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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

This-a-way or That: I’m Good. � Chalkdust101

This-a-way or That: I’m Good. � Chalkdust101

Two Roads Diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In the wake of massive funding cuts here in New Jersey, school districts, including mine, are reeling. In my district alone, our submitted budget included the cut of twenty-four teachers, guidance counselors in both of our elementary buildings and our middle school, four out of six Vice Principals, all sports and extra-curricular activities district-wide, and everyone in my department except the head of the department.
I am not the head.
The way things work in New Jersey, nothing will officially shake out until either late April or early May, but the foundation of public education is being abruptly shaken, as are those employed in schools throughout the state. The last few weeks have brought on a sudden sense of urgency about the directions many of us will take, and the next few weeks will surely be filled with the same. But for right now, I am not worried.
Without sounding self-serving or prognostic, I knew this was coming. And I think you did

Remainders: NAEP reading scores an “epitaph” for NCLB | GothamSchools

Remainders: NAEP reading scores an “epitaph” for NCLB | GothamSchools

Remainders: NAEP reading scores an “epitaph” for NCLB

Schools Matter: NAEP Reading 2009: Had Enough Direct Instruction and Testing Yet?

Schools Matter: NAEP Reading 2009: Had Enough Direct Instruction and Testing Yet?

Fewer than 1,000 teachers now in excess pool, Klein says | GothamSchools

Fewer than 1,000 teachers now in excess pool, Klein says | GothamSchools

Fewer than 1,000 teachers now in excess pool, Klein says

atr-teacher-breakdown
Chancellor Joel Klein threw out a surprise at today’s City Council hearing on next year’s education budget — that the number of teachers currently in the Absent Teacher Reserve pool has now dipped to 981 teachers, down more than 700 people since the fall.
In its teachers contract demands this year, the city has asked for the power to fire teachers who remain in the excess pool for more than four months. Assuming the teachers currently in the pool have been there since the

Investors.com - Arne's List: A World Of Privilege

Investors.com - Arne's List: A World Of Privilege

Arne's List: A World Of Privilege

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, widely hailed as a school reformer, speaks to a Sacramento, Calif., town hall meeting last September. Duncan has...
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, widely hailed as a school reformer, speaks to a Sacramento, Calif., town hall meeting last September. Duncan has... View Enlarged Image
Politics: Education Secretary Arne Duncan taught us Orwell this week, showing how some are more equal than others with his VIP list for admission to Chicago's best schools. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there.
Duncan, hailed as a miracle-working reformer in the Chicago school system he once led, didn't quite persuade that city's well-connected elites of the value of his reforms, given the number who sought placement in the district's better schools.
Duncan insists it was just an appeals list on which parents could place kids who didn't make it

A beautiful proof without words � Fun Math Blog

A beautiful proof without words � Fun Math Blog

Wild About Math!

Making Math fun and accessible



A beautiful proof without words

March 24th, 2010 | by Sol |While surfing the Web for Math-related stuff I happened upon this wonderful “proof” without words:


Can you figure out what the image illustrates? Can you figure out what two facts you need to know to

Klein lays out which teachers would be fired first to cut budget | GothamSchools

Klein lays out which teachers would be fired first to cut budget | GothamSchools

Klein lays out which teachers would be fired first to cut budget

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein argued before the City Council today that firing teachers, perhaps en masse, is the only strategy left to handle expected budget gaps next school year. “There is very little fat left to trim,” Klein said, discussing a gap that his top budget official said will be at least $600 million and at worst $1.2 billion.
It’s still unclear whether state budget cuts to education will necessitate layoffs at the scale Klein described — a total of 8,500 teachers in the most draconian scenario. The state legislature is working towards an April 1 deadline to pass a budget, and while the Senate and governor’s proposed budget would cost the city schools more than $400 million at a minimum, the Assembly is reportedly planning far less severe cuts.
But at the City Council today Klein stuck to his doomsday predictions, outlining how the 8,500 layoffs would hit each school district. Under the state’s current “last in, first out” method of cutting the most recently hired

