Thursday, September 16, 2010

Lawmakers say Obama promises he'll push DREAM Act - Boston.com

Lawmakers say Obama promises he'll push DREAM Act

President Barack Obama, right, with Connecticut Attorney General and Democrat candidate for US Senate Richard Blumenthal, left, during a fundraiser in Stamford, Conn., Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. Blumenthal is running in the Nov. 2 general election to fill the seat being vacated by the retirement of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By Darlene Superville

Associated Press Writer / September 16, 2010

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WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is promising to work with senators to help pass legislation allowing thousands of young people who attend college or join the military to become legal U.S. residents, according to Hispanic lawmakers who met Thursday with the president.

"The president made it absolutely clear to us that he would leave no stone unturned" in pushing for

New Libraries Offer New Way of Learning / Chicago News Cooperative

New Libraries Offer New Way of Learning

by JAMES WARREN

Amid the many gradations of melancholy that is impoverished West Englewood, there is the public library.

Derrick Durr, a 22-year-old aspiring boxer, hovered over a computer last week, helping his aunt find work. So many employment applications are now done online that the challenge is great for those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Shortly before noon, most of the computers were being used by adults who are jobless. They were creating résumés and e-mail accounts, and filling out applications. They were also applying for assistance programs, rather than trooping to a government office, said Alicia Henry, one of the system’s “cybernavigators” and a Jennifer Hudson look-alike.

That Mr. Durr and his aunt were doing this there is no small feat since this strip of West 63rd Street was

ERN and “Waiting for Superman”? � DFER Watch

ERN and “Waiting for Superman”?

by kennethlibby

From a recent EdWeek article, “‘Superman’ Documentary Draws Praise, Controversy“: Some education advocates hope to use the visibility the film [Waiting for Superman] brings to education issues to emphasize their own messages. The Washington-based National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and Education Reform Now, in New York City, are teaming up to build a parallel campaign … Read more

A Closer Look at Affected Programs � The Quick and the Ed

A Closer Look at Affected Programs

by Ben Miller

Whether it’s a small share or a large portion of the sector, there is little debate that the gainful employment standard, as proposed, would affect some number of programs. But its hard to figure out which ones because schools report very little information broken down by program.

The paper I released today, “Are You Gainfully Employed?” tries to answer these questions about gainful employment and the specific program types most likely to be affected. That’s an important distinction to note–my analysis isn’t interested so much in naming schools that are likely to be in trouble. Rather, by looking at a large portion of the sector, it hopes to see what programs might be affected in large numbers.

Of the more than 12,662 programs I looked at, I estimated that about 4 percent of programs, or just over 500,

Whooping cough outbreak may be biggest in 55 years - Health - Infectious diseases - msnbc.com

Calif. whooping cough outbreak may be largest in 55 years

Over 4,000 cases, 9 deaths reported this year; decline in vaccinations blamed

By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER

updated 9/16/2010 6:27:34 PM ET

Font:

LOS ANGELES — State health officials reported Thursday that California is on track to break a 55-year record in whooping cough infections in an epidemic that has already claimed the lives of nine babies.

At least 4,017 cases of the highly contagious illness have been reported in California. Data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control show 11,466 cases nationwide, though the federal numbers are known to lag behind local reporting.

Whooping cough is a cyclical illness that peaks in number of infections every five years. Symptoms are similar to the common cold, making it a challenge to diagnose, which in turn makes it difficult for officials t
o

Schools Matter: A Bit of Advice...

A Bit of Advice... Some unsolicited advice for Imagine: try not to piss off your authorizer when you're already on probation for previous violations and hoping to open a new school in a city. From the Journal Gazette: Imagine over student limit; BSU dismayed Devon ...

Jeanne Allen's Campaign Funding Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform recently won the Republican primary in Maryland's District 16 race. She'll take on Democrat Ariana Kelly, who already has the backing of the local union. But Allen has her own backers - and a good number ...

Remainders: Don’t forget to fill out our survey by tomorrow | GothamSchools

Remainders: Don’t forget to fill out our survey by tomorrow - Our survey will close tomorrow; fill it out and get a chance to win $100. (GS) - A Goldman Sachs fund is giving Harlem Children’s Zone $20 million. ( CityRoom) - From the new Freakonomics movie: Paying kids for better grades. ( ...

