Wednesday, June 30, 2010

As Americans grow fatter, Oregon stays at 39th on obesity list | OregonLive.com

As Americans grow fatter, Oregon stays at 39th on obesity list

Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 2:31 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 5:55 PM

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Oregon maintained its weight while much of American grew fatter in 2009, a new report says.

Oregon looked healthier than many states: 39th on the obesity list, 37th for blood pressure and 35th for diabetes (which affects 7.4 percent of Oregon adults, according to the report). Oregon's obesity rate hadn't increased significantly from the previous report, while 28 other states' rates rose significantly and only Washington, D.C.'s, fell

That doesn't mean we can rest on our well-fed haunches. A quarter of Oregon adults are obese, measured by having a body mass index of 30 or more. Add in overweight people -- with BMIs of 25 to 30 -- and you encompass 61.4 percent of Oregon adults. The percentages are three-year averages measured over 2006-2009 and cited in

Healthcare professionals offer latest information at free programs

By Roger Gregory, The Oregonian

June 30, 2010, 4:18PM

All sessions are free and open to the public Full story »

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Your comments: Frustration with Portland Public Schools' budget, proposed PE cuts

By Michelle Brence, The Oregonian

June 30, 2010, 10:37AM

One commenter urges the school board to stand up to state government, and another says the budget mess is, in part, a result of voter-passed property tax limits. Full story »

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Fire damages building on University of Oregon campus

By The Associated Press

June 30, 2010, 7:57AM

The fire started in a utility room at the Gerlinger Annex, which houses a gym and dance studios. Full story »

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Remainders: Rochester one vote away from mayoral control | GothamSchools

Remainders: Rochester one vote away from mayoral control

by Anna Phillips

Rochester is one state Senate vote away from getting mayoral control of schools. (ROCnow)
More than a quarter of city schoolchildren didn’t attend the last day of school. (WNYC)
Many charter management groups would be unable to run on public funds alone. (GothamSchools)
No fewer than four documentaries about ed reform will hit movie theaters this year. (USA Today)
A group of Muslim families rallied for schools to observe Muslim holidays. (NY1)
A pilot program took Chicago teachers on a tour of the city’s different cultural enclaves. (Tribune)
After all the debate, you can finally read Texas’s social studies standards online. (Edweek)
Moderate Dems are fighting a plan that would divert RTTT funds to the edujobs bill. (Politics K-12)
Inwood parents and the city are at odds over an outgoing principal’s performance. (Times)
Two small Philly high schools are graduating their first classes with different results. (Inquirer)

Give Local Voters a Say on Major Developments � Tangerine, Florida

Give Local Voters a Say on Major Developments

by tangerineflorida

By PAMELA WINCHESTER , GUEST EDITORIAL
Sometimes, when the political system gets corrupted and out of touch, citizens need to step in to restore proper balance — and that’s what Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 will do. We are a nonpartisan citizen’s movement that is all about empowering ordinary Floridians like you and me. With Amendment 4, we’re simply saying: Give us citizens a seat at the table — a chance to vote. We’re the ones who pay our tax dollars to extend the services like schools, hospitals, police, fire, water, sewer and roads to all these new developments that politicians keep approving left and right. We should get a vote before we’re forced to pay.
Everywhere you drive you see empty strip malls and foreclosed subdivisions, yet politicians are still approving more development daily. Think about it: Even if no one’s living or working in those ghost buildings, all of us in the county still have to pay for their services, and that means higher

School Tech Connect: Misty for ISTE

Misty for ISTE

by Tim

Still in recovery mode from ISTE... I'm thinking deeply about Howard Rheingold's critical consumption ("crap detectors") presentation, so at least there's that. I think I can take a year off of ISTE now, although the draw of Philly is considerable.

Meanwhile, Diane Ravitch is closing up shop for the summer over at Bridging Differences. Yesterday, she mentioned a few titles for summer reading, one of which is Michael Edwards' Small Change: Why Business Won't Save The World, which I will definitely be buying. Diane summarizes a bit here:

The Answer Sheet - Correction on Ed Dept and charters

Correction on Ed Dept and charters

The Education Department’s press secretary e-mailed me to say that I was wrong when I wrote in a recent post that states wishing to win federal money in Duncan’s Race to the Top contest “had to pledge” to open more charter schools. The spokesman, Justin Hamilton, said that the department did not require states to make such a pledge. Hamilton is right. My mistake. Education Secretary Arne Duncan did not ask states to “pledge” -- which is literally “a solemn promise or agreement to do” -- to open more charter schools. Duncan has, of course, said that states that did not agree to open more charters would be at a disadvantage in the $4 billion competition. He wrote the following last year in an article published by The Washington Post, entited "Education Reform's Moon Shot:" “The Race to the Top program marks a new federal partnership in education reform with

$237 million in BEST projects make the cut | EdNewsColorado

$237 million in BEST projects make the cut

by Todd Engdahl

Nine school renovation and construction projects totaling $237.7 million were recommended Wednesday by the state School Capital Construction Assistance Board.
The decisions came after two and a half days of difficult meetings during which the board wrestled with competing priorities, the unavoidable fact that most applications wouldn’t get funded and with some public confusion about how the board makes its decisions.

The State Board of Education has the final say on grants from the Build Excellent Schools Today program. The board is expected to consider the recommendations at its August meeting.
The construction board’s recommendations were the second major round of grants since passage of the BEST

Secretary Arne Duncan Kicks Off Let’s Read. Let’s Move. – ED.gov Blog

Librarians Nurture Students’ Passions Speaking to school librarians, Secretary Duncan says libraries are often “at the heart” of school success.