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

Dems Endorse Beiser, de Beck for School Board
Local Democrats gave their endorsement last night to San Diego Unified school board candidate Kevin Beiser, a middle school math teacher running against current board member Katherine Nakamura, and to incumbent John de Beck. The choices were unanimous.
Here are some interesting points about their endorsements:
• Dems picked Beiser, a Democrat, over Nakamura, also a Democrat. That means Nakamura is fighting her own political party to keep her seat. A third Democratic candidate, Stephen Rosen, didn't participate in the endorsement process.
Jess Durfee, leader of the local Democrats, said Beiser won out over Nakamura partly because he backed the project labor agreement, which ties school construction work to workplace guarantees that unions want. Nakamura opposed the labor pact.
"He strongly support teachers and is willing to find other places to cut," Durfee said. "He

Summer Jobs for Recovery | The White House

Summer Jobs for Recovery | The White House

The White House Blog

Summer Jobs for Recovery

Today the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) supporting the inclusion of $600 million for summer employment programs for youth in the House passage of the Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010, saying that in addition to essential help in keeping America prepared for natural disasters, “It also takes another important step forward in the ongoing effort to help put Americans back to work through the expansion of a youth summer jobs program and offers continued support to America’s small businesses, which are the backbone of the American economy.”
From the SAP:
Summer Employment Programs for Youth
The Administration supports the inclusion of $600 million for the Workforce Investment Act youth program for summer employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth. This funding will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help young people open the door to future opportunities, while enabling them to generate additional income during these difficult economic times.
The Administration has long recognized the importance of putting youth to work as a way of developing the next generation and strengthening the nation’s economy. The Recovery Act also aimed to create over a hundred thousand summer youth jobs to provide young people with meaningful work experience.
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Of Secret Lists and Special Treatment :: Frederick M. Hess

Of Secret Lists and Special Treatment :: Frederick M. Hess

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Tiny Arcohe school district puts bond measure on ballot - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Tiny Arcohe school district puts bond measure on ballot - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Tiny Arcohe school district puts bond measure on ballot

Arcohe Union School District is going where other districts fear to tread.
The board of the tiny one-school district in Herald, tucked into the rural countryside between Galt and Elk Grove, is the only Sacramento County district asking residents to vote for a school bond June 8.
The school district wants to pass Measure A – a $3.8 million general obligation bond – to build a new library and install solar power. It also will expand and upgrade the computer lab, make long-awaited fixes to the parking lot and enhance security at the 50-year-old K-8 school, said Mark Cornfield, district superintendent and school principal.
Officials at other county school districts have decided against attempting to put a bond or parcel tax on the ballot this year. Both Elk Grove Unified and Folsom Cordova Unified considered a parcel tax. Elk Grove hired a consultant to poll the community and Folsom Cordova sent out a


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/24/2629237/tiny-arcohe-school-district-puts.html#ixzz0j8E1Awnk

When capturing your students’ attention isn’t enough | GothamSchools

When capturing your students’ attention isn’t enough | GothamSchools

When capturing your students’ attention isn’t enough


I’ve gotten a lot of great teacher e-mails in response to my New York Times Magazine story about teaching. One of my favorites, from a retired teacher named Ralph Maltese, responds to Doug Lemov’s taxonomy of effective teaching practices. Lemov’s taxonomy, I wrote, centers on “a belief that students can’t learn unless the teacher succeeds in capturing their attention and getting them to follow instructions.”
Maltese taught for 36 years in the Abington, Pennsylvania, public schools just outside of Philadelphia (also the town where I was born!). He argues that the importance of attention works in reverse, too: Just because you have students’ eyes and ears doesn’t mean they’re learning.
Maltese described a teacher he had in college:
Dr. Green was a medieval history prof at my undergraduate university. We said that Dr. Green had a sport jacket pocket which knew everything about medieval history because he always spoke into it. He mumbled. “The most important point to remember about the shift of power in the 9th century was (and his head would tilt toward the pocket of his jacket) mmmm hhhmmm hhhmmmm.”

Education Research Report: Focus on Strengths, Not Failures, To Help Teens Succeed in School

Education Research Report: Focus on Strengths, Not Failures, To Help Teens Succeed in School

Focus on Strengths, Not Failures, To Help Teens Succeed in School

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The best way to help teenagers who are struggling in school is put aside their academic problems and focus on what they’re doing right, according to a family research scientist who has put this theory to practice.

Nearly every family with a teen who has problems in school is told what they’re doing wrong. But knowing what’s wrong won’t fix anything, said Stephen Gavazzi, professor of education and human ecology at Ohio State University.

“Your problems won’t solve your problems, but your strengths will. That’s why we focus on assets,” he said.