To follow federal rules, city swaps one principal for another To comply with federal rules meant to turn struggling schools around, the city is playing a game of musical chairs — or, rather, musical principals. Under the rules, the 11 struggling schools the city wants to “transform”can’t get federal dollars ...

Lehman HS students wait for classes amid scheduling chaos [image: img_05751] As Lehman students walked to school this morning, many noted that they'd likely spend the day waiting for class schedules. Scheduling snafus are an annual rite at city schools during the first week back. But those problems have been ...

Curriculum Should Precede Assessments � The Core Knowledge Blog

Curriculum Should Precede Assessments

by Diana Senechal
September 16th, 2010

Tags: assessments, Common Core State Standards, Curriculum, literature
Posted in Assessment and Testing | 3 Comments »

The Common Core State Standards state that they do not outline the content that students should learn; this, they say, is the role of a curriculum. Yet it seems someone hasn’t been listening. Two groups of states are already rushing to develop assessments, which, according to the New York Times, will rely on technology and include “performance-based tasks, designed to mirror complex, real-world situations.”

Why the rush to make new tests? Isn’t there a great danger—even likelihood—that the tests will define and even impede the curriculum? This is worse than the cart going before the horse. This is a cart boasting that it will give birth to the horse—a horse with wheels that will follow in the cart’s grooves. O hubristic cart, how many fake horses will you bring forth before you regret your ways?

Here’s what I mean. The Common Core State Standards leave room for actual curricular courses in

Fenty and Rhee: Was what we had here a failure to communicate? � Fred Klonsky's blog

Fenty and Rhee: Was what we had here a failure to communicate?

by preaprez

After having her boss routed from the mayor’s office in DC, schools chancellor Michelle Rhee blames the people for not getting it.

Or maybe she didn’t communicate well enough.

But it just couldn’t be that she was wrong.

So, it turns out, the problem with school reforms in D.C. — which contributed to the defeat of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary — wasn’t that some of them were punitive and nonsensical. Schools Chancellor Michelle A.

Education Research Report: Children’s brain development is linked to physical fitness

Children’s brain development is linked to physical fitness Ω Researchers have found an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children: Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers. A bigger ...

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � If I Had A Million Dollars…

If I Had A Million Dollars… *Politico’s *Ben Smith breaks the news that the American Federation of Teachers spent a million dollars to defeat DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and most likely send their longtime nemesis Michelle Rhee packing. I just assumed their intense involvement in the ...

Odds and Ends, And Edujobs (Including One @BW) From LA – the new California data is out. Looks like seven of the top ten high schools in the city are charters as are the two top middle schools. Four of the bottom ten schools in the city are charters, too. So (a) how are averages here very ...

The 21st Century Learner

From cell phone and video games to Facebook and YouTube, digital media are changing the way young people play and socialize in the 21st century.

In this video, education experts say digital technologies could transform the way kids learn and participate in their communities.

More at http://www.macfound.org/learning

“Change The Equation” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Change The Equation”

by Larry Ferlazzo

Change The Equation is a new organization (it actually launched today) that, as Claus von Zastrow (it’s CEO) says:

…is an outgrowth of President Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign–It has over 100 corporate members who are joining forces to improve STEM education. The aim is to help them align their engagement and philanthropy to make a bigger difference than they can alone.

Hinojosa or not, here's what the Dallas school district needs | THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | dallasnews.com

Hinojosa or not, here's what the Dallas school district needs THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog dallasnews.com

Hinojosa or not, here's what the Dallas school district needs

by William McKenzie/ Editorial Columnist

The most important question facing the Dallas school district is not whether Superintendent Michael Hinojosa leaves the Dallas school district for Las Vegas. What's most crucial is this question: Will enough members of the Dallas school board step forward to champion the next set of reforms the district needs for its students?
And right behind that question is this one: Will Dallas voters back the type of reformers the board needs?
Let's deal first with the set of reforms Dallas next needs.
Dr. Hinojosa has been absolutely right in trying to better align the district's curriculum to the state's standards.

Schools Matter: NOT Waiting for Superman and NOT Wanting Superwoman

NOT Waiting for Superman and NOT Wanting Superwoman

by Jim Horn

Michelle Rhee is proving that defeat only brings out more of the bad Superwoman in her. Valerie Strauss has noticed, pointing to an interview done with Microsoft/NBC's clueless Nora O'Donnell in which Rhee blames the lazy and stupid voters for not appreciating the hard work that she and lame duck dictator boss are engaged in.

