that Sacramento City Unified School District, too, is facing a $30 million dollar budget reduction. However, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond has publicly said there will be no reductions in libraries, according to Grenko.

"He urged all to 'Pass the word.' Well, we are certainly passing on his message here at BCHS as are other schools in LUSD," she said.

— Jennifer Bonnett

Organizing for America | BarackObama.com

Final March: Call Congress

After months of hard work, the final vote on health reform in the House of Representatives is expected to be this Sunday.

But it's shaping up to be incredibly close -- so whether you've called your representative before or haven't yet spoken out on health reform, it's now time to raise your voice.

SCUSD Observer: TFA redux

TFA redux

The "now is not the time" response to Teach For America's presentation in front of the school board Thursday night seemingly puts the program low on the list of current priorities.

But before we go, let's read a letter written and brought before the board by a TFA graduate during Thursday night's public comments. This young gentleman, who has roots in Sacramento, did his teaching stint in Charlotte public schools and is now pursuing a law degree at Cornell University:

The veteran teachers' beef always seems to relate to the idea of young, idealistic, mercenaries coming in for two years and stealing jobs from established teachers. Especially with the current economy, their concerns might be legitimate. Thus, to assuage their concerns it is necessary to let them know that high-performing, hard-working teachers will always have jobs and that there are (likely) thousands of teachers that fit the mold in Sacramento that continue to provide the best possible education for their students. But, there are clearly still gaps that need to be filled and Teach for America is a resource that helps to fill them.

While, Teach For America is not a panacea, it is a step in the right direction. The organization's involvement in each of its regions goes beyond the teachers in the classroom. It creates a necessary piece of the foundation that works toward prioritizing education and remedying some of the problems that face any failing educational

Pink Slip 4 SCUSD Adult Ed Teacher of Year

At the School Board meeting last night (3/18/10), the SCUSD Adult Education Teacher of the Year was recognized and in her acceptance speech she shared that she received a pink slip. Congratulations Marge Matoba! Marge spoke out passionately about the value of adult education, and how cuts in SCUSD are decimating not only adult education, but other programs that help students reach their full potential. We are losing good teachers. Those who have received some form of recognition and also superstar instructors who fly below the radar. School cuts hurt and the pain is felt by those whose charge will be to make a better tommorrow: our students.

Student historians from East Oakland delve into role of media in the U.S.-Mexico War The Education Report

The Education Report

Student historians from East Oakland delve into role of media in the U.S.-Mexico War

By Katy Murphy
Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 6:08 pm in high schools, history, small schools,students, teachers
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Fatima Ghatala, a teacher at East Oakland School of the Arts (Castlemont), tells us about her AP United States history students’ diligent preparation for tomorrow’s National History Day competition. EOSA is the only school representing OUSD in the contest.

“Who would like to present their project at the county-wide National History Day competition on March 20th?” I asked. The group members excitedly looked at each other to confirm, and enthusiastically raised their hands to volunteer. The class had already spent weeks working on research topics, and this particular group of students were researching the United States-Mexico War. They were first inspired to learn more about the war because of the impact the current U.S.-Mexico border has on their communities.

EOSA students, courtesy of Fatima Ghatala

Ms. Natalie Carrillo, 16, Ms. Evelyn Gameros, 17, Mr. Gerardo Martinez, 15, Mr. Ricardo Cruz, 16, and Mr. Roberto Mendoza, 17 — all AP United States History

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education- Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Rhee hiring Obama ally for communications job

Anita Dunn in negotiations to help Rhee manage her p.r. strategy

MORE ON EDUCATION

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee (Benjamin J. Myers)

Willingham on Obama's vision for education

My guest is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?"

By Daniel Willingham
The reception of President Obama's proposed revision of the major federal education law has generally been positive. It’s hard for me to see why people are optimistic.

There are notable improvements to the No Child Left Behind act. The emphasis in accountability will be broadened beyond reading and math to include other subjects. In addition, schools will not be evaluated in absolute terms, but by their ability to improve outcomes. Thus, a school that is moving kids from the 10th percentile to the 25th percentile—which would be enormous progress—will no longer be dubbed “failing.”