Gavazzi describes his strength-based approach in a new book "Strong Families, Successful Students: Helping Teenagers Reach Their Full Academic Potential" (BookSurge).

To close achievement gap, US must address major health risks for urban minority youth

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Lack of good health care curtails academic performance

"Educationally relevant health disparities" are key drivers of the achievement gap, "but they are largely overlooked," said Charles Basch, the Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

"Over the past several decades, a variety of strategies have been tried to help close the achievement gap – standards, accountability, NCLB, more rigorous teacher certification – and they're all important, but they won't have the desired effect unless students are ready and motivated to learn."

Basch recently released a meta-study, "Healthier Students Are Better Learners," which focuses on seven health risks that disproportionately impair the academic performance of urban minority youth.

NAEP Reading Results - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

NAEP Reading Results - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Comments
on Latest NAEP Reading Results

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today commented on the release of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading results for participating fourth and eighth graders.

The 2009 NAEP results for California show no significant change in overall scores from the 2007 assessment, which was the last time NAEP tested students in the fourth and eighth grades in reading. Nationally, the results are similar, with overall scores holding steady at the fourth grade level and a slight improvement in the eighth grade.

Overall average scores for students at both the state and the national level remain at the NAEP "basic" achievement level, which denotes partial mastery of fundamental skills at each grade. While reading scores for both fourth and eighth grade students remains flat overall, the average reading score for California's grade eight African American students improved slightly, moving the subgroup from "below basic" to the NAEP "basic" achievement level. Unfortunately, the NAEP reading results reveal no narrowing of the achievement gap between students who are white or Asian students and their peers who are African American or Latino.

"While we have seen a slight narrowing of the achievement gap on our state assessments, that trend is absent in these national test results," said O'Connell. "It's critical for the future of our state and nation that we close the achievement gap and prepare all students for successful futures. We must continue to focus our efforts ever more diligently on finding and using effective strategies that help all students learn to their full potential.

"These results also particularly highlight the need to better serve students who are learning the English language. In California, English learners make up a quarter of our student population, yet as a group, this population scores far behind nearly every other subgroup. It is critically important for us to search for the best strategies to assist these students to succeed academically in order for California to thrive and maintain its place as a leading world economy."

The NAEP data also reveal that students with access to books at home and who read for fun scored significantly higher on the reading assessment.

"Reading is fundamental to learning," said O'Connell. "Parents play a crucial role in helping their children build a solid foundation for learning by encouraging them to read every day. It is so important that we support school libraries and public libraries that provide students access to a wealth of reading materials and other literary resources."

NAEP is a national assessment that tests a representative sample of students in grades four, eight, and twelve in various subjects including reading, writing, math, and science. NAEP provides a common yardstick for measuring student achievement nationwide, allowing for state comparisons. NAEP assessments are not aligned to California's content standards, but are based on an assessment framework developed under the direction of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP. Results are released for the nation, states, and certain large urban school districts. There are no student- or school-level results. The limited large urban school district results for the 2009 reading assessment are expected to be released in May. National-level grade twelve reading results will be released later this year.

Recently, California joined 47 other states, two territories, and the District of Columbia in signing a compact to explore the development of rigorous common core standards that are designed to ensure that every state prepares students for success in college and the workforce.

"I strongly support the idea of common core standards that prepare all students for success in college and careers," said O'Connell. "When states develop and adopt high-quality common standards, assessments like NAEP will become more meaningful tools for measuring learning and comparing scores nationwide. I look forward to the convening of the Academic Content Standards Commission and its work to help integrate the common core standards here in California."

Complete results for the 2009 NAEP reading assessment are available online at The Nation's Report Card - National Assessment of Educational Progress - NAEP (Outside Source).

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Jack O'Connell — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Reams of Data for a Low, Low Price The Quick and the Ed

The Quick and the Ed

UNIform Practice

March 24th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized

Take your team to the Sweet 16, get a 56 percent raise and have yourcontract extended through 2020.

QUICK Hits

March 24th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized

Image from Sprout
Image from Sprout

Reams of Data for a Low, Low Price

March 24th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized

Jay Matthews has a new story explaining how Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Jerry Weast is using the National Student Clearinghouse, a data repository with college-level records for 92 percent of all college students in the country, to find how graduates of his high schools perform in college:
Among the pieces of paper [Weast] unloaded during a recent visit was a blue, green, orange and yellow bar graph titled “MCPS Graduates