White House and Education Department Honor This Year’s U.S. Presidential Scholars The 2010 U.S. Presidential Scholars came to Washington last week for a series of events that celebrated the students’ extraordinary academic, artistic, and civic achievements. The 141 Scholars, all graduating high school seniors, were announced last ...

Secretary Arne Duncan Kicks Off Let’s Read. Let’s Move.

On Tuesday, June 29, Secretary Arne Duncan and his wife, Karen Duncan, kicked off the Department of Education’s summer enrichment series, “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” on the outdoor plaza of the Lyndon Baines Johnson headquarters building with book readings, writing and arts activities, healthy snacks, and games. Children in pre-kindergarten through third grade from various local schools and the Prince George’s County Judy Center and Head Start programs received free, new books and a lunch tote to take home and enjoy as part of the session.
The Department launched “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” to combat summer learning loss and physical inactivity that commonly occur during the school break. Secretary Duncan noted, “We know that for far too many children, reading achievement stalls when schoolwork stops during the summer. In fact, most low-income children can lose more than two months of reading skills progress during the summer.” Additionally, research shows that the problem of obesity threatens the healthy future of one-third of all American children. According to some studies, children can gain weight three times faster during the summer months, which is often equal to the amount of weight they would typically gain over the course of an entire school year.
Through activities designed to promote reading and academic achievement, healthy lifestyles and physical fitness, as well as general enrichment, “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” aims to increase awareness about the critical importance of summer learning and highlight the tenets of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” national campaign to combat childhood obesity.
During six sessions held weekly at the Department of Education between June 29 and August 3, Secretary Duncan, Cabinet members, Administration officials, and other public figures will be invited to read books, promote healthy lifestyles, and participate in games and fitness activities with children. The series is a direct response to President Barack Obama’s national volunteer campaign, “United We Serve,” which challenges all Americans to engage in sustained, meaningful service activities in their communities this summer. The Department is working together with the Corporation for National and Community Service on this initiative. The books, refreshments, games, and fitness equipment for “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” have been donated by Target Corporation, which is one of the organizations answering President Obama’s call to service.
Look for the next session on Wednesday, July 7 at noon.
Tiffany Taber
Office of Communications and Outreach

The case of the early test scores and resulting confusion | GothamSchools

The case of the early test scores and resulting confusion

by Anna Phillips

When the New York Post ran a story last week praising a Harlem charter school network’s test scores, a few principals wondered why their own schools’ scores hadn’t arrived.
State and city officials were also puzzled. City students sat for the science and social studies exams only weeks ago and the state won’t release the results for months, so how did Harlem Village Academies have their scores?
Harlem Village Academies Chief of Staff Matt Scott explained that because the network grades its own tests and the state publishes scoring guides online, it was able to figure out how its students fared in advance of the state’s official release. According to the network, all of its eighth grade students passed the state’s science and social studies exams this year.
“We do not release test scores for Science or Social Studies until the school report cards for 2009/2010,” said

This Week In Education: Thompson: The New Segregation

Thompson: The New Segregation [image: Picture 3] David Berlinner's guest blog at The Answer Sheet, "New Analysis of the Achievement Gap: 1/2 x 1/2 = 11/2" offers a way out our our educational "reform" wars. Berlinner cited an Australian study that demonstrated that "the joint ...

Media: Who Was On Journolist? [Part 2] So I did what I was supposed to do and asked around to see who was on Journolist, and here's a snapshot of what I've found so far (plus a couple of quotes from folks about the whole thing): [image: Picture 25]Who else should I ask? Do you even care ...

Does Having Kids Make You Less Happy? | The Atlantic Wire

Does Having Kids Make You Less Happy?

By HEATHER HORN on June 30, 2010 5:18pm

las - initially/FlickrTwo Saturdays ago, libertarian economist Bryan Caplanmade the case for having kids--the "selfish" case, that is. This comes despite recent surveys showing that having children tends to decrease one's overall happiness. Caplan's argument is relatively simple.

The "happiness gap" between the parents and the childless is actually pretty small, and most of it occurs with the first child. "Beyond that, additional children are almost a happiness free lunch." Meanwhile, he points to a competing study showing that parents, in fact, asked if they would do things differently, overwhelmingly do not regret having children: 91 percent were happy with their choices. Meanwhile, among the childless, only 24 percent said they'd choose again to remain childless.

In addition, Caplan posits that parental happiness does not have to go down as much as it does: though parents feel under a lot of pressure to be perfect parents, it turns out that "parents have a lot more room to safely maneuver than they realize, because the long-run effects of parenting on children's outcomes are much smaller than they look." Nature is more of a force than nurture. Finally, there's a big reward at the end: grand kids. Is he right?

This Is a Bizarre Argument for a Libertarian "Who knew that lazy permissiveness would become a calling card of libertarian parenting ideology?" writes Salon's Andrew Leonard. He also points out that, in general, the whole have-more-kids- idea "is a problematic thesis for a libertarian economist to push. People are freely choosing not to have as many kids as previous

Education Research Report: Rushing Too Fast to Online Learning?

Rushing Too Fast to Online Learning?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

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Study looks at outcomes of Internet versus face-to-face instruction

A combination of fiscal constraints and improvements in technology has led to an increased reliance on online classes of all types -- many of which use Internet versions of traditional, live lectures. Now a new study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) raises questions about that fast-growing trend in higher education.

"Online instruction may be more economical to deliver than live instruction, but there is no free lunch," said David Figlio, Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and primary author of