I doubt these changes will end up meaning much because the bedrock of the bill follows the flawed logic of No Child Left Behind.

Continue reading this post »

Principal, teacher clash on cheating

Last week’s column, full of practical suggestions on how to limit cheating, did not seem controversial to me. Many teachers sent their own ideas. Many recommended small adjustments, such as having the questions in different order for different students, to hinder copying.

So I was surprised to hear from Erich Martel, an Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher at Wilson High School in the District, that his principal, Peter Cahall, was critical of him doing that.

Martel’s classroom, 18 by 25 feet, feels like shoebox to him. Some days he squeezes in 30 students, plus himself. That is 15 square feet per student, which Martel has been told is well below the district standard of 25 square feet. The cramped conditions led to a disagreement when Cahall assessed Martel’s work under the school district’s IMPACT teacher evaluation system.

During one post-evaluation conference Martel told Cahall what he did to frustrate cheating when students are so close together. He created two versions of the same test by putting the pages in different sequences, a method many teachers endorse. He showed Cahall a quiz on which he printed the questions in a smaller font, making them harder to read from the next chair over.

Continue reading this post »

Rhee turns to White House veteran Anita Dunn

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, whose image has been battered by a series of high-profile controversies, is turning to a veteran of the Obama White House to help her with communications strategy. DCPS confirmed Friday that it is negotiating a contract with former White House communications director and veteran Democratic media consultant Anita Dunn.

Officials say Rhee hopes to use Dunn and her firm, Squier Knapp Dunn, to deal with the crush of press attention she receives both locally and nationally, and to assist in rolling out important stories to maximum strategic advantage. Officials would not specify what projects Dunn would work on, but she is expected to help on the unveiling of the long-awaited labor contract between the District and Washington Teachers' Union, which could be finalized in the next few weeks.

"We hope to get her wisdom and advice on how to handle things," said Marrianne McMullen, chief of staff to Peggy O'Brien, Rhee's chief of

Obama visits George Mason

Friday was one of those gorgeous spring days at George Mason University. Students who didn't have class (or who skipped) could leisurely walk along tree-lined paths, play tennis, catch up on class readings outside.... or wander over to the Patriot Center and listen to President Obama talk about his signaturehealth-care initiative, which is expected to go to a vote this weekend.

"Hello, George Mason!" Obama said to a crowd of about 8,500 peopleover chants of "Yes we can!" Banners and signs were not allowed, but buttons, stickers and T-shirts were. A university spokesman estimates students made up about 60 percent of the crowd, and a few more students watched on televisions in the student union.

"I don't really follow" the health-care debate, said Humza Haider, 19, a freshman who does not have health insurance. "I just want to see the president."

Some students posted their minute-by-minute thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag, #obamagmu. "What a brilliant day: beautiful weather, Indian food, yoga, saw Obama, recorded some songs...all is well,"

Bill would open college crisis records

An alert source directed me to this story in the Roanoke Times, which tracks a bill that could require colleges to open their 'threat assessment' records to the public after a campus incident.

The story gives this account of the bill, which cleared Virginia's General Assembly last Saturday:

University of Virginia officials last fall sought legislation that would open private records about faculty, staff or students who may pose a threat. U-Va. also proposed that all the records produced by a school's threat assessment team -- which exists to handle such incidents -- be kept private.

Continue reading this post »

Ed Buzz: The Region

McDonnell signs college lab school legislation (Richmond Times Dispatch)
Schools reduce police presence (The Examiner)
Montgomery College, schools brace for cuts (The Gazette)
P.G. County PTA reinstated (The Gazette)
Md. GOP: Don't raise dropout age (The Gazette)
Birth-control center finds home at T.C. Williams (Alexandria Gazette Packet)
Fairfax teacher quits over embezzlement charges (Examiner)
MoCo teachers say they are overwhelmed (Gazette)
Alex. considers new school boundaries(Examiner)
PG parents fear impact of school cuts(WJLA)
Md. lawmakers favor ed cuts (Baltimore Sun)