. . . .She further suggests that people didn’t like the reforms -- which include linking teacher pay to student standardized test scores (a terrible idea) and increasing the number of standardized tests kids must take (another rotten idea) because they were hard.

The people just don’t want “hard” reform.

“Reformers across the country knew when the mayor and I took these aggressive reforms on that it

Education Research Report: The Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning

Education Research Report: The Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning: "The Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning
Ω

This paper presents the first experimental evidence on the effects of live versus internet media of instruction. Students in a large introductory microeconomics course at a major research university were randomly assigned to live lectures versus watching these same lectures in an internet setting, where all other factors (e.g., instruction, supplemental materials) were the same. Counter to the conclusions drawn by a recent U.S"

Eduflack: Student Achievement, Data, and ROI

Student Achievement, Data, and ROI

by Eduflack

I generally try to separate my professional life (as often reflected on the musings and postings of Eduflack) from my civic life (namely my service as Vice Chair of my local school board). But sometimes, it is impossible for the two sides not to meet in the middle and buy the other a beer.

Today marks one of the chance encounters. In today's Falls Church News-Press (the newspaper of record for

This is Dropout Nation: America's Truancy Problem: The L.A. County Example

This is Dropout Nation: America’s Truancy Problem: The L.A. County Example

Two hundred seventy-two thousand Los Angeles County students were truant during the 2008-2009 school year. Let that sink in. Two hundred seventy-two thousand kids. That is 16 percent of all the students attending schools in the heart of Southern California, or 1,509 students skipping school without an excuse every school day.

We know where many of these kids will end up: They will become high school dropouts. What is astounding is that thanks to California education officials and the state legislature, we even know the truancy rate at all. Most states are ignoring the importance of reporting credible, honest truancy numbers,

CTA Doctors Anti-Whitman Ad, Comcast Approves | Intercepts

CTA Doctors Anti-Whitman Ad, Comcast Approves

by Mike Antonucci

Comcast agreed to resume airing a revamped California Teachers Association political ad it had pulled after a complaint from the campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. The CTA ad accused her of advocating $7 billion in education cuts and 100,000 teacher layoffs. The union agreed to add some new language to address the objections. Now, instead of the narrator intoning “Whitman says…

“Bonuses” Under DC Teachers New Contract � Larry Miller's Blog

“Bonuses” Under DC Teachers New Contract

by millerlf

Posting by Bill Turque Washington Post Sept 14

Celebration glosses over fine print on bonuses

My invitation to last Friday’s Union Station reception for the 663 “highly effective” DCPS teachers must have gotten hung up in The Post mailroom, which happens from time to time. So I can’t offer a first-hand account of the event, thrown by DCPS to honor educators who scored in the top echelon of the new IMPACT evaluation system. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said that after so much turmoil and unrest involving firings and layoffs, she wanted to do something that focused on the best the school system has to offer.

“I want the media and other people to focus on the fact that we have hundreds and hundreds of great people in

Federal jobs bill averts needs for cuts Notes from the news, Sept. 16 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Sept. 16 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Sept. 16

by Erika Owens

notes from the news image Jobs bill helps district balance budget The Inquirer
Money from the bill will be used this school year and next. This year it closes a gap left by the state contributing less than the District expected.

See also: Federal jobs bill averts needs for cuts The Notebook blog

Candidates for guv talk school choice The Notebook blog
At a conference convened by a school choice PAC, the Democrat and Republican candidates were largely in agreement about choice, but differed on whether they thought the public school system is part of the solution or a problem.

What can the president's words of encouragement mean for students? The Notebook blog
Masterman students were excited to hear from the president, but his words could have had more force at a struggling school.

See also: Phillyist Gallery: President Obama Visits Masterman Phillyist

SRC will vote next week on tougher anti-bullying rules Daily News
SRC member Johnny Irizarry suggested that with the changes to reporting rules, the District should track abuse by demographic categories so that we can "know where the problem is."

Arlene Ackerman's Smile Metropolis
Obama chose to speak from a magnet school, but Ackerman is not a fan of the schools.

Magnet school students shocked by teacher's marijuana arrest The Inquirer
The teacher worked at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science for nine years.

Phila. Schools Review Cell Phone Policies for Students KYW
Superintendent Ackerman and the new schools safety chief are starting with persistently dangerous schools to see if there should be any adjustments made to the policy.

Unintended Consequences of School Choice Reality Check blog

Phila. police car, school bus involved in crash 6 ABC

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